Here is the text of an article that appeared in the
Grand Forks (North Dakota, USA) Herald on Feb 24, 2002 and the Winnipeg
(Manitoba, Canada) Free Press on March 10, 2002. It covers the work of the
agents along CAUS near Pembina, North Dakota. It appeared roughly 6 months
after 9/11/01.
Cheers,
Doug
Grand Forks Herald (ND)
| February 24,
2002 Section: B-LOCAL Edition: FINAL Page: 01 ON THE PROWL WITH THE AGENTS OF U.S. BORDER PATROL Tu-Uyen Tran, Herald Staff Writer |
| About a quarter mile north on
this battered road, not far from Pembina, is the line that separates the
United States from Canada. From where the Expedition is parked, the bright
lights of the Interstate 29 border station are but a few minutes' walk
away.
For those seeking to cross illegally, Old 81 is a popular place,
according to Salyers, the agent in charge of the U.S. Border Patrol's
Pembina station. So for the agents, it is a good place to stop now and
then.
But on this Tuesday night, Salyers and his agents are not on random
patrol. They seek a specific quarry: A Portuguese national with a lengthy
criminal record in California, everything from grand theft to domestic
violence to cruelty to animals. One of his many crimes had led to
deportation and he is in effect barred from ever returning.
But at 8:30 p.m., except for the occasional squawk from the police
radio, all is quiet on Old 81. The search here is fruitless because,
unbeknown to Salyers, his target is already south of the Canadian border.
LATITUDINAL SHIFT< Salyers, a trim, sharp-featured
Pennsylvanian, came a decade ago to the Grand Forks sector from the El
Centro sector in California, where he'd spent 10 years after graduating
from the Border Patrol academy.
You might not know it but the Pembina station, which is part of the
Grand Forks sector, is the sort of posh post that goes only to experienced
agents.
Pembina is many things that Calexico, his station in the El Centro
sector, is not. The manpower here is thinner but each agent has more
experience. They have a much closer relationship with their counterparts
across the border. And they have a huge area to cover.
Get that man
But the law isn't enforced by the toil of agents and officers
alone. The public often has a big role. For the Border Patrol, vigilant
border residents are an asset.
It's just like a neighborhood watch in Grand Forks, said assistant
sector chief Lonny Schweitzer. If you see anything that's not quite right,
you call in. It's no different with us on the border.
That may be what triggered the search for the Portuguese man
Tuesday. Earlier that afternoon, the Immigration and Naturalization
Services had received an anonymous tip on its toll-free hot line, (800)
982-4077. The caller was suspicious about two people driving a pickup with
Canadian plates.
Salyers said he didn't know what was said, but the pickup had been
in the area for a while.
Border Patrol intelligence immediately went to work. At some point,
agents called Canadian immigration officials and discovered a link with
the Portuguese.
The apparent plan, they surmised, went like this: The people in the
Canadian pickup (one would later turn out to be a U.S. citizen) would
cross legally into the United States. At an agreed time and location near
the border, the Portuguese would sneak across on foot and they would pick
him up.
So the call went out: Get the Portuguese. Just in case By 7:30 p.m., Salyers was getting phone calls left and right from agents. They needed the Portuguese's photo to identify their man when they caught up with him. The Border Patrol uses a nationwide INS database called ENFORCE that contains thousands of fingerprints, photos and aliases used by illegals. It didn't take long for the Portuguese's file to appear. Salyers is ready to head out around 8 p.m., though it takes a bit longer than usual to leave. Tonight is a peculiar one for him because a Herald reporter and photographer are tagging along. Each of the passengers has signed a waiver protecting the Border Patrol against lawsuits stemming from death, maiming or property damage. They are then given thick Kevlar vests and instructions on unlocking the patrol car's shotgun - in case something happens to me, Salyers says without smiling. It's not that he's seen much violence in his career - the worst came when he was in El Centro and some guy tried to stab him - but, he says, one never knows. Arrest figures From California to the tip of Texas, there are nine separate sectors accounting for 98 percent of all immigration-related arrests in fiscal year 2001. From Washington state to Minnesota, roughly the same distance, there are four sectors. All of the northern sectors along the Canadian border combined accounted for less than 10 percent of arrests. The northern funnel One side effect of this intense southern enforcement is a slight northward shift in the traffic of illegals. Though there has been a nationwide decline in arrests between fiscal year 2000 and fiscal year 2001 - down nearly 25 percent - arrests along the Canadian border have actually gone up 1.9 percent. In the same period, the Grand Forks sector saw a 64 percent increase in arrests, the most of any sector. The actual number of arrests, however, remains low. Grand Forks' 921 arrests were the second lowest in 2001, next to Maine's Houlton sector. The highest, at 449,675 arrests, was Arizona's Tucson sector. Today, about 70 percent of arrests in northern sectors are of people who entered from the south, according to Nicole Chulick, spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. This may be due in part to more opportunities in agriculture here, she said, but also because, in some areas, the Border Patrol is the only federal authority around. The economics of smuggling is playing a more important role, too. The cost of smuggling people from Mexico is so high now, Salyers said, that it is cheaper, in some cases, to buy an airplane ticket to Canada and sneak in