Hong Kong Arrests Wife Of INS Officer On Visa-Fraud Charges -- 21- Year Veteran Relieved Of His Duties

WASHINGTON - The top U.S. immigration officer in Hong Kong has been relieved of his duties, and his wife has been arrested on visa-fraud charges in a growing investigation into the highly lucrative smuggling of Chinese citizens to the United States.

James DeBates, a 21-year veteran of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the agency's acting officer-in-charge in Hong Kong, was detained for questioning last month by the British colony's special anti-corruption police but was quickly released because of his diplomatic status, U.S. officials said.

However, his wife, Heddy DeBates, a U.S. citizen of Chinese origin, is still being held by Hong Kong authorities.

DeBates, 45, was placed on administrative leave with pay about two weeks ago and is under investigation. INS and U.S. consulate officials declined to comment on other aspects of the case.

The episode marked the second time in less than nine months that a senior INS agent has been implicated in corruption related to alien-smuggling, a multibillion-dollar business in which Chinese illegal migrants typically pay $30,000 to $40,000 apiece to be brought into the United States.

Last July, Jerry Wolf Stuchiner, 45, the INS chief in Honduras and one of the agency's leading authorities on Chinese smuggling, was arrested by agents of Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption upon his arrival there. Stuchiner had five blank Honduran passports he allegedly planned to deliver to an alien-smuggling syndicate. He pleaded guilty to possession of false documents and was sentenced to three years and four months in prison.

Now he is desperately seeking a transfer to a U.S. prison, claiming that his life will be in danger if he remains in a Hong Kong jail after China takes over the colony July 1.

According to a knowledgeable official, U.S. investigators found $20,000 in cash in DeBates' office that he could not adequately explain. He said DeBates claimed that the stash represented money he had saved by being "frugal" in administering his office's budget.

DeBates subsequently left Hong Kong for the United States. The Justice Department said he remains in contact with authorities but refused to disclose his whereabouts. An INS official cautioned that although DeBates has been suspended, such procedures follow "automatically" from the arrest of his wife on visa-fraud charges, he said. A Justice Department official said DeBates generally "has been considered an excellent employee."