Cross-border people smuggler loses battle to stay in Canada

A B.C. man caught driving a van full of undocumented Indian nationals into Washington statehas lost his battle to remain in Canada.

In a decision released last month, a federal court judge upheld a decision to declare KaramdeepSingh Bagriinadmissible to Canada because he was involved in people smuggling.

'I was caught'

The court documents detail a scheme that began in a Sikh temple parking lot in 2014 whenBagrimet a shadowy figure named "Babba" culminatingin his pursuit by U.S. border control agents a year later.

The 31-year-old claimedthe day he was caught just south of the border by Abbotsford, B.C., with two men, two women and a child in his rental vehicle was the first time he had ever picked up an illegal alien.

According to a transcript of an interview witha Canada Border Services Agency officer, Bagrisaid he was on the phone with Babbawhen he noticed he was being followed.

"Babbajust told me to start driving and he would give me directions. I started to drive and I only drove two or three miles and I saw the (border patrol) truck," the transcript reads.

"I tried to turn another way, but then they were behind me and the lights were flashing. I was caught."

Growing number of U.S. asylum claims

The case highlights the issue of human smuggling throughCanada into the United States.

According to U.S. Justice Department statistics, 731 Indian nationals sought asylum south of the border in 2010. That number jumped to 2,277 by 2015, the year Bagriwas caught.

Bagribecame a permanent resident of Canada in 2008. The case wound up in federal court after he applied for a judicial review of an earlier Immigration and Refugee Board decision rendering him inadmissible because of his part in a "criminal organization."

The arguments centredaround the number of people required to determinean organization is criminal, Bagri's level of involvementand the degree to which his drug addictionclouded his ability to participate in the scheme.

'Aware what he was doing was illegal'

According to the IRBdecision, Bagri claimed Babbaapproached him in October 2014,offering to pay him to drive over the border and pick up people who crossed on foot.

Bagri had a visa which allowed him to make multiple trips into the United States.

"He was asked about the involvement of others in the smuggling scheme. He indicated that his own friend, Tari, also worked for Babba and that there were others who he did not really know," wrote IRB member Marc Tessler.

"Babba, he told the officer, works for Balkar, who lives in Toronto."

The documents say that Bagritold officers he crossed the border a couple of times before he was caught on Jan. 12, 2015, but that he didn't pick anyone up.

On the day he was caught, Bagri claimed he had arranged to meet Babbaat a Walmart in Bellingham, Wash.

"Instead, Babba phoned him with instructions where to pick up the individuals who had crossed the border," Tessler wrote.

"Mr. Bagritold the officer he was aware that what he was doing was illegal."

He claimed that he expected to pick up two people, but that five showed up instead.

No dispute he was involved

In the latest federal court decision, the judge found that the IRBruling was reasonable.

"Mr. Bagri did not dispute that he had engaged in people smuggling, that there was a transnational dimension to that activity, nor that he expected to receive a financial benefit for his role in the activity," the decision reads.

"Member Tessler also reasonably found that Mr. Bagri was well aware of the illegal nature of that activity. Mr. Bagri himself said so on at least two occasions."

The court also backed up Tessler'sfinding that Bagri'salcohol and drug addiction problems had no bearing on the people smuggling allegations.

Bagri could not be reached for comment.