Human smugglers recruit U.S teens to pick up illegal migrants and take them nearby El Paso, Texas.
According to the U.S. Border Patrol, the officials have already caught children as young as 14, illegally transporting migrants crossing the Southwest border.
The local government and law enforcement officials have also revealed that Mexican and U.S teens who were hired to do the job were promised to earn hundreds of dollars and were told that they’re “unlikely to face legal consequences because they are minors.”
Moreover, the state Border Patrol Officials expressed their worries and claimed that the job could be dangerous. In fact, New Mexico federal authorities have been strictly cracking down on the juvenile drivers.
Border Patrol officials argued that “teen drivers tend to flee at high speed when officers try to stop them which could lead to pursuits by Border Patrol and crashes.”
Just recently, 17-year old Santi was caught after human smugglers reportedly hired him to “pick up migrants less than a mile from the Mexican border to nearby El Paso, Texas.”
Santi claimed that they often take advantage of a cloudy night in picking up migrants since the “U.S. agents in helicopters struggle to see migrants through clouds, and strong winds may be stopping their drones from flying.”
Following the series of illegal transportation of migrants involving minors, Sunland Park Mayor Javier Perea suggested that the “last thing we want to do is criminalize our youth,” and activists like Irma Cruz argued that the teens are only “being used” to do the job.
