ImmigrationProf Blog

Trump Lays Responsibility For Child Border Deaths At Feet of Democrats

Just a few days ago, Kevin pointed out how President Trump responded to the death of a California police officer at the hands of an unlawful migrant with a call to "Build the Wall!"

Now, President Trump has stated that the deaths of Jakelin Caal and Felipe Alonzo-Gomez, the two children who recently died after crossing the border, are "strictly the fault of the Democrats" and would not have occurred "If we had a Wall."

-KitJ

2018 Began With Death of U.S. Soldier Who Emigrated from Latvia

Sgt. 1st Class Mihail Golin

On this last day of the year, news outlets are recapping 2018. One thing of note is the number of American members of the armed forces who have died in service of the country. Among them was Sergeant First Class Mihail Golin.

Golin shares the unhappy distinction of being the first service member to die in 2018, on New Year's Day one year ago. As the Army Times reported, Golin died of injuries sustained after "small arms fire engagement during a dismounted patrol;"  several other soldiers were wounded in the same attack.

Golin immigrated to the United States from Lativa in 2004. He enlisted in 2005. He served for several years as an infantryman with the 25th Infantry Division in Alaska. Then, in 2014, he graduted from the Special Forces Qualification Course.

Prior to his death, Golin had been deployed to Iraq as well as Afghanistan. His service awards were numerous, including "the Purple Heart Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Army Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Army Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters, four Good Conduct Medals, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Valorous Unit Award with two oak leaf clusters, two Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbons, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal, Special Forces Tab, Ranger Tab, Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge, and the Parachutist Badge."

In light of the current administration's hostility towards military recruits who have green cards, not to mention the documented practice of "quiet discharging" nonimmigrant recruits, Golin's record reminds us just how much our nation owes to foreign-born service members.

-KitJ

Australia Strips Another Terrorist of Their Citizenship

Australia has the legal authority to strip dual nationals of their Australian citizenship if they are convicted or even suspected of terror offenses.

The nation has utilized this power twelve times.

This week marked that twelfth occasion, when Australia removed the citizenship of Neil Prakash, a man the BBC calls "Australia's most wanted jihadist."

Prakash has been linked to ISIS, including making recruiting videos for the terrorist organization, and plotting terror attacks in Australia.

Prakash is now simply a Fijian citizen, though he's currently "living" in Turkey inasmuch as he's in jail there and facing trial on terrorism-related charges. Australia would have liked to try Prakash for crimes as well, but Turkey would not agree to extradite him.

-KitJ

The Heroic Life of Georges Loinger

French hero, Georges Loinger, recently passed away. As the BBC reports, Loinger saved hundreds of Jewish children during the second world war. And, hold on, there's an immigration angle!

Loinger found a football (soccer) pitch right on the French-Swiss border. It was surrounded by fencing about 8 feet high, but it wasn't guarded.

"I made the children play, I told some of them to lift up the fences and I passed the ball," Loinger said.

He also dressed children as if they were attending a funeral, escorted them to a cemetery on the French-Swiss border, and scooted them across the border on a gravediggers ladder.

All told, Loinger is said to have saved some 350 children.

Between his story and that of Zura Karuhimbi, I am really amazed to hear about the very best of humanity.

-KitJ

Build a Deck, Not a Wall

We've noted before how churches have been using their signs to make immigration statements ("build longer tables, not higher walls"). Now check out this sign from Milwaukie Lumber (inexplicably an Oregonian institution) that has been making its way across the interwebs:

-KitJ

The Onion Tackles Stephen Miller

This Onion article about Stephen Miller dates back to late January. I'm not sure how I missed it then, but it's still terrible and fabulous all at the same time.

“I’ve been putting in some pretty long hours, so it’s nice to unwind a little at the Immigration and Customs facility watching all the kids held indefinitely in federal custody,” said Miller, who stopped outside a cramped 6-by-8 cell to smile warmly at a set of scared, parentless 7- and 8-year-old Mexican siblings, adding that the tear-streaked faces filled his heart with joy.

-KitJ

Washington & Lee Law Review Immigration Issue: Pham, Benson, Kanstroom, Chen, Hernandez, Cade, Wadhia, Margulies & Aziz!

