Thread: TX:16 illegal immigrants taken into custody

Web-posted Saturday, January 10, 2009
16 illegal immigrants taken into custody


Sixteen illegal immigrants packed into a van traveling east on Interstate 40 near Bushland were taken into custody Friday morning by U.S. Border Patrol agents.

Bill Brooks, public affairs officer with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said 16 Mexican and Guatemalan nationals were found in the van.

Brooks said they are trying to determine whether the driver and co-driver of the van were smugglers.

"I can't tell you at this point whether or not they will be charged with smuggling," Brooks said. "We have to determine if they were smugglers or members of the group."

The Mexican nationals, including a mother and daughter, will be bused to Presidio in south Texas and processed for removal. The Guatemalan citizens, four of whom were juveniles, will be sent to El Paso and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for processing and removal to their home country.
http://www.amarillo.com/stories/011009/ ... efs1.shtml

that I-40 corridor is beginning to be one busy smuggling route.