Saturday, March 25, 2006

Rent a Family

Disturbing news on the security of our borders. Washington Times via the Counterrorism Blog:
Migrants sneaking illegally into the United States from countries other than Mexico are renting families -- mostly small children -- to ensure that if they are apprehended, they won't be deported, but released back into the United States, a top immigration official said yesterday.


The "rent-a-family" scheme, said John P. Torres, director of the Office of Detention and Removal at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is being used by alien smugglers along the U.S.-Mexico border -- mainly in Texas -- to circumvent a new expedited-removal program for non-Mexican aliens,whose arrest under existing deportation policies had become known as "catch-and-release."

Beyond the issue of security, these children are at risk:
Mr. Torres said the children are being rented out by families along the border, and authorities are not sure how they are being returned after crossing into the United States. But, he said, some of the children are being rented more than once.
He said immigration authorities also are concerned that as the summer months approach and the temperatures in the border areas climb, the children could be in increased jeopardy.

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