The current volume of the Washington & Lee Law Review contains an excellent line-up of immigration articles that will keep you busy for the rest of the winter break!

 

287(g) Agreements in the Trump Era
Huyen Pham

PDF

Administrative Chaos: Responding to Child Refugees—U.S. Immigration Process in Crisis
Lenni B. Benson

PDF

Expedited Removal and Due Process: “A Testing Crucible of Basic Principle” in the Time of Trump
Daniel Kanstroom

PDF

Sanctuary Networks and Integrative Enforcement
Ming Hsu Chen

PDF

Immigrant Defense Funds for Utopians
César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández

PDF

Judicial Review of Disproportionate (or Retaliatory) Deportation
Jason A. Cade

PDF

National Security, Immigration and the Muslim Bans
Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia

PDF

Deconstructing “Sanctuary Cities”: The Legality of Federal Grant Conditions That Require State and Local Cooperation on Immigration Enforcement
Peter Margulies

PDF

The Authoritarianization of U.S. Counterterrorism
Sahar F. Aziz

 

-JKoh

President Trump: Response to Tragic Killing -- "Build the Wall!"

 

There is right now a full scale manhunt going on in California for an illegal immigrant accused of shooting and killing a police officer during a traffic stop. Time to get tough on Border Security. Build the Wall!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 27, 2018

 

As the tweet above suggests, President Trump is seeking to make political hay out of a tragic crime -- and one in which the facts are somewhat hazy.  Olga R. Rodriguez for the Associated Press reports on the  killing of a police officer -- an immigrant from Fiji _-in the Central Valley by a person identified by the police as unlawfully in the United States:

"Ronil Singh came to the U.S. from his native Fiji to fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming an officer, joining a small-town police force in California and working to improve his English. The day after Christmas, he stopped another immigrant, this one in the country illegally, who shot and killed the corporal, authorities said Thursday.

Authorities said they identified but won't yet name the man who killed Singh of the 12-person Newman Police Department on Wednesday and has not been captured. They believe the attacker is still in the area . . . and is armed and dangerous."

Our sincere condolences to Ronil Singh's family, friends, and community.

Newman Police officer Ronil Singh was killed on December 26, 2018 during a traffic stop in Newman, Calif.  Tuolumne County Sheriff's Department

KJ

Read more here: https://www.modbee.com/news/local/crime/article223570610.html#storylink=cpy

Top 10 Immigration Stories of 2018

1.  President Donald J. Trump

Day in and day out in 2018, President Trump was at the center of the nation's immigration news.  Building on his immigration policies during his first year as President, Trump continued to push the most aggressive set of immigration enforcement measures of any modern U.S. President.  Indeed, he ended the year on a high profile note.  When Congress refused to meet his demand for $5 billion in funding for a wall along the U.S./Mexico border, President Trump was willing to shut down the entire U.S. government at year end.  As of this writing, there is no end to the shutdown in sight. 

From day one of his campaign for the presidency, Trump has pushed the border wall.  And nothing has changed.  Here is a tweet from the President earlier this month:

A design of our Steel Slat Barrier which is totally effective while at the same time beautiful! pic.twitter.com/sGltXh0cu9

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2018

 

Detention, including the family separation policy discussed separately below, has been one of the focal points of the Trump administration's immigration enforcement policy.  The conditions of detention have been under fire.  That is likely to continue because, in December, two children in immigrant detention died, provoking controversy and concern.

The Trump administration's initiatives are too many to list here.  Still, a few are worth highlighting.  The Trump administration announced the end of Temporary Protected Status for approximately 200,000 Salvadorans.  The administration also stripped TPS status from Hondurans, Nicaraguans, Sudanese, and Haitians.  It also proposed tightening the "public charge" rule for admissions and limiting eligibility to asylum seekers to those who presented themselves at ports of entry.  The Department of Commerce's proposed a citizenship question on the 2020 Census provoked controversy and litigation.

 

2.    U.S. Government Shutdown Over Border Wall

With Congress and the President at an impasse over border wall funding, the U.S. government suffered a partial shutdown.  There also was an earlier shutdown over immigration.  Although the news was jolting in the beginning, the nation handled the holidays well-enough without a budget and a federal shutdown.

