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Sri Lankan nationals detained at McAllen(Texas) airport
The Monitor ^ | January 12, 2009 | Jeremy Roebuck

Posted on 01/13/2009 4:54:29 PM PST by SwinneySwitch

McALLEN -- A man accused of aiding three Sri Lankan nationals to enter the country illegally is set to make an early court appearance this morning.

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Suresh Suntharalingam, 38, of Canada, on Wednesday, after customs inspectors at McAllen-Miller International Airport found him holding plane tickets for the three illegal immigrants carrying fake Canadian identification cards.

The men later told authorities that their families had paid $32,000 to Suntharalingam to guide them to Canada through Mexico and the United States.

After flying into Mexico City and traveling to the border, the group snuck across the Rio Grande by boat on Dec. 28. They had been living in a McAllen hotel ever since, according to a criminal complaint filed in Suntharalingam's case.

It was not immediately clear Monday whether Suntharalingam had retained an attorney. He declined to answer investigators' questions without a lawyer.

All four men made their initial appearances in federal court Thursday and spoke with the judge via a teleconference with a translator fluent in Tamil, one of two official languages in Sri Lanka.

Fighting between the Sri Lankan military and paramilitary groups such as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has increased across the country since January 2008, according to a U.S. State Department travel warning issued last month.

Bomb explosions in densely populated areas have killed dozens of civilians in the island nation off the southwest Indian coast.

Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.


TOPICS: Canada; Crime/Corruption; Mexico; News/Current Events; US: Texas; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: aliens; canadians; immigrantlist; immigration; mexicans; otms; smuggling; srilanka
It's an International Speedway!
1 posted on 01/13/2009 4:54:30 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
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To: SwinneySwitch

The weakest link in these borders was the US border with Mexico. We need to finish the fence.


2 posted on 01/13/2009 5:00:38 PM PST by Oldexpat (Drill Here, Drill There..we must drill everywhere.)
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To: fanfan; AuntB; BGHater; SisterK; Kimberly GG; ronnyquest; Cvengr; CPT Clay; MNDude; BellStar; ...

Rio Grande ping!

If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.


3 posted on 01/13/2009 5:02:02 PM PST by SwinneySwitch (Mexico - beyond your expectations.)
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To: SwinneySwitch; fanfan
"...their families had paid $32,000 to Suntharalingam to guide them to Canada through Mexico and the United States. "

So, is Canada cracking down harder than the US on illegal immigration these days?
4 posted on 01/13/2009 5:19:54 PM PST by Liberty Valance (Keep a simple manner for a happy life ;o)
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To: SwinneySwitch

Swinney - I’ve been reading excerpts online from this book (Patrolling Chaos) about the McAllen Sector of the Border Patrol in S. Texas. Some riveting episodes we usually hear nothing about ie the bad guys are watching us closely.
http://books.google.com/books?id=nyRq6rBd47kC&pg=PA142&lpg=PA142&dq=othal+brand&source=bl&ots=yP0MBiAqSr&sig=hM45LhuXpxZBvjlKNdhA5NWjChM&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=result#PPP1,M1


5 posted on 01/13/2009 5:32:21 PM PST by Liberty Valance (Keep a simple manner for a happy life ;o)
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To: Liberty Valance; SwinneySwitch; GMMAC; Clive; exg; kanawa; backhoe; -YYZ-; Former Proud Canadian; ..
So, is Canada cracking down harder than the US on illegal immigration these days?

Neither government is cracking down on it to my satisfaction. Why do you ask?

Thanks for the ping SwinneySwitch.

6 posted on 01/13/2009 5:45:06 PM PST by fanfan (Update on Constitutional Crisis in Canada.....Click user name)
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To: SwinneySwitch

Thanks again for the ping. Sure is a lot of money just for a ride. Would not think that Sri Lankans have that kind of money to burn. Hhhhmmmmm.....What’s up?


7 posted on 01/13/2009 6:12:22 PM PST by SisterK (UN Headquarters should relocate to Iran)
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To: SwinneySwitch

Have I got this right? Canadians are sneeking people through Mexico to get here......kinda blows the open border theory that terrorists will only come through Canada, doesn’t it?


8 posted on 01/13/2009 6:55:52 PM PST by AuntB (The right to vote in America: Blacks 1870; Women 1920; Native Americans 1925)
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To: fanfan

Canada is cracking down on Canadian citizens. My wife is a Canadian citizen who was born in Germany while her father was stationed there. She applied for her new Canadian passport in August of 2008 sending in her Certificate of Registration of birth paperwork, the immigration card received at Pier 21 and a DND birth certificate with the application. When the passport arrived here it included what my sister-in-law called a snotgram informing my wife that because her Certificate of Registration of Birth Abroad was showing signs of age she would have to apply for a Canadian Citizenship card at a cost of $75 before April 9,2009. Checking on the Immigration Canada website you can imagine our disgust that the time given for a card to be received is between 12 and 18 months! So much for Canadians! hmppphh


9 posted on 01/13/2009 7:15:10 PM PST by Chief Engineer
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To: Chief Engineer
Canada is cracking down on Canadian citizens.

Good luck with all that, Chief Engineer!

You "hope" to see the certificate before 18 months have passed? I'm sorry to be the one to inform you that if you and your wife don't stay on top of this, you'll be lucky to see it in less that three years!

My husband needed his proof of citizenship shortly after 9/11.

OK, granted, it must have been busy at the time, but still. We paid our $75, and.......3 1/2 years later, his "papers" showed up.

So much for Canadians! hmppphh

;-) It's bureaucracy, and it's everywhere.

10 posted on 01/13/2009 7:36:00 PM PST by fanfan (Update on Constitutional Crisis in Canada.....Click user name)
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To: fanfan

less that = less than


11 posted on 01/13/2009 7:38:34 PM PST by fanfan (Update on Constitutional Crisis in Canada.....Click user name)
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To: fanfan

My wife is picturing a little old lady hunched over a desk above a coal plant in Sydney, her coke bottle glasses sliding down her nose as she yields her trusty number 2 pencil going over each i and t in each application form. Bureaucrats will be the death of us all!


12 posted on 01/13/2009 7:54:06 PM PST by Chief Engineer
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To: Chief Engineer; null and void; Lady Jag
.....When the passport arrived here it included what my sister-in-law called a snotgram informing my wife.....

That comment deserved it's own reply!

ROFLOL! Great wording CE.

13 posted on 01/13/2009 7:56:13 PM PST by fanfan (Update on Constitutional Crisis in Canada.....Click user name)
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To: Chief Engineer

That little old lady is the only thing keeping the NET and NWO from taking over.

She keeps real records.


14 posted on 01/13/2009 8:02:13 PM PST by fanfan (Update on Constitutional Crisis in Canada.....Click user name)
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To: fanfan; Chief Engineer; null and void

Snot right.


15 posted on 01/13/2009 8:14:49 PM PST by Lady Jag (NOW MORE THAN EVER https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate)
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