BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – A former Indiana congressman whose career derailed in an alcohol-related crash in 1982 said he spent four months smuggling Brazilian families across the Canadian border in hopes of finding better lives.
In an online book about his experiences, Joel Deckard, 68, called the eight trips he made into Canada with undocumented Brazilian workers and their families in late 2007 and early 2008 "the most interesting of my life."
Canadian officials familiar with the sites described in the book and with illegal immigrant crossings report Deckard's accounts are credible.
"Incidents like that are a common occurrence," said Kirk Martin, sheriff of the county featured in the book.
Deckard, who served four terms in the Indiana House of Representatives and represented the 8th District in Congress for two terms, approached The Herald-Times of Bloomington with his story in hopes of drumming up interest in his book, the newspaper reported.
Deckard told the newspaper that he got involved in smuggling while working in Jacksonville, Fla. He ran a transportation company there after a series of professional and personal setbacks following a 1982 crash in Posey County that helped Democrat Frank McCloskey defeat Deckard for the congressional seat.
Deckard said a friend in Florida was approached by a man who wanted passage for Brazilians living in the U.S. to Toronto, which is a magnet for immigrants who can find work without government work permits or social security numbers.
The idea appealed to Deckard, who said he had helped several people in the Brazilian community fill out immigration forms and get money owed them by a cleaning company, even after learning the workers lacked legal documentation.
"Nearly all of these people were family people. They were trying to get to Canada to make a better life for themselves. I was serving, I think, a highly moral purpose at great risk in order to help them make a better life for themselves. It's as simple as that. They were good, honest, hardworking, religious people."
Deckard said he charged the immigrants fees for his work.
"It was exciting; there is no question about that. It was something that very few people can say that they've done."
He said he never asked his passengers' U.S. immigration status, but he said he assumed that what he was doing violated laws in both countries. Canadian and U.S. border officers questioned him about his frequent trips, and he quit after becoming convinced he was about to be arrested.
"I knew that I could be taken into custody," Deckard said. "Every trip, I knew it could end up that way. I tried to steel myself to the possibility that I could be apprehended and jailed."
Gail Montenegro, a public affairs officer with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, said people caught transporting illegal aliens for pay within the United States can face up to 10 years in prison.
She said a U.S. Attorney's office would have to decide whether someone would be prosecuted for activities years in the past.
Deckard said he knows disclosing his activities could have legal consequences but has no regrets about what he did.
"I was interested in helping families find a better place and a better life for themselves. This wasn't taking any job away from any American. It was simply a matter of helping people out. It certainly wasn't a matter of getting rich."
