Alien-Smuggling Suspects Being Deported

In response to a border crackdown announced last summer by U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner Gene McNary, federal officials say, the Border Patrol in San Diego has begun an innovative program aimed at targeting and deporting alien smugglers.

The effort--which so far has been used to deport more than 300 suspected smugglers--has already drawn criticism from immigrant advocates, who contend it will be ineffective and could result in unwarranted deportations.

At the other end of the political spectrum, pro-enforcement advocates say the program is woefully inadequate to deal with the massive volume of illegal migration via the California-Mexico border.

But INS officials say the initiative--known as the Alien Smuggler Identification and Deportation Program--will help deter smugglers by subjecting them to deportation and possible prison terms.

Once deported, according to the agency, offenders caught anew on U.S. territory without visas could be charged with federal felony violations and face up to five years in jail.

In that way, authorities say, the deportation orders will help facilitate future legal action against smugglers. Agents say prosecuting smugglers is now difficult and costly because of the reticence of witnesses and the need to hold prospective witnesses for weeks and months, among other factors.

“We know who the repeated crossers and smugglers are, and we can get them this way,” said Duke Austin, an INS spokesman in Washington.

Seeking deportation contrasts with the prevalent quick-repatriation procedure now in use. The vast majority of illegal migrants from Mexico arrested in the San Diego area are simply sent back to Tijuana, often on the same day of their arrest, after signing forms agreeing to return to Mexico voluntarily. Authorities acknowledge that the procedure offers little disincentive for multiple illegal entries.

Immigrant advocates say the deportation program could wrongly funnel non-smugglers into long-term detention and complicated deportation proceedings, during which many aliens have no lawyer representing them. Moreover, critics are skeptical about the deterrent effect, given the deep-rooted causes of immigration.

“The social, political and economic forces that encourage illegal immigration to the U.S. are really so overwhelming that prosecuting a handful of smugglers is really going to do nothing,” said Peter Schey, executive director of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, a Los Angeles-based immigrant advocacy organization. “For every smuggler caught, there are thousands waiting in the wings waiting to bring people into the U.S.”

In the just-concluded fiscal year, Border Patrol agents in the San Diego area recorded an average of about 1,300 apprehensions a day of illegal migrants, more than 98% of them citizens of Mexico. Arrests increased by almost a third compared to the previous year, reversing a three-year decline following passage of landmark immigration reform legislation in November, 1986.

The scope of the illegal immigration problem has prompted some pro-enforcement critics to call on the INS to take even more drastic steps, such as bolstering border-area fences and barriers and greatly expanding detention space.

Commissioner McNary’s announcement last summer of a broad border crackdown in San Diego had raised hopes in some quarters that such large-scale initiatives might be imminent. But the limited new program targeting smugglers is all that has emerged to date, disappointing proponents of more definitive action.

“The situation is deteriorating, and something more has got to be done,” said Dan Stein, executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a Washington-based lobbying group that seeks restrictions on migrants. “I don’t think McNary has made much progress at this point.”

Nonetheless, INS officials are proceeding with the limited deportation program, which began in July, and, as of last week, had resulted in the detention and planned deportation of 323 smuggling suspects, said Ted Swofford, supervisory Border Patrol agent in San Diego. (The deportation initiative is a pilot effort being undertaken only in San Diego, the busiest border crossing for both legal and illegal entrants.)

In at least two cases, Swofford said, suspected smugglers have been deported and then arrested again on U.S. soil. The Border Patrol spokesman could not say what happened to the two suspects.

The quick-repatriation procedure is rooted in real practical considerations: There is simply insufficient detention space for long-term incarceration of the huge volume of undocumented immigrants arrested each day. The INS has unveiled no plans for greatly expanded detention facilities, something that would require considerable budget increases in a time of fiscal austerity.

Prospective deportees, on the other hand, are typically sent to detention facilities, where they often remain until the resolution of their cases, assuming they cannot afford to post bail. The deportation procedure usually drags on for at least a week or so, and can stretch on for months.