… from Canada. From the New York Times, :
But it was on the shores of the Niagara River, little more than a mile from the world-famous falls, that a small, inflatable, motor-powered raft was captured earlier this month, along with six adults and two children from India and Pakistan and the man accused of trying to smuggle them into this country.
While this locale is definitely not Miami or South Texas, the number of illegal immigrants trying to enter the United States here, by traversing the waterways and railroad bridges that separate much of New York from Canada, is actually growing.
This latest group failed largely because of security enhancements put in place after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, elevating from afterthought to priority the patrolling of a border long considered friendly.
“We treat everybody as a potential terrorist,” said Edward Duda, deputy chief of the Buffalo sector of the United States Border Patrol. “Anyone that crosses the border illegally, we treat them all equally.” …
Smuggling humans is a lucrative business, with passage from India or Pakistan into the United States costing as much as $40,000 for each adult, Mr. Woodside said.