 

3.    Family Separation Policy

To deter Central Americans, including many women and children fleeing rampant gang and other violence, from coming to the United States, the Trump administration adopted a policy of separating parents and children  in immigrant detention.  The family separation policy provoked mass protests and bipartisan resistance.  Pictures like the one above galvanized the nation.  Ultimately, President Trump ended family separation.  But his administration took months to reunite families.

 

4.    The Caravan

Over the year, President Trump on several occasions attacked the "caravan" of Central Americans coming to the United States.  Photos of the caravan provoked concern.  Republicans, including President Trump, used the specter of "the caravan"  to build support for extreme immigration enforcement measures.  President Trump characterized the caravan as an invasion and tried to use it in an attempt to spark a Republican comeback in the midterm elections.  Mission was not accomplished and the Democrats regained control of the House!

 

 

5.  Supreme Court

The Supreme Court continued its steady diet of  immigration cases and immigrants continued to win more than they lost.  In the 2018 Term, the Court struck down as unconstitutional two provisions of the immigration laws.  At the same time, in a 5-4 vote, the Court upheld the third draft of the "travel ban" in Trump v. Hawaii. 

This Term, the Court heard arguments in an immigrant detention case.  The Trump administration has made detention a core part of its overall immigration enforcement strategy,

More recently, the Court in December refused to stay an injunction barring implementation of President Trump's new restrictive asylum policy.

At some point in the future, the Court will likely decide whether the Trump administration should be permitted to rescind DACA, which to this point been enjoined by three federal courts.  See below.

 

 

6.     Jeff Sessions Steps Down as Attorney General

Attorney General Jeff Sessions was an immigration hawk and Trump loyalist.  Among other things, he oversaw efforts to pressure immigration judges to close open cases and narrow asylum eligibility.  Sessions also took on -- mostly losing -- efforts to fight "sanctuary" states and cities.  Because of President Trump's unhappiness with Sessions over his recusal in the Robert Mueller investigation,  Sessions was forced out.  He took so many insults and barbs from the President that some Democrats almost felt sorry for him.

 

 

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) [Official USCIS video]

7.    The Rescission of DACA

In September 2017, Attorney General Sessions announced the rescission of DACA.  As I have written, the rise and fall of DACA will likely affect the future of immigration law.  Three courts have enjoined the rescission of the policy and Ninth Circuit affirmed an injunction.  It may take a while but the Supreme Court ultimately will likely decide the fate of the DACA rescission.

 

8.  Midterm Elections

Despite President Trump and others seeking to make immigration enforcement the central campaign issue, the Republicans kept the Senate but lost the House.  The new Democratic House is likely to put the administration, and its immigration policies, under scrutiny.

 

 

9.  Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed as a Justice on the Supreme Court.

It was not pretty but the Senate confirmed conservative Brett Kavanaugh as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court.  Given his record on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which does not hear many immigration cases, it is hard to predict how he will approach immigration cases.  With a limited record on immigration, there are only hints of his views on the topic, including some from dissents in cases involving a teen immigrant detainee seeking an abortion and an immigration employment case.

 

1o.  Death on the Border Continues

Maybe it does not make the headlines but deaths of migrants on the U.S./Mexico border continue.  Increased enforcement in major border cities has resulted in migrants traveling through mountains and deserts where they are more likely to die.

Death on the Border: The Thousands of Bodies Along the US-Mexico Border

The death toll mounts but nothing seems to happen.  Is there anyone out there?

 

HONORABLE MENTION

Boalt Hall Changes Name:  Yes, this has an immigration angle.  UC Berkeley School of Law has long gone by the name "Boalt Hall."  It was named after John Boalt, who  published an anti-Chinese screed at the height of the Chinese exclusion era.  A committee recommended a name change and UC Berkeley School of Law, or Berkeley Law, is now the official name of the school.  Here is the Berkeley Law explkanation of the name change.

