Immigration Inspector James McCabe

James McCabe

Immigration Inspector James McCabe succumbed to injuries sustained three years earlier while attempting to apprehend suspected Chinese smugglers on the Detroit River near Ecorse, Michigan.

He had received information that several illegal aliens were to be smuggled into Ecorse from Canada via boat. He set out in a motorboat to locate them. As he came alongside a boat with two people in it one of the men struck him in the head with an object, knocking him unconscious.

Inspector McCabe remained unconscious in his boat for several hours. He was able to make it to shore after regaining consciousness. One of the men in the boat he was attempting to intercept was later shot and killed by federal officers but the other escaped.

Inspector McCabe eventually succumbed to complications of the head injury on March 4th, 1923.

Inspector McCabe had served with the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service for 27 years. He was survived by his wife.