Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-09
ALIEN SMUGGLING GIVES
GOVERNMENT PROBLEM
Limited Border Police Force Unable to
Check Flow Of Thousands Boot
legged" From Canada Yearly.

Another popular HlGlliOu VI AAAN
entry is to dress as rallroad hano
steal aboard a train bound for tie
limited States and thus escape lnspeC-
ton at the border. Freights usually
are chosen for this purpose, although
Messenger trains also carry GOOD many
aliens into the country. 49,
Others. fearful of Subjectlng them-
selves and their DISCUSSES 10 the gas
| of inspectors at recognized PoIts "a
entry select remote. unguardeo boroer
snotS for their attempts to enter: An
uninhabited forest, far from city or
town, supplies an admirable screen TO-
the activities of the smugglers. lone
| " section of shoreline on a lahe on
river, where boatload OF "contraoano
NAV be shipped over the nnc unuel
cover of darkness. is almost as gooo.
There are hundreds OF mics Oh "oo"'
and rivers and lakes adaptaoe Ior SUI
| cessful smuggling .,o
reached proportions of an international
business There are organized rings
which bring the intruders from Europe
| and smuggle them into America Tor
| snecified sums. per alien. OfttnneS the
! stine1d is $500 or even $1,000 per per-
son but the smuggler will take less,
providing he is sure the alien has no
more money to spend. Many OF the
| foreigners get into Canada ana the
United States disguised as Seamen. Inat
is. they sign on" as Seamen III Euro
pean ports solely for the purpose OF
reaching this side of the Atlantic, and
then deserving Ancient maritime rules
of the sea have served to clothe the
sailor in cloak of immunity. SO lar as
information immigration regulations go.
The old-time sailor had no home but
the sea. He was a citizen of the world.
And that cosmopolitan cltlzenShlp al
ways has been respected.
Modern oceanic transportation has
sounded the knell of the ancient mar
iner. however. The sailor of today may
know nothing of navigation, and yet
land a job on liner If he can stoke
boilers or clean cabins. or wash dishes
or do any thing of the hundred and one
other odd jobs to be found on big ships
of the present day, he is eligible to be-
come sailor" Too often the sailor of
today is using his position only as a
means of transportation, sans fare.
Two Kinds of Sailors.
immigration inspectors are unable
accurately to differentiate between the
bona flde seaman who is leaving one
ship in port to seek a better berth on
another ship, and the sailor who says
he is going to change ships, but intends
actually to desert the sea and seek his
fortune among the land lubbers.
To make matters worse with respect
to the Canadian border situation, the
British government recently announced
its intention of shipping 10000 UNI
employed miners to Canada for work in
f4a dc IL aI@
of the Canadian Northwest. American
immigration officials gasped when they
heard of this plan. They fear that the
miners will And agriculture in Canada
not SO profitable, or not SO much to
their liking for other reasons, and that
they will turn toward the United States
as a final goal
Commissioner Hull obtained a first
hand report on the border outlook dur
ing conferences with immigration off,
Gals at st. Johns, New Brunswick, and
Yarmouth and Halifax, Nova Scotia.
He visited also the northern border
patrols of Maine, New Hampshire and
Vermont.
THE immigration officers on border
patrol duty are doing wonderful work in
their efforts to keep out of the United
States aliens DESTROYS of entering" he
said. Pressure of aliens to get into this
country is increasing all the time. They
are adopting new and novel means for
getting over the border. AS a result
our border patrol forces are kept busy
all the time.
Neither the border patrol nor the
immigration inspectors are numerous
enough to cope with the situation. They
are, however, doing a very wonderful
work and are doing it despite the han
dicap of inadequate forces.
THE local authorities and the people
in general cooperate well with the i'm
migration officials in their endeavors to
exclude undesirable aliens. American
citizens are very helpful in furnishing
papers of Identification and in answer
ing all questions put to them in the
great majority of questions.
i found some minor cases, however,
where improvements in the service
| could be made and made suggestions
to the affected districts to put them
into effect wherever possible.
Il shall continue to recommend to
Congress a very large increase in the
force of border patrol and immigration
| inspectors. to the end that the Amer
lean immigration laws may receive
! proper enforcement"