1.   Federal agents on Wednesday afternoon busted a house they say was a holding tank for smuggled illegal immigrants.

2.   Investigators often must decide at sea whether to hold smuggled immigrants as witnesses or send them back to their homeland.

3.   Johnson said his officers occasionally hear about underground employment agencies that match smuggled immigrants with businesses in search of cheap labor.

4.   Once there, Sandu arranged for visas for the smuggled immigrants so they could travel openly through Central America to Mexico.

5.   Only a few of the smuggled immigrants have been apprehended, and some have asked for political asylum.

6.   The agency also told inspectors to focus on employers who hire smuggled immigrants or abuse their workers.

7.   Typically, the INS ends up arresting only the smuggled immigrants, not the smugglers.

8.   Defendants could face as much as three years in prison per smuggled immigrant, Saunders said.

9.   The law calls for sentences of up to three years in prison per smuggled immigrant, Saunders said.