Thread: FL:Transport, harboring of illegals alleged

By Pat Gillespie
pgillespie@news-press.com
Originally posted on December 05, 2007

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... 04084/1075

Federal prosecutors are investigating two complaints filed this week that allege harboring and transporting illegal immigrants.

In Immokalee, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Anthony Mullen wrote in a complaint that Cesar, Geovanni, Jose and Virginia Navarrete were conspiring to harbor or conceal a dozen illegal immigrants who were picking tomatoes in the fields. According to the complaint, the men were made to live in vans and box trucks on the property.

If the workers tried to escape the living conditions or didn’t want to live in the trucks, they were beaten.

The defendants, who live on South Seventh Street, were also illegal immigrants; Cesar and Jose Navarrete, had previously been deported. When agents executed a search warrant Thursday, they found 12 illegal immigrants living on the property.

The defendants told agents they knew the men were illegal immigrants, but they’d be living in the woods if they didn’t offer them a place to stay.

“The thing that’s most disturbing is the living conditions and the threat of force,â€

I have seen how some illegals live in South Dade County. They were living in a home that was partially falling apart and the owner was to demolish it. He did not. There was no indoor bathrooms, some floors were dirt floors. One door had a blanket covering it. There were some children's toys outside. A man with a walker came out of the house. He had surgery on his foot and was walking on a dirt floor. I wish I could have taken pictures. What is sad is that the home they were living in which was divided up was alot better than in the poor areas of Mexico. I was explaining that to the bylaw officer that came out to the site with the police officer and I.

As for Cuban smugglers, they should not only go after the smugglers but the people who pay them to bring their relatives as well. It is ridiculus and I think that they should get rid of the wetfoot/dryfoot policy as it rewards smugglers.