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 News from Around the Americas | May 2005 
Border Patrol Arresting More Central, South American Immigrants
 Roxanne Lerma - Team4News.com
| | With clothing kept in dry in plastic bags, illegal border crossers enter the United States across the Rio Grande River in Brownsville, Texas from Mexico. After crossing the river into the United States, the dry clothing can be worn so the crossers will not stand out in wet clothing to border agents. (Photo: Jack Gruber) |
Just a few years back, Brazilian captures in the Rio Grande Valley were a rarity. However, recent U.S. Border Patrol figures show it's now become the norm.
"One of the reasons we have so many Brazilians here is that Brazilians do not need a passport to travel through Mexico," said Supervisory Agent Roy Cervantes.
"So they're able to travel through Mexico with just a visitor's permit until they reach the U.S. Mexican border."
In fact, Central and South American immigrants, with Brazilians leading the pack could soon surpass Mexicans as the largest group of undocumented immigrants trying to bypass our border illegally.
Take a look at the dramatic shift.
In 2003, just over 1,000 Brazilian illegals were captured in South Texas. Over 5,000 were arrested nationwide.
This fiscal year, Border Patrol reports that out of the 17,000 Brazilians taken into custody nationwide -- over 12,600 of them have been detained here in the Valley.
Agent Cervantes said, "these arrests are in terms of enforcement showing the success of the operations we've implemented in the Rio Grande Valley sector."
Arturo Salgado, a spokesperson for the Mexican Consulate in McAllen says Brazilians and migrants from other countries are taking advantage of lax visa requirements to illegally enter the U.S.
Salgado says the Mexican government plans to crack down on illegals that use Mexico as a jumping point.
In the next few weeks Brazilians will be required to have a visa before entering Mexico legally.
There's some concern about safety at the border so both countries or in this case three countries have to be dealing with the problem.
While the U.S. Border Patrol considers every illegal entry a threat to homeland security, agents say it's important to mention that Brazil has been removed from the list of "special interest countries" that could be catering to terrorists. |
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