[Dryerase] The Alarm!--Border briefs

[The Alarm!Newswire]

Border Brefs

“Other” Policy Hits Targets
Beginning last month, on the anniversary of 9/11, the US established a 
third line for people to stand in at ports of entry: “other.” Where 
once the lines were simply “citizen” or “non-citizen,” there is now 
this new line for travelers to ponder: Who is the “other?”

At the “other” line, visitors must be photographed and fingerprinted 
before entering the US. This “other” line was established for Muslim 
men ages 16–45 who are from a list of 26 countries. These “other” men 
are deemed “security risks” by the National Security Entry-Exit 
Registration System and are deemed target aliens to be monitored.

The new policy to target Muslim men requires that visas not be issued 
to these men until their application is approved by officials in 
Washington, DC. Though the visa process is supposed to take 30 days, 
this new process of individually handling each application drags on 
much longer.

Recently, Iowa State University reported that its physics department 
lost one third of it incoming graduate students because of related visa 
matters. Many other campuses have reported a similar situation.

Bodies from Train Unidentifiable
DENISON, NE, October 14, 2002—Eleven bodies were discovered in a sealed 
grain hopper 60 miles northwest of Omaha. Investigators believe the 
people found were likely the victims of a smuggling operation that went 
wrong.

According to authorities, the grain hopper left Matamoros, Mexico in 
June bound for the US. When discovered in Nebraska, four months later, 
the vehicle’s door were sealed from the outside with no evidence of 
food or water inside.

The severe state of decomposition made it impossible for the medical 
examiner to determine either age or gender on any of the individuals. 
It is believed that the victims succombed to any combination of heat, 
exhaustion, suffication, dehydration and/or asphyxiation. Attempts to 
identify the bodies and cause of death are underway—the grain hopper 
has been transported to Omaha for the investigation.

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