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Show DAILY A8 Tuesday, July 8, 2008 HERALD African smuggling rings possible US. terror threat hours and driven to the border. The smugglers escorted clients as they walked across the border into the U.S. between official entry ports. Ibrahim and Boateng used Ibrahim, the accused international carriers DHL and ringleader, and his partner, Federal Express to deliver paySampson Lovelace Boateng, a Ghana citizen living ments and travel documents. On July 29, 2006, Ibrahim in Belize, known as "Pastor," to an unidentisent an were arrested last year in fied associate: "i have a visa Mexico City and at the Miami deal from ethiopia but it is a airport, respectively. Their organization accounted for most little bit expensive. I am curof the pipeline from East Afrently in Belize to collect for some guys, i will get it in 3 rica to the U.S., officials say. days but it will cost 5000usd." According to documents The $5,000 would cover the filed in the U.S. District Court the visa and corrupt officials for the District of Columbia, full smuggling package. the smugglers had associates East Africans are mostly in Africa, typically corrupt officials. And they chose their coming to the U.S. to find a better life because of job oproutes based on which transit portunities that don't exist in points employ easily bribed their home countries. authorities. One senior intelligence ofRoutes have included travelficial said there's little evidence ing from East Africa to JohanLM OTEROAssociated Press yet of East Africans trying to nesburg, South Africa, and An illegal immigrant begins the swim across the Rio Grande River at the border in from Johannesburg to Sao Pau- cross into the U.S. to engage in terrorist activity. The official lo, Brazil. East Africans also Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, just across from Laredo, Texas, on June 2, 2007. flew from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, requested anonymity because the information in the assessor Rome to Bolivia, Brazil, ment is not public. that he would have no problem Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela itrea, far more than any other might use an established netAs computer chips and in 2007, according to the intelliwork to come to the U.S." smuggling somebody into the country in the Horn of Africa. United States. Authorities shut down one gence assessment. In addition, biometrics are required more "Any time we shut down "i will pay my immigration often for travel documents, the smugglers have access to a smuggling organization, major East African pipeline in terrorists will have a more friend 2 days before he comes fake and real Belizean, Bolivithere's always somebody 2007, according to court docuso that he can be waiting for there to step in the place," said ments reviewed by the AP. an, Chilean, Mexican, Peruvian difficult time entering the U.S. and could potentially use these Scott Hatfield, unit chief of the Mohammed Kamel Ibrahim, him immediately he gets out of and South African visas. In the Boateng and Ibrahim Ghana citizen liva the flight, that way there is no Human Smuggling division smuggling routes as an alterin in Ibrahim were Mexico as wrote "Silk known at Immigration and Customs cases, native, said Hatfield, the immpeople questioning," ing smuggling stored in luggage compartEnforcement. "There's always the Shocker," wrote in an Oct. the same igration official who heads the human smuggling division. All of this would cost $5,000. ments of buses for as long as to an associate that potential that a terrorist 24, 2006, Ibrahim explained that if the client wanted to pay $2,000 less, he would have to answer questions from authorities himself and not benefit from the corrupt immigration official. Eileen Sullivan THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON intercepted ingly matter-of-fac- t The was alarmfor anyone worried about a new terror attack: "getting into US is no problem at all. thats what i do best." The Ghanaian man who wrote it is in prison, accused of smuggling East Africans into the United States via Latin America for economic reasons. But the government worries such operations also could be used to sneak terrorists into the United States now that passports and other travel documents have become harder to acquire and more difficult to fake. Intelligence officials are focusing new attention on these networks that smuggle people from Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan known havens for terrorists, including according to an internal government assessment obtained by The Associated Press. In the 12 months that ended last Sept. 30, U.S. officials caught 372 East Africans trying to get into the country, the assessment said. This is the most from these countries since the Homeland Security Department was formed in 2003. And 159 people from the same countries have been caught trying to enter since Oct. 1 including 138 from Er US-Mexic- 12 U.S.