Illegal immigrant found hiding in oats
October 31, 2008

U.S. Customs officials in Blaine on Thursday detained an illegal Mexican immigrant after X-ray equipment at a border there showed the outline of the man's body inside a container of oats aboard a rail car.

By Seattle Times staff report

U.S. Customs officials in Blaine on Thursday detained an illegal Mexican immigrant after X-ray equipment at a border there showed the outline of the man's body inside a container of oats aboard a rail car.

The train the man was hiding in had passed through an X-ray imaging station as it crossed from Canada into the United States at Blaine. The 25-year-old told authorities he was trying to get to California to visit friends. The oats were bound for Oregon.

Officials said the man had previously been caught trying to enter the U.S. on Oct. 29 while walking south along some railroad tracks near a Blaine port of entry. At the time, he possessed a Canadian refugee claim and work-permit documents and was therefore returned to Canada. In recent years, many illegal immigrants from Mexico have traveled to Canada where they have been able to find work while the Canadian government processes their claims for refugee status.

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