Smuggling of humans moves east of mountains

By Tom Banse
Northwest News Network

Border Patrol agents are used to finding people hiding in vans coming across the southern border. But it's definitely out of the ordinary on our border with British Columbia. There's been a spike of human smuggling into the inland Northwest - primarily of South Koreans.

Some things just didn't seem right to the Border Patrol near Bonners Ferry, Idaho that night at the beginning of last April. Patrol agent in charge Sintha Figueroa was rousted to go out into the north Idaho cold.

"At this time of night, a rental vehicle out of California in the middle of winter. That's got all the red flags up," she says.

The motor home was driving south from Canada, but no one at the border saw it cross.

"They made the vehicle stop right around here by the school. So at this point, turn the lights on and pull it over," said Figueroa.

What happened next on the highway shoulder outside Bonners Ferry turned into one of the biggest human smuggling busts in the inland Northwest. Everything followed from simple questions of the driver, Figueroa recalls.

"Is there anybody else in the vehicle with you? Yes, got a few people in the back. Who are they? Don't know, just picked them up. Can we take a look in the back? They gave consent. So we opened it up and there were all the people."

Thirteen South Korean women and one man from young to middle aged.

"And they're all laying down so they couldn't be seen,” Figueroa says. “Nobody tried to run. They had no idea where they were. A change of clothes is all they had with them."

In court proceedings, it emerged the women were destined for Los Angeles.

Since 2002, Border Patrol agents have nabbed 172 South Koreans sneaking across the border into eastern Washington, north Idaho and adjacent Montana. Before, they rarely met any. Which raises all sorts of questions. Why Koreans? Why the inland Northwest? Why now?

"It's so interesting,” says Daniela Resh of the Refugee Women's Alliance in Seattle. “Why don't stay in Canada? Why I mean, Canada is a great nation as well. It has great economic value just as much as the United States."

Resh says part of the explanation stems from a quirk in immigration laws. South Koreans can visit Canada without a visa, and for some it becomes a handy transfer point.

"I think there's something to do -- I've noticed this with other trafficking clients that we've had - is that there's this glamorization of America where they see these images of very wealthy people. America is where it's at," she says.

Resh says some illegal immigrants go deep into debt to pay the smuggling fee. Then the smuggling rings compel their clients to work off the debt as prostitutes or servants in places like Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

Border Patrol spokesman Lonnie Moore in Spokane estimates about half of the intercepted Koreans are trafficking victims and the other half are trying to reunite with family already here. He says smugglers moved to inland Northwest routes about the same time there were big increases in border security in western Washington.

"There was already an established organized smuggling organization working on the western side of Washington. It seemed that organization specialized in Koreans,” says Moore. “So when it got tough going over there, of course they want to follow the path of least resistance, so they moved a little further east and tried to come here."

But what the smugglers may not have realized is that border patrols inland tripled after 9/11 as well. Moore says Border Patrol stats suggest the smuggling into the inland Northwest peaked two years ago and is tailing off now.

"We had sufficient manpower and resources to identify that happening within our area of operation and prevent them from becoming comfortable here," Moore says.

No one believes the smuggling rings have given up trying to get illegals across the northern border. But the Border Patrol and refugee advocates can't say what the preferred pathway is now.

Bill to license raw milk producers passes state Senate

By Elizabeth Wynne Johnson
Northwest News Network

On Tuesday, Washington’s Senate passed a bill that requires so-called “cow share” programs – those that sell unpasteurized, or raw, milk to be licensed by the state just like other dairies.

When it’s sold in stores, un-pasteurized milk is regulated. But it’s not widely available. A growing number of raw milk enthusiasts get their supply from cow-shares. Until recently, George Calvert operated one near Spokane. For forty dollars, you could buy a share in one of his five cows. You’d also pay a monthly fee for milking. It’s the service – not the product – that you’re buying. Cow-shares aren’t subject to regulations and inspections because they’re technically not selling the milk. It’s legal, and Calvert thinks it should stay that way.

“I feel like if you decided that you wanted to come here and look at what I do and decide that you want to drink milk, and you bought a share in the cow and it’s your cow and you hired me to milk the cow for you, you ought to be able to do that. But that’s not what the state wants,” says Calvert.

Cow-share agreements came under scrutiny late last year, when an E. coli outbreak sickened eighteen people in western Washington and Oregon. The incident prompted several lawmakers to draft bills to close what they view as the loophole that allows cow-share farms to avoid regulation. Calvert has put his raw milk business on hold. He’s worried the state may soon demand equipment upgrades costing as much as ten thousand dollars. So he pours eight gallons of creamy white liquid into buckets for a calf and some pigs.

“It’s now pig milk,” he says with a soft laugh. “And the pigs love milk.”

He’ll keep only what he can drink himself. Calvert swears by the benefits of raw milk. He says it’s tastier, easier to digest, and richer in nutrients and enzymes. But public health officials tend to focus on the risks.

“There’s campylobacter, salmonella. There’s yersinia, listeria, tuberculosis, you name it, there’s a lot of these bacteria that can actually live in the rich nutrient environment of raw milk,” says Clark County public health doctor Justin Denny.

Denny worked on the E. coli outbreak that got lawmakers energized to take action against raw milk.

From a pubic health perspective, having 15 kids ill, 5 of whom are hospitalized – three in critical condition – you know, we’re advocating for the safety of our community. And this is a preventable source of infection,” Denny says.

He thinks it’s a good idea for the state to do something. But small operators worry that regulators will treat farms with one or two cows the same as large-scale commercial operations.

“It is a reactionary law, I think, to try to show the people of WA that the government is serious about protecting the public health,” says Chrys Ostrander, a spokesman for the Washington Association of Shareholder Dairy Owners.

Ostrander wants the state to create separate guidelines for farmers who produce raw milk from only a handful of cows.

“The micro-dairy can produce a safe product. But it doesn’t necessarily have to have all the facilities and equipment that a larger dairy has,” he says.

Ostrander is reluctant to specify what the requirements should be, saying that officials and stakeholders are still working it out. He hopes to convince lawmakers to hold off on passing any new laws in 2006. That could be time the public needs to get better informed about the potential risks and benefits of enjoying a tall, cold glass of raw milk.

County Mental Health Manager ponders future

By John Vlahovich, Spokane Public Radio

Rebuffed in its request for continued state financial support, Spokane County’s mental health care management agency will see if becoming part of another, larger Regional Support Network changes its fortunes.

The Spokane Regional Support Network, or RSN – run by Spokane County’s Community Services office – manages community-based mental health and community inpatient care. Much of the money with which it pays local service providers comes via contracts with Washington’s Department of Social and Health Services.

A month ago, however, the state agency turned down the local agency’s bid for continued state mental health care funding. A protest to state officials went nowhere.

DSHS is allowing the Spokane RSN to file a second funding application next month. It would have to compete for the state contract with other interested parties, including privately owned health care managers.

But County Community Services director Christine Barada Tuesday suggested rather than competing for state funding, Spokane’s RSN might be better off merging with another of the state’s Regional Support Networks.

She says it’s possible Spokane could gain clout with DSHS by being part of a larger organization, cut its costs, and at the same time offer local mental health patients more provider options.

A regional merger would not affect the local sales tax voters approved last year. Barada says that money would continue to be spent only for mental health care in Spokane County.