Third Migrant Ship Gives Up; Others May Be Coming

Amid reports that additional suspected smuggling vessels were approaching the United States, a third vessel carrying Chinese migrants off Ensenada surrendered Sunday to the Mexican navy, and the passengers were transported quickly to Tijuana for a flight back home.

When the L-1011 jet carrying about 300 deportees took off at 12:30 p.m., the total of Chinese migrants from three smuggling boats deported by Mexico over the weekend reached 590.

Authorities in Ensenada were holding about 70 emigrants for a flight this morning, officials said, and about 45 crew members were being held to face charges of immigrant smuggling.

The deployment of a small army of Mexican law enforcement officials to conduct the operation appeared to have ensured a smooth, rapid return of the migrants from the three boats. The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted the boats 15 days ago and turned them over to Mexico after lengthy diplomatic negotiations.

But authorities are preparing for another wave in the seagoing onslaught of would-be illegal immigrants. Up to 11 suspected smuggling vessels have been detected in international waters along the west coast of North and Central America, according to Jorge Medina Viedas, chief spokesman for the Mexican Interior Ministry.

“This requires an acceleration in the multilateral meetings to create a strategy to confront this problem,” Medina said in an interview, referring to recent talks between the United States and neighboring nations about deterring illegal immigration. “Possibly tomorrow we will have more information on what is occurring.”

The Mexican navy is tracking a suspected smuggling boat in international waters about 17 miles west of San Quintin, a Baja California town about 100 miles south of San Diego, Medina said.

Another five vessels are reportedly crossing international waters west of San Francisco, Medina said. He said this information came from a variety of sources, but he did not elaborate.

In addition, five vessels have been spotted off Panama, Medina said, adding that the Panamanian government has announced its intention of preventing them from entering its waters.

The U.S. Coast Guard has not confirmed any of those sightings, said Rick Meidt, a Coast Guard spokesman in Washington. He said the Coast Guard is searching for several more vessels that were reported to be nearing Hawaii on Friday.

If the new reports prove accurate, it would mark a major escalation in a two-year illegal influx of Chinese that was dramatized by the harrowing episode of the three vessels intercepted July 3 off Baja. The decision last week by Mexico to accept and repatriate the passengers resolved a thorny problem for the Clinton Administration, which wanted to prevent the migrants from seeking political asylum.

Despite the mass deportation by Mexico, smugglers continue to be drawn by the prospects of lucrative profits and the vulnerability of the overloaded, much-criticized U.S. asylum system, officials said.

“It makes sense,” an official said. “If you get word the Mexicans are cooperating, just hit the middle of the West Coast. The whole thing is unfolding just in the horror story version that was predicted.”

But in Ensenada, officials breathed easier once the third vessel surrendered Sunday, dispelling concerns about the fate of its 235 passengers. Their resistance to being apprehended kept the boat at sea while the other two docked early Saturday under heavy guard.

On Saturday night, “violent disputes” among the passengers of the Sing Li 6, a disabled freighter, were resolved and crew members informed the Mexican navy of their decision to surrender, officials said. A Mexican navy vessel made contact with the Sing Li 6 and towed it into port about 7:15 a.m., Medina said. There were 215 men and 20 women aboard, Medina said.

One of the remaining captives in Ensenada suffered an attack of appendicitis and was recovering from surgery Sunday. The 29-year-old man, identified as Yung Chen, was in good condition in a military hospital, but will not be able to make Monday’s flight, Medina said.

The repatriation flights follow circuitous routes because they cannot stop to refuel in the United States. The 40-hour itinerary of the plane that left Tijuana on Sunday includes stops in the Bahamas, Azores islands, Cairo, Bombay, Singapore and finally Xiamen on mainland China. There were 49 guards watching the passengers.

If the charges against the accused smugglers--believed to be Taiwanese nationals--are upheld at a pending arraignment, they will be transferred to Tijuana and possibly to Mexico City to await a federal trial, officials said.