Chattanooga police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials believe two people found hiding in a Chattanooga backyard today were victims of an apparent “coyote” ransom scam, according to a police spokesman.
Police were put onto the scheme when residents in a home in the 100 block of Morningside Drive spotted two people in their backyard apparently hiding, said Sgt. Jerri Weary, police spokeswoman. The residents reported seeing a third person with a gun nearby.
When police interviewed the two alleged abductees, they said that 15 days ago they paid a man to transport them from Valdosta, Ga., to Oklahoma City to search for work. But once they arrived in Oklahoma, they were kidnapped and told that their families would have to pay $15,000 for their freedom, Sgt. Weary said.
When being transferred from one vehicle to another in Chattanooga, the pair was able to break away and run to the home on Morningside Drive where they hid behind a house.
Police have apprehended one suspect. His name has not been released.
“Investigators from the Chattanooga Police Department and ICE are working together to get more information about the human trafficking scam,” Sgt. Weary said. “Because this is a crime that crosses several jurisdictions and state lines, charges can quickly add up.”
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We should endorse the federal SAVE ACT (H.R.4088) that would add real, razor sharp teeth to state immigration laws. We need more enforcement to stop the interdiction of trucks bringing in drugs and illegal immigrants into America. Funding is being cut by the Democrats, so they can gut the border fence and stop the enactment of the Federal SAVE ACT. An army of ICE agents, twenty thousand more border patrol along with massive funding, to supply helicopters, spy probes and other equipment for internal enforcement. The e-verify data base the Fed's are using has a 90.5 success rate. It would be a major deterrent against pariah employers, who hire illegal workers. Its pennies of what taxpayers are unknowingly spending now. We need 'no tolerance' enforcement, that will give maximum arrest and detainment of predator employers of illegal immigrants.
A new AMNESTY is in the works from Senator Obama, McCain which will flood America with even more of poor, illiterate foreign labor. Those who steal across our perforated fence, includes the criminal element with a third world country mentality. Each day citizens are slain on the roads of America, by drunk illegal drivers. Then we have the street gangs protected by 'Sanctuary cities' like Los Angeles. The unsuppressed news reports will tell you about the child pedophiles, female assaults, murders, robbers and Social security theft. Our government secretly skims from your payroll checks, 356 billion dollars annually to support the illegal immigration occupation of our nation. Unfortunately this is not all, because this doesn't take into account expenditure on education, health care or our overcrowded prison system. More unsuppressed facts at NUMBERSUSA. Join for free hundreds of thousands of others who have had enough of the invasion.
Isn't it time illegal immigrants who reenter the United States, after being deported by a judges order should be imprisoned? For every reentry doubling their years to be locked up. May be Sioux Falls needs a Sheriff like Joe Ariapo of Maricopa County, Arizona. All those locked up live in tent cities and earn their food and shelter, by clearing brush. Read some unsuppressed facts on the costs of illegal immigration at NUMBERSUSA. Join for free hundreds of thousands of others who have had enough of the invasion.
Make your Democratic representative sponsor the federal SAVE ACT (4088) before it's to late, to save AMERICA.
Anonymous, have you lost your mind? An army of ICE agents? Helicopters? Spy Probes?
People who immigrate to this country are hard-working, resourceful, and a vital part of our economy.
The reason so many are here illegally is because legal avenues of entry are littered with obstacles created by inefficient government and outdated laws. Our immigration laws clearly do not meet the needs of our nation.
Immigrants, both those here legally, and illegally are a vital part of our community, and should be welcomed.
You say we should jail the 20 million illegal immigrants? You'll need a quite a bit more than an Army.
You want to build a wall? Not on my dime! I like Latin women. I think they all ought to immigrate here.
This country is a nation of immigrants; always has been, and more importantly, always will be. Deal with it.
What is a “coyote” ransom scam anyways?
A google search of "coyote ransom" returns 8 hits, mostly related to a Cherokee artist.
Oh I see... Coyotes smuggle illegal immigrants into the country and then kidnap them in a effort to get more money from relatives, often still in their country of origin.
http://www.latinalista.net/phoenix/2008/06/coyotes_increasingly_holding_undocumente.html
You have GOT to be kidding, right Mingo, when you said, "The reason so many are here illegally is because legal avenues of entry are littered with obstacles created by inefficient government and outdated laws. Our immigration laws clearly do not meet the needs of our nation."?
You evidently don't know what those laws you think so little of actually do. They limit [or used to] the number of immigrants coming in so we are not flooded with those who refuse to be assimilated into our mainstream [sound familiar?] This keeps us from being Balkinized and turning into hyphenated Americans who despise those outside their little niche group [or again, it used to].
We are no longer the melting pot of which you speak when you compare yesterday's assimilated immigrants with today's leaches. You say the illegals are a vital part of our economy -- vital only so far as the amount of money they drain from the system developed for the improvement of our country. Vital in that very, very few of them finish high school, most stop at 10th grade. Vital in that they are actually rather low-grade workers who, speaking little if any English, are unable to learn [if they even want to].
I grew up in Los Angeles where illegals were always a problem -- although one must say they picked a lot of fruit and veggies for a low wage. Even to the 4th generation here, their kids still spoke with a heavy Mexican accent. What kind of way is that to treat your kids, I ask? Great job, mamacita/papacito.
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