Novel bid to cross US border fails
US: Hapless immigrants who tried a novel way of entering the United
States -- by driving a car over the US-Mexico border fence on makeshift
ramps -- failed when the vehicle got stuck on top.
Two people fled back into Mexico after US border guards spotted the
bold attempt to scale the 14-foot (4.3-meter) high fence in the early
hours of Tuesday, said the US Custom and Border Patrol agency.
“Agents patrolling in the Imperial Sand Dunes area encountered a
silver Jeep Cherokee attempting to drive over the International Boundary
fence using a makeshift ramp that was not quite up to the task,” said a
CBP statement.
“When the vehicle made it to the top of the ramp, it became
high-centered.... As agents arrived on scene, two subjects fled into
Mexico. After removing the Jeep from the fence, agents seized both the
vehicle and the ramps,” it added.
US authorities have long battled to contain illegal immigration and
smuggling across the southern border with Mexico, and the region is
plagued by violence linked to traffickers of drugs and humans.
In 2007 a border patrol agent was killed near the area where the car
got stuck on ramps, when he was deliberately struck by a vehicle as he
tried to deflate its tires.
AFP |