from the north. An illegal alien coming from Mexico might have to pay smugglers $1,500 just to be packed in tiny vans and shacks, he said, or they can pay $600 for a plane ticket. Which are you going to choose? he asked. Mexicans are the No. 1 nationality among arrests in the Pembina area, according to Salyers. Canadians are No. 2, he said, followed by 17 other nationalities as diverse as New Zealanders and Japanese. The majority of these arrests, he said, are of people who overstay their visas, although smuggling rings, such as those organized by some Czechs, are known. A real classic By 9 p.m., Salyers has given up on Old 81. He turns the lights back on and heads west on County Road 55 at a leisurely speed for another observation point. Salyers says he likes the night shift because it fits his daily rhythm, he likes patrolling and his two young daughters like having Dad home on mornings. But as an administrator, he says, he's pushing paper more than driving patrol. Since Sept. 11, there's been a lot more work for both him and his agents. Though they've been doing the same job all this time, Salyers says, they have now mobilized all resources. Annual leave has been canceled, agents are working more hours even with help from agents reassigned from the south, and days off are a thing of the past. Suddenly, Salyers goes deathly quiet. He slows the Expedition, makes a U-turn and accelerates rapidly in the opposite direction. Occasionally, he flashes the red and blue strobes mounted on the dashboard to alert a car coming in the opposite direction. The word on the radio is that one of the agents has caught up with the Portuguese on Interstate 29, a mile south of Drayton, N.D. The agent had been lying in wait by the Interstate when the Canadian pickup went by. When it crossed the border earlier there were two aboard, but tonight the agent saw three. With his colleagues widely dispersed, the agent calls on Pembina County deputies for backup. They waited with the agent until other Border Patrol cars arrived. By the time Salyers comes onto the scene, the deputies have gone back to their regular patrols. Now, four agents are milling about, grinning excitedly while their faces turn blue and red from the strobes. Things have come together for them very well and the payoff is sitting in the back of one of the Expeditions. The capture of the Portuguese had required perfect coordination between three agencies: the Border Patrol, Canadian immigration and Pembina County Sheriff's Department. Salyers would later call Tuesday night a classic example of everybody working together. Business is up One of the grinning agents is Brent Zimmerman, a big, mustachioed guy. Zimmerman served in the El Paso sector before coming to Pembina. As he drives back with the Portuguese's two accomplices in the back, Zimmerman asks absent-mindedly: What day is it today? I thought it was Monday. Told it was Tuesday, he explains: We're working so many hours they start to run together. He and his colleagues are busier these days, he says, but it's not just because of Sept. 11. The springlike weather up north has been drumming up business, he says. Jail, maybe Today, the Portuguese and his accomplices, one Canadian and one a U.S. citizen, are in custody. Ultimately, the foreigners will probably be deported but there is also the possibility of jail time in between - if a U.S. attorney decides to prosecute. Salyers said U.S. citizens sometimes try to pretend they are foreigners because there's a chance they'll be deported without prosecution. That seems unlikely in this case because the three were arrested in North Dakota. According to Zimmerman, what he likes about the U.S. attorneys in North Dakota is that they are more willing to go after illegals than attorneys in Minnesota. The Minnesota threshold is much higher, he said, and someone might have to attempt illegal entry numerous times before facing prosecution. Salyers said the threshold is not cast in stone. Rather, it is indicative of the workload a particular U.S. attorney's office faces, he said. In the southern states, for example, he said, the threshold can be very high. Still, for agents like Zimmerman, it can be frustrating at times when they catch an illegal alien repeatedly and have to let him go just as often. To him, deportation, as opposed to jail time, is just another chance for the illegal alien to try to cross again. Work continues As Tuesday night stretched into Wednesday morning, Salyers and his agents continued the case. As in all law enforcement, there were reams of paperwork to fill out. Most of the agents, except Salyers, worked until 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. He stayed until noon to call the attorneys. Even today, the case remains open as followup work is done. Not all nights turn out like Tuesday, Salyers said. There have been months when agents didn't see more than three arrests, he said. The same is true of the rest of the Grand Forks sector, according to Schweitzer. A lot of time, agents work all day and end up with nothing, he said. But, he said, What you were there to see, is why we're here. Contact Tran at 780-1248, (800) 477-6572, ext. 248, or ttran@gfherald.com. |
Illustration:Eric Hylden, staff photographer Dan Salyers, agent in charge of the Pembina Border Patrol station, uses a Starlite scope to search a popular crossing area for illegal entries into the United States near Pembina, N.D. U.S. Border Patrol agents capture a Portugese national south of Drayton, N.D. The man had entered the country illegally. |
 |
|
Copyright (c) 2002 Grand Forks Herald |
Doug Murray Productions / Border Films
CBC Infomatrix / CBC POV Sports
Vancouver BC Canada +1-604-728-1407
CBC Infomatrix / CBC POV Sports
Vancouver BC Canada +1-604-728-1407
Best Vancouver excuse for being late for
work:
"A movie was being shot and they detained me for continuity."
"A movie was being shot and they detained me for continuity."