KJ

The Stupidest Government Shutdown

From: Peter Schey

President

Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law

 

We've represented several million undocumented immigrants in class action cases over the past forty years and in the course of that work interviewed several thousand immigrant class members about why and how they came to the United States evading inspection, or overstayed their visas. The facts learned from this work show that the idea of building a "wall" along the southern border to keep America safe is probably the stupidest reason any president has ever offered to support a government shutdown with its known adverse domestic and international costs.

 

Here is what thousands of immigrants have said that makes clear building a wall to stop undocumented migration would be a waste of time and taxpayers' money:

 

First, of the thousands of undocumented immigrants I have interviewed, a large number never made the dangerous journey sneaking across the southern border and so would never even see any wall President Trump may build. They entered the country concealed in vehicles.

 

Each year about nine million vehicles enter California from Mexico at Otay Mesa, thirteen million at San Ysidro, and eleven million at Calexico. Five million vehicles enter Texas at Brownsville, and another five million at Eagle Pass. Only a miniscule fraction of these tens of millions of vehicles are ever inspected for concealed migrants, making this a safe and relatively cheap way to enter the U.S. without detection.

 

President Trump has never proposed allocating funds to make modern technology available at ports of entry to reduce migration (or drugs) in concealed vehicles because this approach is too clinical and cannot match the visceral appeal of a "border wall" that triggers and stokes nativist sentiment. A wall will do nothing to stop migrants using thousands of vehicles each year to evade inspection upon entry. Hiding in a vehicle is far quicker, easier, and safer than crossing a desert or trekking through mountains and then trying to scale a wall.

 

Second, my discussions with thousands of undocumented migrants made clear that about half simply entered the United States with temporary visas, developed ties here, and decided to stay. Studies confirm that up to fifty percent of the undocumented population in the country today (and one hundred percent of the known foreign terrorists) entered lawfully and then overstayed their temporary visas.

 

Each year the U.S. admits about ten million immigrants on temporary visas (visitors, students, workers, etc.). The President has not advocated for funding for the development of improved programs to track whether visitors timely depart when their visas expire.

 

Most of these immigrants are not from Central America or Mexico. Most come from European or Asian countries and will arrive in airplanes flying right over the wall President Trump wants to build.

 

Third, I have interviewed and represented thousands of migrants who entered the United States without inspection in a myriad of ways no wall would impact one way or the other. For little more than an immigrant may pay a smuggler to lead a dangerous journey across a land border, they may pay a pilot to fly small groups of migrants to remote landing strips in a U.S. border state. With five passengers a pilot can make twenty-five thousand dollars in a few hours. They will fly right over President Trump's wall.

 

Thousands of migrants I've interviewed paid a boat captain to bring them in by sea, coming ashore mostly in Florida and California. Others flew to a third country where they didn't need a visa or could easily obtain one via Canada, disembarked in Canada, and simply walked across the unguarded northern border. The cost of the airline ticket is less than the cost of a human smuggler to guide one across the U.S.-Mexico border. President Trump's wall will be irrelevant to migrants sneaking into the U.S. by sea or through the U.S.-Canada border.

 

Fourth, interviews with migrants also disclosed a critical fact no wall will address: those fleeing extreme forms of violence, and others seeking to be united with husbands, wives or children here, will do almost anything to get across the border. Their determination is so strong and the drive for family unity so powerful that they will find ways to get over, under, or around, any wall President Trump may build. As former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano once said, "You show me a 50-foot wall, and I'll show you a 51-foot ladder."

 

Regarding the allocation of resources to reduce undocumented migration at the border, President Trump should consider several steps his Administration could take other than building a useless wall.

 

Thousands of "carvanistas" are stuck in Mexico trying to apply legally to enter the U.S. as refugees. Nationwide, immigration judges have about three quarters of a million backlogged cases. Because the Trump administration refuses to allocate the necessary funds for a sufficient number of asylum officers and immigration judges to process asylum cases presented at the border reasonably promptly, migrants I have interviewed simply give up on the process to enter the country legally and opt to enter without inspection.

 

A second problem is that under President Trump the denial of asylum claims has skyrocketed. A few years ago the denial rate was about forty percent. Under President Trump the overall denial rate has climbed to over sixty percent. For Central Americans the denial rate is closer to seventy-five percent. This is due to the Trump administration's overall hostility to approvals of any immigration benefits and its issuance of directives to deny asylum to those fleeing gang or domestic violence. Asylum-seekers are now routinely attempting entry without inspection because, for good reason, they have little faith in the fairness or integrity of the process used to apply for lawful admission at the border.

