Dominicans seized after illegal entry..headline in todays paper

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ms.mathilda

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Just read an article in the Buffalo News:
Eight illegal aliens from the Dominican Republic were taken into custody Thursday after a smuggler made two boat trips from Canada.

It also goes on to state (which I found somewhat humorous considering I don't think there are many Dominican terrorists or am i wrong?):
If there's anybody else...there's no danger to the community, no terrorist connections"

The attendant at Sturgeon Point marina spotted the people, none of whom appeared to be speaking English. Apparently the attendent saw 6 people getting out of a boat coming from Canada.

The boat was a small passenger boat without lights on at 3:30 AM.

so now i have some questions?
why would you make yourselves more suspicious with no lights on at night?
How did these people get all the way to Canada and then think they could get into Buffalo let alone the US and actually make it here?
How bad is life in the DR that these people would risk so much?!
Don't they know that Buffalo, NY is ice cold for 8 months out of the year? HELLO! (or a big part of the US is cold)
What did they think they were going to be doing here? shoveling snow out of people's driveways?
how do illegal immigrants make it especially not knowing English and with no identification.
please help me if I'm being naive
 

Jane J.

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Once they get to NYC, fuhggeddaboudit - they are pretty much home free. Probably have family and friends there, and even if they don't, there's a huge Dominican community in which to disappear. That's not to say that life would be easy without all the necessary credentials, but they probably have all kinds of fantasy notions of life in the USA.
 

Fred

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Illegals

I personally know of some Dominicans who have legal residence in Canada, aquired visas for the US. After visiting their families in the US, could not wait to come back to Canada.


Guess the US is not for everyone. Another reason that they go there is that their relatives tell everyone how GREAT they are doing. However, in reality they are not doing so well. Reminds me of a Dominican who asked me to take a picture of him beside a new Cadillac, I am sure he told his family, look here is my car..
 

AZB

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"How did these people get all the way to Canada and then think they could get into Buffalo let alone the US and actually make it here? " Ms. matilda

Let me ask you this: you don't really think that was the first boat attempt by the smugglers to bring in illegal aliens....or do you?
you see how it works is like this: these smugglers bring in people on regular bases and when they are at shore, they walk a distance to a road where a pick-up (getaway) car is waiting for them. Then they all get transported to NYC or to where-ever you desire to go. Most people pay one fixed fee for the whole trip, up to the door of the house.
This was one of the few boats that got caught, don't think if other didn't make it through.
 

Ken

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As far as ms. mathilda's question about making it, there are many low paying jobs available to undocumented aliens in the big cities, whether they be Dominicans, Mexicans, or some other nationality. And for Domincans, as one of the other posters indicated, there is a major support structure in place, given the number of Dominicans already living there.

Sooner or later they master enough English to get along and more than likely obtain papers from one source or another. They then begin to move up the income scale and start sending money home to prepare for the day when they return to live in style.

In the interim, when they come back for a visit, there is no indication of the struggle they are experiencing. And the amount of gold jewelry they are wearing attests to their "success". Making the "show" possible is the fact that when one of the 4 or 5 Dominicans sharing a cheap apartment goes home for a visit, all the others loan him the few pieces of gold jewelry they have managed to acquire. The fact that most of the gold is borrowed is not mentioned, however, by the visitor. Not surprising, the stories and wealth displayed by the visitor prompts others to make the trip to Puerto Rico in a yola.
 

ms.mathilda

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azb

how much do these illegal immigrants usually pay smugglers do you think? i would think it would be in the thousands.
and no, i don't think that this doesn't happen all the time. I'm sure it does.
Ken- your reply made me laugh about all the gold! how long do you think the average illegal dominican lives here and then goes back? do you think the majority do eventually leave or try to make it here? just curious about this topic...
thanks
Mattie
 

Fred

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Illegal Aliens

The ones that I was talking about had legal residence in Canada, but felt that they could get a better deal in the US. However, they quickly returned.

What I would like to know is how these people caught the other day, got to Canada in the first place, visitor's visas are almost impossible to get for Canada, never mind the US. So then how did they get there?

Furthermore, why, if they already had welfare(false economic refugee benefits) would they make a bee line for the US? Did they really think that they could stay in the US, when they already had a chance in Canada?

Now there is a lesson to be learned for those wishing to live in the DR. I wonder why so many want to leave?
 

Ken

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ms.mathilda.....

No idea what the average stay in the US is of an undocumented Dominican. But I'm sure at least some stay a long time. For example, I can recall hearing reports about the 9/11 disaster and compensation funds established for survivors and their beneficiaries that among those killed were a number of Dominicans working in restaurants in the twin towers. Many of the families of these victims, it was said, were afraid to report the deceased of a family member or seek funds for fear that they would be deported.

