Manitoba border deaths trial underway [Video]

FERGUS FALLS, Minn. –

Jury selection is underway in the trial of two men accused of smuggling migrants across the Canada-U. S. border.

Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel and Steve Shand are accused of being part of operation that brought people from India to Canada, then across the border from Manitoba to Minnesota.

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One of the trips they are accused of taking part in saw a family from India — a couple and two children — die in a blizzard in January 2022, when the wind chill reached -35 C.

The men have pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiracy to transport aliens causing serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy, and the trial is scheduled to run five days.

A U.S. district court judge asked a pool of dozens of potential jurors about their views on immigration, law enforcement …