 

Adding to the overall immigration catastrophe the wall will not address, President Trump's termination of several programs that provided authorized status for certain Central Americans and immigrants brought here as children, will soon add well over a million people to the ranks of the undocumented population (unless blocked by the courts). The wall will keep these immigrants in rather than out of the United States.

 

Finally, it seems obvious a wall will have almost no effect on the activities of drug smugglers. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's (DEA) 2018 National Drug Threat Assessment states that "controlled prescription drugs remain responsible for the largest number of overdose deaths of any illicit drug class ..." The manufacturers and suppliers of these drugs operate both domestically and internationally. They have no need to use mules transporting their drugs across the border. The DEA also makes clear that the most common method employed by transnational criminal organizations involves "transporting drugs in vehicles through U.S. ports of entry." A wall will have no impact on this most commonly used method to smuggle drugs into the United States.

 

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, small airplanes, ultra light aircraft, and drones are also being used to conduct drug drops. Cargo ships are used to import drugs from Afghanistan, Columbia and Mexico. President Trump's proposed wall would have no impact on these methods of drug smuggling.

 

The solutions to international drug trafficking are complex. Programs must be adopted to disentangle links between organized crime and state actors through judicial and police reforms; laws must be enacted and enforced to prevent financial institutions from laundering hundreds of millions of dollars for drug cartel bosses; and drug treatment and education must be intensified to reduce the consumer demand for illicit drugs in this country. Building a border wall is not even on the list of things experts agree need to done to reduce the drug abuse epidemic.

 

Refusing to agree on a budget for the government because the president wants to build a big "beautiful" wall along the Mexican border may fire-up the nativist tendencies in about thirty percent of the electorate, but it's one of the stupidest reasons ever put forward by any president to justify a shut down of the federal government, or to blow away $5b.

 

President Trump praises himself as a "genius" on many subjects. However, the hair-brained idea about building a border wall is grounded in passion and prejudice and will not lead to anything close to sound immigration policy or border security. 

 

bh

Your Playlist: American Dreamers: Voices of Hope, Music of Freedom

American Dreamers: Voices of Hope, Music of Freedom has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. It's a jazz album featuring a 21-piece band and spoken word stories from 53 DACA recipients hailing from 17 states and 17 countries.

Here's their new take on an old favorite, Immigrant Song:

They've also tackled Deportee:

South Coast Today has a nice write up on the album and its artists.

-KitJ

MD County Halts 287(g) Program

Anne Arundel County, Maryland

A newly-elected Democrat in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, has announced that the county will end its INA § 287(g) agreement with the federal government, the Washington Times reports. This means that county jail detainees will no longer be screened for immigration status by ICE officials.

It's an interesting development. One wonders how many of the "blue wave" elections across the country will result in similar changes to agreements between the federal government and local governments regarding immigration enforcement.

-KitJ

Record Number of Immigrant Children in Detention

Photo Joe Raedle/Getty Images via NPR

In a month where not one but two children have died in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security, it's worth taking a look at the big picture regarding immigrant youth in detention.

NPR reports that nearly 15,000 children are currently in detention facilities. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, authorized detention centers for children are at 92% of their capacity.

"The situation is forcing the government to consider a range of options, possibly including releasing children more quickly to sponsors in the United States or expanding the already crowded shelter network."

Whereas the two children who recently died came to the United States with family members, most of the children in detention are teenage boys who came to the United States by themselves.

The photo to the right is of the largest detention facility for children. The Tornillo, Texas, tent camp currently houses 2,800. It could house 3,800 with increased staff.

-KitJ

8-year-old Guatemalan boy dies in US custody on Christmas Eve

CNN reports that an 8-year-old Guatemalan boy died late Christmas Eve in the custody of US Customs and Border Protection, the agency said, the second Guatemalan child to die in the agency's custody this month.

