Thread: AZ-B. P. ,sharp rise in number of Chinese caught in desert

Border patrol sees sharp rise in number of Chinese caught in desert
At least 261 have been caught trying to cross from Mexico into the U.S., officials say.
By Sebastian Rotella

Posted: 10/06/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT


NOGALES, Ariz. — Amid an overall drop in arrests of illegal immigrants crossing the U.S-Mexico border, an intriguing anomaly has cast a new light on human smuggling: Authorities report an almost tenfold spike in the number of Chinese people caught in the Arizona desert, the busiest smuggling corridor on the international line.

The Border Patrol in the Tucson sector has arrested at least 261 Chinese border-crossers this year, compared with an annual average of 32 during the last four years, officials said.

"They are the main (non-Mexicans) we catch," said field operations supervisor Juventino Pacheco of the patrol's international liaison unit in Nogales. "Lately we have been catching more Chinese than Central Americans."

When agents find Chinese migrants — hiding in gulches, perhaps, or huddled in smugglers' vehicles — they often request help from Dean Delap, the sector's only Mandarin-speaking agent. He taught and studied in China, but had not expected that to prove valuable in Nogales.

"Some are cooperative," Delap said. "Some are scared. They've just been arrested, they are in a new place. I put them at ease."

Chinese remain a small fraction of the overall number processed at the Nogales station — which guards 31 miles abutting Nogales, Mexico.

The Tucson sector, where the Nogales station is located, recorded about 226,000 apprehensions this year. That is a 24 percent decline from the last fiscal year — reflecting the impact of the U.S. economic crisis and tougher border enforcement, officials said.

The great majority of those arrested were Mexicans. Chinese belong to a category known in the Border Patrol as OTMs: other than Mexicans.

And they are big business for smuggling gangs that increasingly have overlapped with Mexico's violent drug mafias.

Mexicans typically pay smugglers about $1,500 for help crossing the sun-seared landscape, which is as dangerous as it is majestic. The fees for Central Americans and South Americans often reach $6,000. A group of Haitians, intercepted a few years ago in Tucson after three nights spent hiking in circles in a canyon, had coughed up $10,000; another $10,000 was to have been paid upon arrival in the Chicago area.

The Chinese — nearly all of them from Fujian province — pay the most. They often have to work off debts of $30,000 to $70,000 over several years as indentured servants in the sweatshops and kitchens of New York and other cities.

Sophisticated Asian mafias organize intricate journeys to the U.S.

A typical route leads from Beijing to Rome to Caracas, Venezuela, to Mexico City to the border, according to Matthew Allen, chief agent of the Phoenix office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"It's much more elaborate" than smuggling Latin Americans, Allen said. "Waiting in hotel rooms, calls on cellphones, code words. ... The trend (in increased arrests) stands out as apprehensions are going down overall."

But the uptick in arrests of Chinese does not necessarily reflect a major influx from that country, officials said. Statistical barometers are imperfect.

High-priced smugglers are better at dodging defenses, so it's hard to assess the correlation between arrests, crossing rates and the number who succeed in illegally immigrating.

Asian smugglers favor air routes, exploiting visa policies for Chinese travelers in Ecuador, Honduras and Venezuela, which are hubs for their travel to Mexico, officials said.


http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_13494389#

The Chinese want to get in on the freebies the Mexican illegals get here.

I have noticed a lot more orientals, around. Period. There are some older folks who exercise-walk around my neighborhood. I am not sure where they are from, but they are always speaking in their native language. Sure they are sweet people---but it makes me wonder if they are sponsored family members---coming in to get in on SSI.

Added to homepage
http://www.alipac.us/article4565.html

FedUpinFarmersBranch, where did you get your number for total Americans killed? I would love to quote that!

As a country we must stop all this, or the USA is done.