Jorge Barrera
@jorgebarrera.bsky.social
Journo @ CBC Investigates.
But the whole operation depended on a small group of people who lived within these borderlands, in Akwesasne. And that group came to depend on the business Rasiah allegedly offered as their primary source of income.
June 9, 2025 at 12:15 AM
But the whole operation depended on a small group of people who lived within these borderlands, in Akwesasne. And that group came to depend on the business Rasiah allegedly offered as their primary source of income.
All this machinery was focused on smuggling humans through a roughly 17-kilometre stretch of water and marshland along the Canada-U.S. border.
June 9, 2025 at 12:15 AM
All this machinery was focused on smuggling humans through a roughly 17-kilometre stretch of water and marshland along the Canada-U.S. border.
Police connected Rasiah to more than 50 different phone numbers and individuals, some overseas, some in the U.S. others in the Greater Toronto Area, Montreal and Akwesasne. All were allegedly involved as brokers, organizers, drivers and boat pilots.
June 9, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Police connected Rasiah to more than 50 different phone numbers and individuals, some overseas, some in the U.S. others in the Greater Toronto Area, Montreal and Akwesasne. All were allegedly involved as brokers, organizers, drivers and boat pilots.
Mast was initially charged with unlawful "re-entry by a deported alien," but the charge was dropped by the assistant U.S. attorney because Mast is Cree, said Gabrielle DiBella, his appointed federal public defender.
May 23, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Mast was initially charged with unlawful "re-entry by a deported alien," but the charge was dropped by the assistant U.S. attorney because Mast is Cree, said Gabrielle DiBella, his appointed federal public defender.
Mast has so far spent six weeks in custody while U.S. immigration authorities determine whether to deport him to Canada.
May 23, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Mast has so far spent six weeks in custody while U.S. immigration authorities determine whether to deport him to Canada.
James Mast, a Cree Sixties Scoop survivor, says he was making his way to Oklahoma so he could care for his ailing adoptive father when tribal police on the U.S. side of the Akwesasne reservation arrested him and turned him over to U.S. Border Patrol.
May 23, 2025 at 3:15 PM
James Mast, a Cree Sixties Scoop survivor, says he was making his way to Oklahoma so he could care for his ailing adoptive father when tribal police on the U.S. side of the Akwesasne reservation arrested him and turned him over to U.S. Border Patrol.
This is Aracely’s drawing of the cell they were placed in for 2 weeks at the US port of entry in Niagara Falls, NY
April 24, 2025 at 11:13 AM
This is Aracely’s drawing of the cell they were placed in for 2 weeks at the US port of entry in Niagara Falls, NY
They would be fed frozen chicken sandwiches thawed by CBP officers in a microwave. Sometimes, she said, the meat would still be frozen at its centre, so they would eat around the edges. Water would come in a pitcher and sometimes they drank from the sink.
April 24, 2025 at 11:13 AM
They would be fed frozen chicken sandwiches thawed by CBP officers in a microwave. Sometimes, she said, the meat would still be frozen at its centre, so they would eat around the edges. Water would come in a pitcher and sometimes they drank from the sink.
They had no access to shower facilities, but Aracely said they were provided use of a camping-style shower bag and each person got to use one bag of water.
April 24, 2025 at 11:13 AM
They had no access to shower facilities, but Aracely said they were provided use of a camping-style shower bag and each person got to use one bag of water.
They were then moved to a windowless cell with four cots and a half wall that hid the toilet and sink at one end of the room. Aracely said she and her husband would wait until their daughters fell asleep before allowing themselves to cry.
April 24, 2025 at 11:13 AM
They were then moved to a windowless cell with four cots and a half wall that hid the toilet and sink at one end of the room. Aracely said she and her husband would wait until their daughters fell asleep before allowing themselves to cry.