Rep. Joaquin Castro, chairman-elect of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, identified the child in a statement as Felipe Alonzo-Gomez. The boy, who was detained with his father, died shortly before midnight at Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center in Alamogordo, New Mexico, about 90 miles north of the border crossing in El Paso, Texas.

Earlier this month, a 7-year-old girl, Jakelin Caal Maquin, fled Guatemala with her father, and after surviving the 2,000-mile journey to New Mexico, she died December 8, fewer than 48 hours after CBP detained her and her dad. Her body was repatriated Sunday to Guatemala.

KJ

Border Tragedies--A Tempest Tossed Essay by Alex Aleinikoff on Trump border policies

Border Tragedies--A Tempest Tossed Essay by Alex Aleinikoff on Trump border policies.

The death of 7 year old Jakelin Caal while in Border Patrol custody is a tragedy, and it is sadly emblematic of Trump Administration border policies that have devastated families, undermined U.S. asylum laws and betrayed traditional American values.  Alex Aleinikoff, Director of the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility at The New School, takes a comprehensive and critical look at Trump border actions and argues for policies true to the facts and to values of decency and fairness.

KJ

Merry Christmas

Christmas is the perfect time to reflect on the Holy Family's flight into Egypt, seeking to escape the murderous King Herod, and the worldwide parallels today as so many parents undertake risky journeys to protect their children.

-KitJ

The Amazing Life of Zura Karuhimbi

This BBC obituary of Zura Karuhimbi is the most inspiring and informative article I've read all year.

Karuhimbi was a native of Rwanda. As a young girl, she lived in the country when its colonial overloads, the Belgians, "decided to take the population of Rwanda, and split them into clearly demarcated groups - complete with identity cards, laying out whether they were Hutu or Tutsi." (I didn't even know this history before reading the article - how horrible!) Apparently not content to simply divide the population, the Belgians also decided to start preferencing one group (the Tutsi) over the other (the Hutu), giving the Tutsi "access to better jobs and educational opportunities." Cue lifetimes of civil strife.

In 1994, when Karuhimbi was perhaps 76 (her exact birth date is unknown), hundreds of thousands of Tutsi were killed by Hutus in what is known as the Rwandan Genocide.

Karuhimbi, herself Hutu, hid Tutsis, Burundians and even three Europeans in her home, protecting them from certain death. Karuhimbi did this without any weapons. She was considered a witch and used her reputation to threaten would-be killers and protect many.

"[E]very single one of the people Karuhimbi had risked her life to save had survived."

In 2006, Karuhimbi was awarded the Campaign Against Genocide Medal for her work during the genocide.

It turns out, Karuhimbi's good work wasn't limited to the 90s. During another bout of tension in 1959, she helped one Tutsi mother protect her young son by disguising the small boy as a girl. "That boy, she said, survived - and went on to become the man who presented her with the medal, President Paul Kagame."

An amazing tale, an amazing woman. An inspiration for us all.

-KitJ

The Legend Continues: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Voted From Hospital To Block Trump Asylum Restrictions

In a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay an injunction barring implementation of the Trump administration's latest attempt to limit asylum applications.  Media reports are adding to the legend of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; she reportedly voted against President Donald Trump’s proposed asylum restrictions from the hospital where she had cancer surgery on the same day.

KJ

Immigration Article of the Day: Administrative Chaos: Responding to Child Refugees - U.S. Immigration Process in Crisis by Lenni Benson

Administrative Chaos: Responding to Child Refugees - U.S. Immigration Process in Crisis by Lenni Benson, Washington and Lee Law Review, Forthcoming

Abstract

The immigration court is the wrong forum to consider the protection needs of migrant children. Worse still, our multiple agencies that adjudicate parts of children’s cases combined with the rapidly shifting policies are causing administrative chaos for the children and the system.

KJ

49 Arrested Across Americas for Human Smuggling

The BBC reports that 49 individuals have been arrested across the Americas for human or people smuggling.

Interestingly, the particular criminal enterprise targeted by the Interpol operation aimed to bring South Asian migrants into the United States.

The article is particularly helpful because it puts a price tag on smuggling: "Migrants from India, Nepal and Bangladesh were reportedly paying between $15,000 and $30,000 for each journey into the United States." That's an interesting figure to talk about in class.

-KitJ