House Stiffens Immigrant Smuggling Law

Spurred by the tragedy of the Golden Venture ship and determined to combat the transport of human cargo in the future, the House of Representatives on Friday passed legislation to raise penalties for smuggling immigrants into the United States.

The measure applies the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, Act to those caught illegally transporting foreigners.

As a result, if the new law, the Alien Smuggling Prosecution Act, is enacted, gang members convicted of smuggling people under RICO could face up to 20 years in prison and triple financial penalties, which might add up to millions of dollars in large cases.

Smuggling would be treated as “large-scale criminal enterprise,” allowing authorities to seize such assets as gang leaders’ apartment houses and restaurants, according to the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.).

The measure was approved as a component of the Criminal Alien Deportation Improvements Act, part of a six-segment Republican anti-crime package.

It is designed to prevent a repeat of the June, 1993, tragedy in which 10 Chinese immigrants died when they tumbled into the waters off New York City as their crowded steamer Golden Venture ran aground. The boat was carrying nearly 300 people.

Under current law, King said, the average sentence for immigrant smuggling is 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine. This does little to deter the smugglers, some of whom post tens of millions of dollars in profits, he said.

Legislators in both parties and aides to President Clinton have said as many as 100,000 undocumented Chinese are smuggled into the United States every year.

But Arthur Helton, director of migration programs at the Open Society Institute, a Manhattan-based research organization, said Friday that the figure is actually far lower. “There is no way to tell (the number) for sure, but I suspect they are engaging in a bit of hyperbole,” he said.