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A big YES! to this newspaper for calling these invaders what they are ... illegal immigrants. The reporter's contact information is at the end if you want to thank him for not being politically correct.

CONSTABLE DISCOVER 16 ILLEGAL
IMMIGRANTS DURING STOP
By: KENNETH DEAN, Staff Writer April 14, 2005


PACKED LIKE SARDINES: A routine traffic stop on Interstate 20 by a Smith County deputy constable resulted in the discovery of 16 illegal immigrants on Thursday. (Staff Photo By Kenneth Dean)

LINDALE - A Smith County deputy constable was shocked to find 16 illegal immigrants crammed into an SUV when he made a routine traffic stop on Interstate 20 early Thursday morning.

Mark Waters, Smith County precinct 5 deputy constable, said he pulled over the 1999 GMC Yukon at mile marker 553 about 8:30 a.m. Thursday for speeding.

"The vehicle was exceeding the daytime speed limit so I pulled it over. As I approached the vehicle I noticed there were more people in it then what it was equipped to carry safely," he said.

Waters said the "mule" told him the 15 illegal Hispanic immigrants from an area south of Guatemala, Mexico, were picked up in the Dallas area and were being transported to Alabama.

Waters defined the term mule as the person who arranges for illegal immigrants to be picked up and transported across the border into the United States or from a pre-determined pickup point to another location within the states.

Waters immediately called U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to advise them of his discovery and a bus was dispatched from Dallas to collect the immigrants from a fast-food restaurant's parking lot in Lindale.

"This is sad in a way, because these people put their safety in jeopardy to come here. With this many people in a vehicle designed to carry five passengers safely anything could have happened," he said.

Thomas Homan, Dallas bureau of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement assistant special agent in charge, said six females and 10 males were being detained and questioned late Thursday afternoon.

"The driver is being held in the Smith County Jail on driver license and insurance violations, but we are investigating his status here in the United States. If it is determined he is here illegally and was a part of the smuggling operation then he will be charged accordingly. We have one subject here, who we are charging with the transportation of illegal aliens," he said.

Homan said the mule has been arrested several times and been removed from the U.S. and he could be facing additional federal felony charges.
Homan said it was unclear where the immigrants were from.

"Some maybe from Central America. They are claiming to be from Mexico but we cannot be sure at this time. We have reason to believe they are from Central America and not Mexico," he said.

Homan said smuggling illegal aliens is a "big business," with Hispanics paying between $1,200 and $3,000 per person per trip.

"For Hispanics the cost can be as high as $3,000 depending on the final destination. Now if you are talking about Chinese immigrants then the cost is as high as $30,000 per person," he said. "Either family members or potential employers pay this amount," he said.

Homan said the immigrants are usually smuggled across the border then taken to a safe house where they are kept until the smugglers receive their money then they are transported to the final destination.

Homan said investigators were trying to determine where the immigrants crossed the border.

"We are trying to determine where they crossed and how this went down. We haven't ascertained that information yet.

Homan said his office responds to three or four calls per month with most cases occurring in West Texas.

Kenneth Dean covers police, fire, public safety organizations, Cherokee and Rusk counties. He can be reached at 903.596.6353. e-mail: news@tylerpaper.com