The drug gangs don’t see migrants as real people. The people in charge of shelters are making money, and the cost of crossing is increasing.
EL PASO, TX – Directors of two El Paso groups told the media that cartel members take advantage of weak travelers who want to get to the U.S. and see them as things they can use for money or sex.
Nicole Reulet, who is in charge of marketing at the Rescue Mission of El Paso, said, “When [migrants] travel through, they run into a lot of cartels and mafia who take advantage of them because they don’t see them as people but as goods to be moved and sold.” “It really is a crisis for people.”
“It’s much bigger than downtown El Paso,” she said. “It’s much bigger than the task to save people. It has a much larger area than Texas. It’s a problem in every state.”
The problem has also been seen by John Martin, who oversees the Opportunity Center for the people experiencing homelessness in El Paso.
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“There are people who take advantage of people who are weak,” he said. “That’s exactly what needs to be avoided.”
The problem has also been seen by John Martin, who oversees the Opportunity Center for the people experiencing homelessness in El Paso.
“There are people who take advantage of people who are weak,” he said. “That’s exactly what needs to be avoided.”
In recent years, drug gangs have increased the number of people smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border. According to Homeland Security Investigations, the illegal business made $13 billion as of July 2022. This is up from $500 million in 2018.
The charity leaders said the gangs took advantage of desperate travelers by extorting more money during their dangerous trips. If the migrants can’t pay the price, some have been forced to sell drugs or find other ways to pay off their bills to the gang.
“If you can’t pay that price, you get killed or someone else gets ransomed,” Reulet said.
Many people who have stayed at Reulet’s camps came through the dangerous 66-mile stretch of Panama called the Darién Gap. One traveler told Reulet that he started the section with a group of 900 people but finished with only 400.
Reulet said, “That jungle is mostly just a big graveyard.” “A lot can go wrong there, and the cartel is in charge most of the time.”
Reulet said that some gang members have killed, raped, or hurt refugees on their way through the Darién Gap. A migrant showed her a movie in which her family members were killed with machetes.
Reulet said, “It was so terrible, but that’s normal for migrants passing through.” “Many kids have seen their parents killed or raped right in front of them. There’s a lot of psychology behind that.”
“So many people have given up a lot to come here,” Reulet said. “They’ve given up months, limbs, and sometimes even their lives. There are a lot of people who try to get here but don’t make it.”
Officials in Panama say that the number of people who crossed the Darién Gap in the first seven months of 2023 set a new record. So far, nearly 250,000 people have traveled the gap.
The Biden administration has said that the number of meetings with migrants has dropped sharply since Title 42 stopped. In June, there were less than 145,000 encounters with migrants, compared to almost 208,000 in June of last year. But they started going up again in July, so the Biden administration sent more Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to the southern border.
Even though fewer people were crossing the border, the two heads of nonprofits said their homes were still full or overflowing.
Martin said, “The problem of migration at the southern border is a problem for the whole country.” “We just happen to be at the front door step of places like El Paso that are near the border.”
Martin told Fox News that he has a “gut feeling” that another crisis could be coming at the southern border.
“The solution must involve the whole country,” he said. “We need people from other places to help.”
