Blizzard conditions met migrants at Manitoba-Minnesota border crossing, trial hears

By Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press on November 19, 2024.

FERGUS FALLS, Minn. – Witnesses have testified about brutal cold along the border between Manitoba and Minnesota, where a family from India froze to death in early 2022 while trying to walk into the United States.

Steve Shand and Harshkumar Patel are accused of being part of a ring that flew Indian nationals to Canada then had them walk across the border.

A meteorologist told the men’s trial in Fergus Falls, Minn., that there was blowing snow and wind chill values below -30 C on the day Shand was arrested in a van south of the border.

Hours later, the frozen bodies of a couple and their two children were found just metres north of the border, and authorities said they were part of a group of 11 that had been walking for hours on the open prairie.

The trial also heard from a gas plant worker who came across Shand’s van stuck in a ditch, and who said it was obvious the weather was not good for travelling.

Patel and Shand have pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiracy to transport aliens causing serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 19, 2024.