Wednesday, May 5, 2021

5/2/21 In Human Smuggling, the Desperate Rely on the Despicable

On Friday, a complaint to local police about a kidnapping turned into an operation involving the ATF, DPS, FBI, and HPD in a Southwest Houston suburb. One neighbor counted 30 vehicles, with all the nearby roads blocked. Another said the first police to arrive kicked in the house door.

Inside the two-story rental, rumored to be 2,316 square feet, were 91 victims of human smuggling. They were packed into two sections of the house, which had mattresses lining the walls but very little other furniture. We don't know for sure yet, but they were likely waiting while the smugglers tried to extort more money from their families. One of those families may have contacted the police.
The people inside the house were all adults aged 20 to about 40, five of them women, and they were in bad shape. Some had trouble standing. Five tested positive for COVID, and one needed a stretcher. They hadn't eaten for some days. Police asked neighbors to help them provide food and water, and the police themselves chipped in for pizza. Meanwhile, a helicopter circled overhead.
We've all read about illegal immigrants being mistreated by crooked coyotes. Examples aren't hard to find. Last December, Houston police found 25 people being held in a boarded-up house, wearing only underwear. Police learned of the house only when a man escaped and ran for help. But it gets far, far worse. In summer 2017, a Walmart employee in San Antonio phoned police about a tractor-trailer in the store parking lot; inside the cargo box, eight people were dead from the heat and dozens of others were severely injured, with some permanently brain-damaged.
The more desperate people in Central America and southwards become, the more they are preyed upon by the most despicable people on earth. How can we help these people? It is an extremely complicated problem that begs for an effective response.
Update: There were 97 people inside the house. Five suspects have been arrested. 
Should we open more doors into the United States?
Should we help Central American nations to police themselves against drug organizations that are making it impossible to live in peace in small towns and city neighborhoods?
Should the US change its own drug policies -- literally, take down the price of drugs on the street so that there is less incentive for these criminal organizations to thrive?
Any other ideas?
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/crime/article/More-than-90-people-found-in-SW-Houston-home-16142223.php?fbclid=IwAR35w5i3Shxrux3JHfGxEi3t30HY4E6mO03Y5-ePp9dVeRjUnD9AKPJOl1g

No comments:

Post a Comment

8/28/21 Once Again, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is a COVID19 Super-Spreader

In 2020, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was linked to 649 COVID19 cases in 29 states, a CDC study said. In 2021, the rally did much the same t...