With respect to returning to the DR, I'm certain that nearly all of the Dominicans in the US and Canada, whether legal or not, dream of returning to live in the DR. This country has a very strong pull. There are many, many Dominicans living here who retired from jobs in offices, manufacturing plants, etc., in the US and have come back to live comfortably in the DR.
 

Tony C

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I know of a few people who make quite a nice living smuggling people from the DR, Cuba and Haiti into the US. The amount of Illegals from those countries is hard to pin down but is obviously much more than what the US Gov. cares to admit.
I am sure that in NY it is as easy as in Miami to get "papers" to work and enjoy the fruits of the US economy.
As for Dominicans in the US wanting to go back o the DR...I know of quite a few Dominicans(My wife included) that have no desire whatsover of returning. They are happy to go back and visit friends and family but want to stay in the US!

Tony C.
 

ms.mathilda

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just saw on the news

the Dominicans in handcuffs that were caught. It said that they paid the smugglers 2,000 each to get here. I don't know if they had visas for Canada. The article said they face criminial charges of entry without inspection and possible administrative charges related to their immigration status. What do you think this means?
They all looked like very young men and women (early 20's maybe).
I have no idea how they got to Canada first without Visas
anyone have any ideas?
Mattie
 

AZB

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Let me tell you how easy it is to get into USA.
I knew 3 sisters who are living in santiago. One day, 2 sisters disappeared without notice. I kept asking the 3rd one the tell me of the where-abouts of the other 2. She would make unsensible excuses but later admitted that they both were in NYC. I was amazed at the fact that these poor girls were able to get visas so easily. But after further insistance she admitted that the sisters left for USA on other girls' passports. Girls who looked like them and were of the similar height and weight. I was surprised that both were able to pass through immigration even with the post 9/11 security protocols.
I was assured that this happens all the time. The smugglers bring in passports with visas attached and then contact people who are interested in travelling to USA. The girls / guys who match the looks on the picture get the preference.
Unfortunately, these girls decided to come back as the cold froze all their hopes of living in luxury with their hard working illegal boyfriends in manhattan. The grass wasn't greener on the other side of the fence (for these 2 girls).
So to travel to USA can be as easy as traveling on someone else's passport and pass right through the immigration without speaking a word of english.
 

Fred

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Find that hard to believe

I find your example hard to believe, US Customs officials for the most part are highly trained. They have seen every type of excuse and trick. I think that they can differentiate between someones passport photo.

By the way, my wife is also Dominican and also has no desire to return to the DR to live. Visit once and an while but not to return to live. She prefers Canada.
 

RON

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I ONLY LIVE ABOUT 30 MILES FROM WHERE THEY LANDED AND HAD THEY TRAVELED A LITTLE FARTHER WEST THEY WERE HOME FREE. THE COAST GUARD ONLY HAS ONE BOAT STATIONED OUT OF BUFFALO AND ONE OUT OF ERIE PENNSYLVANIA AND THEY DON'T PATROL LAKE ERIE IN BETWEEN UNLESS A DISTRESS SIGNAL IS SENT. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT 100 MILES OF OPEN WATER AND A LOT OF OTHER PORTS ALONG THE SHORE WHERE THEY COULD HAVE LANDED. SOMEONE DIDN'T DO THEIR HOMEWORK. I HAVE TRAVELED ACROSS LAKE ERIE TO CANADA (ABOUT 28 MILES ACROSS) A FEW TIMES AND NEVER ENCOUNTERED A PATROL BOAT. WE WENT TO A COUPLE OF RESTAURANTS AND ENJOYED A FEW DRINKS AND FOOD, THEN RETURNED HOME. IT BEATS THE 100-PLUS MILES IT TAKES BY CAR (ROUND TRIP) AND CUSTOMS TO GET THERE. I HOPE THAT EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED SINCE 9-11 AND THE SHORES OF LITTLE LAKE ERIE ARE BETTER PATROLLED. CANADA AND U.S. ENJOY THE LAKE, LETS KEEP IT SAFE!!!!!!!
 

