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More Mexican children being smuggled into U.S.

Dangerous trend of stuffing minors in trunks and gas tanks

TIJUANA (Mexico): Alejandro Valenzuela, a loquacious 12-year-old, memorised the details of a borrowed U.S. birth certificate and jumped in the front seat of his smuggler's car.

Tired from a two-day bus trip from the central state of Jalisco, Alejandro soon fell asleep. He was awakened by the flashlight of a U.S. immigration inspector.

``I told him in English, `I'm an American citizen,' but he kept asking questions. That's all the English I know,'' said Alejandro, resting at a child welfare office back in Tijuana, across the border from San Diego.

Alejandro is one of a rising number of children trying to sneak into the United States without their parents. Some hide in cars or try to pass themselves off as U.S. citizens, while others ride inner tubes across the Rio Grande or trek through the harsh Arizona desert.

Divided families

Since October, about 70,000 children have been detained along the Mexican border, a 5 per cent increase over the previous year, according to the U.S. Border Patrol.

In the traditional method of crossing children, a smuggler drives across the border pretending to be a relative of the child, who carrying false or ``borrowed'' documents.

But with closer scrutiny of documents by border agents, smugglers have turned to other methods.

``We're seeing a very dangerous trend of stuffing minors in trunks, in hidden compartments, in washing machines, even in gas tanks,'' said Adele Fasano, Director of field operations for the San Diego district of U.S. Customs. In August, border inspectors found a 10-year-old boy who had been sedated with cough medicine and crammed inside the dashboard of a van. The boy was unconscious and dehydrated. — AP

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