Dogs Used to Help Stem Alien Flow Across Border

U.S. officials have begun employing a new weapon in their efforts to control the flow of illegal aliens across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Dogs.

Authorities announced Tuesday that they have posted four people-sniffing canines at border crossings in California. The idea is to detect undocumented immigrants who are being hidden in compartments in the more than 12 million vehicles that cross the border each year.

“Some of these compartments are ingenious,” said Rolland Johnson, a supervisor for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service at the San Ysidro crossing.

Officials cited the case of a Compton man who was sentenced to eight years in prison in U.S. District Court here Monday. He was charged with driving a dump truck in which 20 aliens were concealed inside a long metal compartment just 18 inches high.

While the U.S. Customs Service has long utilized dogs to sniff out drugs, officials said this is the first time the INS had deployed animals to detect aliens at the border crossings. The U.S. Border Patrol, an enforcement arm of the INS, uses dogs at its checkpoint along Interstate 5 just south of San Clemente.

The INS dogs, priced at $5,000 to $6,000 each, are Belgian Malinois, known for their sniffing abilities.