AnnaC

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Still doesn't answer the question of how they got into Canada in the first place but then remember after 9/11 they discovered a print shop in Toronto that was making false passports and citizen papers. Perhaps they made them for many more countries than the middle east
 

suarezn

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Fred,

You're a bit naive. For any trick INS agents are trained on, there are two or three others being developed by people involved in the trade of illegals. I know of several people who have come to the US using someone else's passport/visa. I think it's become harder to forge documents as technology has advanced, but people still find the way to do it. As long as there's a large disparity in income between countries, there will be people inmigrating, legally and illegaly, and there's nothing anybody can do about it. Also as long as there's money to be made there will be providers of false passports, visas, etc. and let me tell you there's big money to be made from these illegal trips. For example to go to Puerto Rico on a boat, you can expect to pay between 7 to 15000 pesos. This is the cheapest way. They put in about 80-100 people on these boats, even though you're not supposed to have more than 30-40. They can make about a trip per week. So you can see how much money these people can make. If you want a "safer" way then you can expect to pay about 100,000 pesos. You can either get a visa to Panama and then go from there through Central America and Mexico, or just buy a visa from a corrupt American consul (Yes, they do have them). Other ways are to change the picture in the passport, to go on a ship (with or without the crew's knowledege), go with some rich person who owns a yatch and travels to and from the DR to Miami, Puerto Rico, etc., get a visa to Curacao and then a boat to St. Thomas or any other US virgin island, get a tourist visa to Canada, or Mexico and slip across the border, etc, etc, etc... As you can see there are a gazillion way for people to make it to the US...
 
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Fred

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Illegals

Maybe I am a bit naive, however, it is almost impossible for Dominicans to get vistor's visas for Canada. How did they get here? The only way is by boat, and from where? They could not come through the regular channels, otherwise they would have been caught.

Foolish enough if they came to Canada as fake(political as opposed to economic refugees) with all the benfits gracias al gobierno canadiense, and then try to get to the US Very very stupid.
 

suarezn

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Fred: A lot of these people do not want the little money they can get from the government. Most of them probably mortgaged their house, land etc. to make the trip so getting a few hundred dollars a month is not what they came to North America for. They come to get rich...quick. So, what they want is to make it to NY, Boston, Philly, Miami or some other town like that, where there's action of the other kind...if you know what I mean. A few of them will make it, at least for a while...go back to The Dr in about a year in their brand new Lexus or Mercedes, spend all kinds of money, get every girl in town, and continue to perpetuate the cycle, because guess what? Those people they used to hang out with in the DR, when they were poor, a year earlier, now want to desperately come so they can too "make it", and I don't blame them. I've seen this happen so many times it's not even funny. Just in my street alone (In Cotui), there are probably 40 people like this. It is so bad that in my hometown, anybody left between 25 and 40 years of age, either is so poor that cannot afford the trip by boat to Puerto Rico, or is doing well enough to not want to come to the US, or most likely has already been to the US and been deported, or has "issues" that prevent him/her from coming back...
Speaking from experience...and putting in overtime to try to make it to 100 posts...hehe
 
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Fred

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Getting Rich Quick

There is no such thing as getting rich quick, unless you wil the lottery.

Most of the Dominicans that I know are not doing so well. How can anyone expect to buy a Mercedes or Lexus after one year?
 

AnnaC

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How do you buy a lexus after one year on 6.95 an hour? If you have no skills in the D.R. your not going to make it anywhere else. Even selling drugs can't be that profitable in a year.
 

AZB

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They just don't get it.

SuraezN, save it, there are some people who just won't get your point. Just look at the the 2 people who find your account to be so difficult to believe, look where they live.
You people (the 2 of you) will be shocked to see what people actually go through to fool the authorities. Some times a simple trick as using someone else's picture will get you through or changing the picture itself or even putting someone else's visa page into your passport to get by. Many people get caught but a great majority will pass through. Just imagine 4 747 jumbo jets landing at kennedy airport with hundreds of people from each plane lining up at the immigration. You think the agents have time to check each and every passenger in detail? Even the ones who fit the profile? They do check certain number of people but not all. Many illegal aliens do their home work before hand to avoid certain situations or to get out of certain situations. These illegal alien smugglers are way ahead of the authorities and keep inventing different avenues to get into a desired country.
About getting rich: its simple. Some people actually get into drug trade and make big bucks in a short time. Many have come back to DR and live like rich chopos. San francisco de macoris is famous for rich drug lords from NY. In a small city like this, you will see many expensive houses and new luxury cars. I hope you people don't think they made all thatm money from working in a colmado in NYC?
There is a young guy in santiago who has opened up a multimillion Pesos (about 15 million to be exact) restaurant. His inaguration alone was worth a million pesos. I guess he is about 25 years old and makes big bucks in santiago by charging NYC prices for his food / drinks. Now tell me this: you think he made his money by working hard? I do know for sure that he didn't win the lotto.
 
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