INS Arrests 232 Alleged Smugglers in 30 Days

U.S. immigration officials announced Sunday that a special task force apprehended 7,200 illegal aliens in “staging areas and drop houses” and arrested 232 alleged smugglers in a 30-day crackdown along the border of California and Arizona and as far north as Westminster.

But even as immigration officials were releasing the results to the press at the San Clemente border checkpoint on Interstate 5, another 50 illegal aliens were plucked out of the trunks of cars and backs of trucks only a few feet away.

“No matter how many of these operations we put on, the tide is not turning,” said Harold Ezell, regional commissioner for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. “We could put border patrolmen every 20 feet along the southern border, and it’s not going to change the results until we make it illegal to hire illegal aliens.”

The experimental “Operation Disruption” was intended to disrupt alien-smuggling networks in the two states during what the INS says is the peak season for illegal immigration.

Quick Action

Immigration agents moved in as soon as transportation staging areas and drop-off points were detected, said Alan Eliason, chief patrol agent for the San Diego area. Normally, when such areas are identified as illegal alien way stations, agents do not move in immediately and instead watch the goings and comings of smugglers, hoping to be led to ringleaders, he said.

The 30-day operation, which also relied on undercover agents and informants, dramatically increased the number of illegal aliens apprehended and improved agents’ ability to identify and break up smuggling rings, INS spokesmen said.

John Belluardo, director of congressional and public affairs for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service in Los Angeles, said the operation was “a very effective approach to dealing with the despicable persons who are smugglers of human flesh.”

Typical Month’s Figures

During a typical month and using standard tactics, Belluardo said, approximately 1,000 aliens are apprehended, compared to the 7,200 caught by task force agents at drop houses, staging areas and border-crossing points in the two states.

Each of the 232 suspected smugglers and transporters of illegal aliens represents a separate smuggling case uncovered during the 30-day operation, Ezell said. In a normal month, about 20 smuggling cases are uncovered by INS investigators.

The arrests of Operation Disruption are believed to have netted smugglers and transporters of illegal aliens involved in about 35 major smuggling rings.

More than 3,000 of the 7,200 illegal aliens apprehended were caught in the San Diego sector, which stretches from the Mexican border into Orange County on the north and to the Imperial County line on the east. About one-third of the alleged smugglers operated in that region.

“We’re very pleased with the results, and while most of those arrested for smuggling are middlemen, we feel confident that their apprehension will lead to the source of these major smuggling organizations,” Belluardo said.

Belluardo said that he was uncertain how many agents were assigned to Operation Disruption but estimated that more than 500 man-hours were expended on the effort.

Although it was only an experiment, Operation Disruption will be used in the future as funding becomes available, Belluardo said.

“We’ve been trying to step up our anti-smuggling efforts and this (operation) has proven effective,” Belluardo said. The INS is beefing up its program because “smugglers have a flagrant disrespect for human life and will abuse, steal and/or abandon illegal aliens whenever necessary,” he said.

Maximum Penalty

Belluardo said that most of the 7,200 illegal aliens arrested have chosen to return to Mexico rather than try the odds at a deportation hearing before a U.S. immigration judge. Those arrested for smuggling face a maximum penalty of five years in jail and a $2,000 fine for each alien transported.

Agents working on Operation Disruption also seized 215 vehicles, confiscated three firearms and recovered four stolen cars.

But Ezell stressed that the lure of U.S. jobs continues to attract aliens in increasing numbers. Also, he said, immigration officials are finding that an increasing proportion of illegal aliens are not returning home to their families south of the border after saving money from their U.S. jobs but instead are being joined here by their relatives.

Ezell said there also has been about a 16% increase in the apprehension of female illegal aliens, evidence that families, not just male workers, are increasingly entering the United States.