Alien Smuggling is Big Business

I live in San Diego and my neighbor is a Border Patrol agent. We talk about illegal aliens, drugs, and other border problems all of the time. However, what he told me at our New Years eve party really shocked me. I normally only write about sports or cars, but I had to publish this article. I want America to know what is really going on in border towns.

He told me of one busy international smuggling operation that identified and recruited illegal workers in Brazil, they they brought the workers to the U.S. Mexican border, crossed them, then transported them to points throughout the United States. For this service they charged the illegal worker a huge chunk of change- $16,000 U.S. per person. The smugglers guarantee the trip. If aliens are arrested by the Border Patrol in the United States they are immediately bonded out by a bonding company that guarantees full payment to the INS should their client fail to appear in court. However, none of the aliens smuggled by this organization ever appear in court. By the time their court date rolls around, they have already found a job and do not want to risk deportation by the INS judge. Most of the time they are hundreds of miles away from the border at this point.

The INS periodically demands that the bonding company pay for legally defaulting on the bonds when their clients skip court. The bonding company in turn informs the INS though its attorney that they do not have the full price of the bonds because they are on the verge on bankruptcy from so many defaults. If you haven't guessed by now the bonding company is a part of the smuggling operation. Instead the company offers the INS a few cents on the dollar for each defaulted bond. The INS repeatedly accepts these offers. Can you imagine how much money this organization profits? The only expense they have is airline tickets from Brazil to Mexico. Once the Brazilians are in Mexico the organization hires a Mexican smuggler for about 1000 per person to cross the Brazilians. The criminal organization is really not taking any of the risk.

The new Brazilian immigrants however can rarely cough up the 16,000 USD required in advance by this criminal organization. The illegal Brazilians have to pay the remainder of the balance to the smugglers in weekly payments, once they reach the United States and get a job. This organization also has housing for these illegal workers. Up to 20 people live in a 3 bedroom house. And the criminal organization charges also charges rent. If the worker fails to pay rent or fails to pay his debt the criminal organization threatens to call the Border Patrol and have them deported. Or in some cases cause harm to family back in Brazil.

My friend also told my while this transnational criminal operation may sound rather crude, one informant reported that there are at least 10 others operating in the United States. My friend also told me that Border Patrol and The INS are aware of these smuggling operations. However due to technicalities in the immigration law and along with internecine wars between federal agencies allows these criminal groups to operate with impunity.

I could not believe my ears when I head this story. The border patrol agent just laughs, what else can he do? He makes 36,000 a year and these guys turn that by crossing two illegal immigrants. He shakes his head and reminds me thats its just a job, and he gets to be outside, and he is left alone. The job also comes with insurance and pension. And don't even get him started on the $50,000 smugglers will charge from mainland China for a trip across the Pacific.