On radio this morning, Glenn shared a strange story out of Boston that involves a group of foreign chemical engineering students trespassing at a major water supply near Boston. Even more bizarre – law enforcement’s reaction (or lack thereof) to the trespass.
“Tell me the story out of Boston this morning, Pat,” Glenn said. “Here's breaking news for you, but don't worry. Why should anyone pay attention to what happens in Boston?”
“Yeah, there are just seven chemical engineers that were, I guess, on a class outing,” Pat joked. “[They were] trespassing at a major reservoir in Boston, and these chemical engineers just happen to be from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore. I'm sure there's nothing to look at.”
A local TV station had the report:
REPORTER: State police issued summons for the group for trespassing but did not find any evidence of any other crimes. Still they are stepping up patrols at water supply facilities around the state. This all happened at the Quabbin Reservoir in Belchertown. The reservoir is the main water supply for most of the state including the Boston area. Now shortly after midnight Tuesday state police discovered seven people walking from the reservoir, five men and two women. The men told police they are chemical engineers who recently graduated college and claimed they wanted to see the Quabbin because of their education and career interests. Well, state police say their backgrounds are from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Singapore but they live in various parts of Massachusetts, one in New York City.
“So hold on just a second,” Glenn said. “So it's Pakistan, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia.”
Something smells a little fishy when a seemingly unrelated group of foreign chemical engineering students suddenly converge on the same spot, at the same time.
“It's not like a family. It's not like we all grew up in the same neighborhood. It's, we live in different parts now of the Northeast and we all came together to trespass,” Glenn said. not to call and say, "What time of day was it? That they just decided to come together from different parts of New England, all of these, you know, disconnected guys from different countries.
“That sounds totally fine,” Pat said. “There's nothing to see here.”
When you consider the fact that of the 75,000 foreign students who are supposed to be here on visas, 15,000 of which are unaccounted for, situations like this further justify the need for immigration reform that doesn’t just focus on the southern border.
“Never made it. Came in the front door and then disappeared. 15,000,” Glenn said. “Now, I'm sure these good, hardworking chemists, chemical engineers that just have varying backgrounds and went to different schools, I guess, and they just wanted to – before they go home, they just want to see the water supply system.”
“Makes perfect sense,” Pat quipped.
“It's absolutely ridiculous,” Glenn concluded. “Honestly, if you're a chemical engineer, I want you to call me now. I want you to tell me what you could possibly learn by sneaking onto a reservoir and walking around the property that would help you in your chemical engineering life. What could you possibly learn other than, ‘Well, we should secure these things a little better.’ What else could you learn?”