-Mexi- growinj Jean Cowden Moore SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS " put 'human.' While the trend is spotty, it could make it harder for colleges to prove they're attracting the diverse groups they want. It also could make it harder for them to qualify for government grants and other programs that consider diversity. "It's become a much more difficult process to figure out how well you've done," Ward said. "As society changes, our toolbox will need to change, as far as how we measure our success." Colleges generally ask stu- - Calif., this year. "It shouldn't have anything to do with how SERVICE look." Totten represents a trend among students nationwide who don't indicate their races on college applications, a number that grew by 144 percent ' from 1994 to 2004, according identify her race. to the American Council on Totten, who is white, didn't think it should matter what her Education. "This generation is less inrace was. clined to be defined in any way "It should be based on your racially," said Matt Ward, dean grades, extracurricular activiof undergraduate enrollment at ties and SAT scores," said Totten, 21, who graduated from the CLU. "They tire of categories. They'll check 'other,' then university in Thousand Oaks, I When Amanda Totten applied to California Lutheran University, she decided not to answer one question on her ap- plication, the one asking her to 1 ' H dents to indicate their races when they apply, but many also give them the option of checking "multiracial," "other" or "decline to state." Students also have the option of not answering the question at all. So why are growing numbers of students not revealing their races on college applications? Some say they want to get into colleges on their own strengths, without their races putting them at either an ad- cent from to 2007. California Lutheran University has seen a modest increase in students who declined to state their races, up from 3 percent in 2002, when that option was first offered, to 6 percent in 2007. The trend is even more obvious at the University of Kentucky, where the number of students who did not identify their races or ethnicities doubled in the past decade, according to the Louisville Islands in Camarillo, Calif, "They want to get in on their own merits. They dont want to be prejudged." In the CSU system as a whole, the number of enrolled students who marked "decline to state" on their applications grew from 36 percent to 44 per Despite the trend, most students do mark boxes indicating their races. But even then, they may wrestle with the question. Nationwide, in cases involving the University of Michigan, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a diverse class may edube part of a cation, so race can be considered in admissions, though it cant be a defining factor. California, however, has Proposition 209, which says colleges cannot target students by race, ethnicity, age, gender or religious belief. Yet many students still believe their races or ethnicities vantage or disadvantage. Some are biracial and don't want to choose one parent's race over the other. And some, like Totten, simply don't think it should matter what race they are; "Students don't want to be categorized," said Jane Sweet-landean of enrollment at California State University Channel could influence whether they get into their dream colleges. So they may check boxes if they believe it puts them at an advantage, Ward said. A student who is white and for examn ple, may check 1998 African-America- African-America- s because on tend to be college campuses. White or Asian students, on the other hand, might check "decline to state" because they tend to be "They may think that if they put they're white, they could potentially not have the same access as students who are traditionally under represented," Ward said. On the other hand, some students just find the categories confusing. "A lot of students will ask, 'What do I put here?" " said Imelda Fernandez, an admissions counselor at CSU Channel Islands. "They get so confused because their parents are biracial or multiracial. They'll say, 'Do I just check all the boxes?" Or they say, T have no idea, so I'm not even going there.' " African-American- under-represent- r well-round- Celebrate Your Independence with A New Mattress I, to win Eote spectacular prizes! Jl 1 Movie tickets Lagoon day passes Hogi Yogi Gift certs Trafalga Datenite passes Scera Shell Tickets v mm t. f I tl ' - 1 1 Haaga's Mattress e Sale mattresses not as pictured I 1032 S. State, Orem LI . ! ft. it with a GRAND PRIZE of 802-605- 0 Best Open Fit Technology i It's easy! Just log onto Value www.heraldextra.com summergiveaway ' , fc? fi! for your chance to win!'. H n if s i v. SiRm IL SIEMENS Intuitive technology. Easy on the ears. select key technologies in reliability and quality. 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