(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Human smugglers have released hundreds of advertisements on TikTok and YouTube, brashly publicizing their involvement in the illegal industry as if it were some form of tourism experience.
Footage released by the smugglers showed them leading migrants through rivers and bunking in safe houses to travel over the southern border of the United States from Mexico.
According to the Daily Wire, smugglers charge at least $10,000 per person transported across the border. Investigators find that the smugglers, or “coyotes,” are often linked to drug cartels as well.
One YouTube channel known as “the migrant adventurer” amassed over 56,000 subscribers, and claimed to “document the migrant experience.” However, channel operator Soy Xulen told reporters that the price for smuggling services depended on where the migrant came from.
Videos posted to the channel showed young children in safe houses, groups of illegals traveling in trucks and footage providing the location of border patrol officers.
TikTok is rife with similar accounts and footage. Reporters who searched terms like “sueno americano” (“American dream”), “levanto” (“pick up”) and “inmigrantes” (“immigrants”) discovered thousands of videos showcasing migrants crossing the Rio Grande and smugglers guiding people through a hole in the border fence.
Footage portrayed crossing the border as a relatively simple task, despite the numerous dangers of traveling with smugglers.
Last year, 53 migrants trapped in the back of a semi-truck died after sitting in extreme heat for several hours. Smugglers abandoned the truck in the desert outside of San Antonio on a 100-degree day.
Smugglers, who made about $13 billion through human trafficking in 2022, often demanded more money halfway through the trip and threatened to disappear with the migrant’s relatives if they did not receive payment.
Since President Joe Biden took power in 2021, the severity of the border crisis has drastically increased.
Several of the measures allegedly meant to slow the flood of immigrants coming into the U.S. have only made it easier for migrants to enter the country—particularly the application process for asylum via a shoddy and inefficient app, and the ending of DNA testing for migrant children, who often cross the border with smugglers.
