Violence and extortion by coyotes at the border
Violence and extortion by coyotes is the first wall that irregular migrants aspiring to reach the United States must pass.
The number of migrants crossing the southern border of the United States has become a campaign issue for the upcoming presidential elections in that country.
But without a doubt, violence and extortion by coyotes is an issue that does not cease to be of concern to the authorities.
Of course, on the other hand, there are the drug cartels, who play into the dangerous journey through Mexico.
After a record number of arrivals at the end of 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, proposed stricter immigration measures that include closing the border when it is overflowing.
According to reports, violence and extortion by coyotes stems from the near-compulsory payment of large sums of money.
According to local reports, the kidnappers demanded US$2,500 from each migrant and double that for pregnant women.
If the migrants do not have the money, the gangs demand it from their relatives, either at home or north of the border in the United States.
But there is a more delicate issue, and that is that the violence and extortion by the coyotes is not only on the part of the criminals, but also some law enforcement agents.
READ HERE: MEXICAN MIGRANTS CONTRIBUTE TO THE U.S. ECONOMY.
Violence and extortion by coyotes at the border
Witnesses recall the case of a kidnapping where masked men only interrogated people they suspected were not Mexican: those dressed in humble clothes and with fearful faces.
The five or six migrants taken off the bus were extorted up to US$50 each.
Coyote violence and extortion is a problem that reaches people of all nationalities.
Kidnapped migrants, or those who refuse to pay the gunmen, can face a fatal fate.
On the western side of the border, the Mexican city of Tijuana has for decades been a departure point for people entering the United States irregularly.
And recently, bodies of migrants have been found in the hills in the east of the city, shot in the head, execution-style.
They are believed to be people who tried to reach US soil without paying a “coyote” or the criminal group that controls that part of the border.
What is clear is that the cartels have diversified their economic activities to include extortion, kidnapping and human trafficking, says Victor Clark Alfaro, a professor at San Diego State University.
“I call them ‘narcocoyotes’ because they not only cross people, but they also cross drugs into the United States,” he says, adding that migrants may even be forced to carry narcotics with them.
In Tijuana, the Sinaloa cartel controls groups of human traffickers and so does the Jalisco Cartel – New Generation.
Given that there has been an unexpected migratory flow in recent years, the coyote business has been booming.
Violence and extortion by coyotes create zones that, as migrants know, represent a necessary evil in the search for the American dream.
There are criminal organizations dedicated to smuggling that are using vehicles for their transportation and are also charging a fee to pass through some areas for the transit of migrants.
