The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Poor economies in South and Central America are pushing record numbers of immigrants to the United States, and many of them are passing through the St. Louis area.
That was evident Sunday on Interstate 44 after a traffic accident led to the arrest of 17 illegal immigrants from Mexico, all of them in a pickup truck. Five -- all relatives, including two juveniles -- have agree to leave voluntarily. Ten were still in custody Tuesday and will be deported. Two remain hospitalized.
The driver of the pickup is charged with leaving the scene of an accident and forgery. Immigration officials say he is also an illegal alien.
Interstates 44, 55, 64 and 70 intersect at St. Louis, and often carry illegal aliens heading for one place or another.
“With all these highways funneling through here, it’s a feeder system to the rest of the country,” Lt. Jim Hudson of the St. Charles County Sheriff’s Department told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Roughly 7 million illegal immigrants, mostly Mexicans, were living in the United States as of January 2000, the government reported in February. The figure represents an increase of 1 million in less than four years.
Many settle in the border states of California, Texas and Arizona. Others pack into trunks, jam into pickup beds or stow away among cargo and journey north along thousands of miles of interstate. Illinois, Georgia and North Carolina were other states that posted some of the largest increases of illegal immigrants in the 1990s.
Some toil in seasonal agricultural industries, such as cherry or cranberry picking. Others work in poultry plants. Some find jobs in factories or the service industry, such as hotels and restaurants.
Interstates are perfect for illegal aliens seeking to avoid small towns or back roads where they might draw attention, authorities say. The interstate system offers anonymity and a chance to get lost among the steady flow of traffic.
A large majority go undetected, but some are given away by a sagging trunk, out-of-place license plates or a cargo area packed with people.
In April 2002, St. Charles police stopped a pickup on I-70 and found eight illegal immigrants, who said they were bound for Chicago from the Phoenix area.
In March, St. Charles County sheriff’s deputies pulled over a rented minivan on I-70 and found 10 illegal immigrants and an envelope containing 24 blank Social Security cards and 25 blank alien resident cards.
Others are discovered only after a tragedy.
“We’ve seen some terrible, terrible accidents in the last year,” said Marilu Cabrera, spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Chicago. “They’re driving all night nonstop. They’re over tired. They’ve got a van load of people in often-horrible conditions where they won’t stop for days to go to the bathroom or eat.”
In May 2001, one person was killed and several injured after a pickup packed with 15 illegal immigrants collided with a tractor-trailer on I-44 near Rolla, Mo.
In Sunday morning’s accident, a truck carrying the immigrants collided with a car near St. Clair in Franklin County.
A few of the truck’s occupants stayed to help two others who had suffered serious injuries, according to the Missouri Highway Patrol. The others scattered into surrounding woods. Police found all within six hours, most shivering while they huddled in a grove of trees.
One passenger told authorities that some occupants had paid $1,500 to be smuggled into the United States.