22 Chinese Stowaways Found at Cargo Facility in Seattle

[Ernesto]

SEATTLE — After spending 15 days inside a cargo container shipped from Shanghai, 18 men and four women were discovered early Wednesday at the Port of Seattle. The stowaways made the arduous journey in the hopes of finding work here, officials said.
All 22 people, said to be in their 20s and 30s, were apparently in relatively good health after surviving the trip in the 40-foot container stacked on the cargo ship Rotterdam.
The container was equipped with water bottles, food, blankets, battery-operated lights and a makeshift toilet, said Michael Milne, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.



http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-smuggle6apr06,0,775362.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[sinkingfeeling]

1. See how safe our ports are under Chimpy!! There was a cartoon

that showed bin Laden living in a shipping container because it was such a safe haven. Why can't Americans understand that saying you are 'tough on terror' and actually doing something to protect us are two different things.

[Dunvegan]

2. Ah...the port security/containers insecurity thing again.

Thank heavens we have the Department of Homeland Security (they of FEMA oversight...and that was SOME over-looking they did in NOLA) on the job for us via port security. :sarcasm:

[acmavm]

3. Didn't bush** hire a Chinese company to screen our incoming

freight for WMDs? Does this mean that if it doesn't explode the inspectors ignore whatever they find. Or are these people first cousins of the inspectors? Or has this even started yet? Or did I dream this whole thing?

[ConcernedCanuk]

4. If illegal Mexicans are "ok", why not Chinese??

.
.
.

The USA Administration's slack defense of their own borders just invites this sort of thing.

But the USA Administration is too busy spending billions of dollars and thousands of American lives invading other countries.

THAT should tell the USA citizens how much the Administration cares about it's own country.

Don't worry about us Canuks tho.

There's not too many of us up here wanting desperately to move to the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave"

[mike923]

5. Why would they risk death to come here?*

nfm

[flamingyouth]

6. Here's a picture of the cargo container

From The Seattle Times:

[superconnected]

8. Wow, 22 ppl in that for 15 days!

And I thought I had a bad week last week.

I'm surprised they didn't suffocate. That must have had some pretty good holes in it.

[superconnected]

9. ..

"In a form of indentured servitude, such immigrants smuggled into the United States typically pay thousands of dollars for the privilege — some of the money is paid upfront, but much of it comes later, after the immigrants begin working in factories, restaurants or elsewhere."

[flamingyouth]

10. It's really horrible.

That picture is just so sad and horrifying. :(

[4_TN_TITANS]

7. I've heard that thousands of those things

have fallen off ships that are over-stacked and get into rough weather.