Whatever.
Posted on 02/02/2012 9:04:30 PM PST by moonshinner_09
Five people are charged in a plot to employ African Americans from Compton to avert suspicion when bringing illegal immigrants across the border. In the calculus of cross-border human smuggling, Maria Lopez-Diaz allegedly concluded that black instead of brown equals green.
The 60-year-old Compton woman, prosecutors say, tried to cash in on racial profiling by operating a human smuggling ring that hired mostly African American drivers who didn't speak a word of Spanish to ferry small groups of immigrants from Mexico to Los Angeles.
In the end, the venture failed. Authorities announced charges Thursday against Lopez-Diaz and four others, including conspiracy and transporting and harboring illegal immigrants. Lopez-Diaz, two family members and a driver were arrested by agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol.
A second driver facing a conspiracy charge, 32-year-old Yvette "Hazel" Binford, remains at large.
Authorities said the group's approach was the latest innovation they have seen in the evolving trade of sneaking illegal immigrants into the United States.
"It's absolutely true that most of the people involved in transporting human smuggling networks are Hispanics, by virtue of the fact that most customers are Hispanics," said ICE Special Agent in Charge Claude Arnold. "This organization thought, 'What if we recruited those who attract less attention from law enforcement?' Obviously they were wrong."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
It sounds more like the ICE agent was wrong. It wasn’t specifically the black drivers that exposed the smuggling ring. It was, however, the pattern that led ICE to that particular ring. Had the ring been better-organized, the scam would have worked as intended. It would be interesting to know how many of their carloads were ignored by LEOs due to the black driver once they made it past the border.
Doesn’t this prove that it is proper law enforcement techniques and not racial profiling, that sheriff Joe and his deputies (and Border Patrol) employ?
>> In the end, the venture failed.
Drivers never showed up for work?
That’s not an illegal in there, that’s a bald white dude posing in the compartment. Must have been the newb, can’t imagine volunteering to do it. :p
I’ve yet to see a strong logical argument against profiling.
It’s worked well for the Israelis, from what I gather.
This is the money quote:
“There were two layers of exploitation here, one of the aliens in the trunks coming up to Los Angeles, and then of the drivers they used,” said U.S. Assistant Atty. Rupa Goswami, the federal prosecutor in the case.
It turns out that the VICTIMS of exploitation include the customers and perpetrators! Those poor Mexicans entering the country illegally AND the poor exploited drivers who brought them in.
Fancy that. I have a different idea who the victims were...
Kit.
Whatever.
I think it proves only that proper law enforcement techniques worked here.
This case offers no evidence to disprove that X% of cars driven by “brown” drivers are smuggling illegals, or whether they are or are not the most likely color of driver to be smuggling illegals.
Yep, whatever...
What probably happened was that the black drivers got racially profiled for drug running, the cops made all the Mexicans get out of the vehicle, searched it for drugs and finding none, let all the Mexicans get back in and drive off.
the ringleaders charged the [illegal] immigrants up to $4,000 a person for the ride north
Also, how are penniless illegal immigrants coming up with $4000? That's got to be near a years income for them.
The smugglers require payment from future wages.
If they don't pay up, the smugglers threaten the family members left behind.
That’s harsh dude...
Remittences from family and “loan” from the smugglers.
That doesn’t make sense. Are you saying the smugglers don’t get paid upfront?
How do the smugglers track an illegal alien? Once gone they could be working anywhere as anyone.
“Check out the pic of the illegal in Engine Compartment , LOl”
They must have been inspired by the Trunk Monkey commercials.
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