Thread: Six undocumented Sri Lankans apprehended at LAX

Six undocumented Sri Lankans apprehended at LAX

July 20, 2011 | 2:17pm

Officials apprehended six undocumented Sri Lankan immigrants flying into LAX from Peru.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers stopped the six -- three men, a woman and her two children -– after their flight landed.

Authorities had been notified Tuesday afternoon by the flight crew that they had found torn passport pieces in the plane’s bathroom.

Undocumented immigrants will sometimes destroy their papers for fear of worse punishment if they are caught with fraudulent documents, said Department of Homeland Security spokesman Jaime Ruiz.

Officers were dispatched to meet the arriving aircraft.

All six were handed off to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and child services was notified about the children.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2 ... t-lax.html

C.B.P. News Release

CBP Intercepts Six Arriving Undocumented Aliens at LAX Apprehended Included An Adult Female and Her Two Children

(Thursday, July 21, 2011)

Los Angeles—U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) apprehended six undocumented aliens; three adult males, one adult female and her two children upon their arrival on a flight from Lima, Peru to Los Angeles.

On July 19, at approximately 4:00 pm, CBP was notified that the crew on board found pieces of torn passports in a bathroom on the plane. A CBP team was dispatched to meet the arriving aircraft.

As they got off the plane, CBP officers apprehended six undocumented aliens, all of Sri Lankan nationality who were arrested and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Child Protective Services was also notified.

The Office of Field Operations is responsible for securing our borders at the ports of entry. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers’ primary mission is anti-terrorism. They screen all people, vehicles, and goods entering the United States, while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel into and out of the United States.

On a typical day in Fiscal year 2010, CBP executed 1,903 apprehensions at and in between the port of entry for illegal entry, intercepted 83 fraudulent documents and arrested 75 criminals at ports of entry.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Contacts For This News Release
Jaime Ruiz
CBP Public Affairs
Phone: (562) 980-3110
Fax: (562) 980-3359

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/new ... 212011.xml