A Special Kind of Unattractive Migrant: Lured Here, then Jailed

By David North on May 9, 2022

There has emerged a special (and very small) category of clearly unattractive migrant to the U.S., and I do not think there is a term for them.

The process is an interesting one. First, U.S. authorities get evidence that the alien, who is out of the country, is apparently a criminal. Then they use collaborators to lure the alien to the States with a promise of a big payoff, which must be done in person.

The alien arrives somewhere in the U.S., usually on a tourist visa, sometimes accompanied by other alien conspirators, and finds that the would-be provider of the cash is, in fact, acting for the federal authorities and the alien is promptly arrested. Except for the tourist visa, all this takes place outside the formal immigration context.

Maybe we could call them “special nonimmigrant criminals” (SNCs).

The most recent example of SNCs is, to use his full British title, the Honourable Andrew Fahie, premier of the British Virgin Islands. He and two fellow conspirators were lured to the States this week, ostensibly to receive a big chunk of money from one of the drug cartels, and were quickly arrested by the FBI.

A federal judge ruled shortly thereafter that he could be freed on a substantial bail, but would be under house arrest and had to wear an ankle bracelet. The feds say they will appeal that decision; they want Fahie to be in jail pending trial on the grounds that he is a flight risk. He has been charged with cocaine trafficking on a large scale.

My understanding is that this scenario, usually involving lesser players than a colonial premier, has happened before.

Fahie is an elected member of the legislature of the British Virgin Islands, the leader of the majority party in that body, and runs the local government, but under the eye of a British diplomat who bears the title of governor. News accounts said that the government in London sent a Foreign Affairs minister to the islands to sort out the matter. The Brits were said to be contemplating a return to direct rule of the islands, something that happened in the Turks and Caicos some years ago under similar circumstances.

The U.S. does not have the option of moving in a similar direction in its territories without an act of Congress. The British Virgin Islands are close to, but separate from, our Virgin Islands. B.V.I.’s population is about 30,000; the U.S.V.I.’s is about 100,000.