Radio, social media inspire Central American migrants to enter US

PHOENIX — Social media posts and radio ads are inspiring Central American migrants to pay smugglers to take them into the U.S.

The U.S. Border Patrol has learned this from the migrants they catch.

According to Yuma Sector agent Jose Garibay, the migrants tell them “that if they had a kid or they got somebody else’s, they could travel to the United States and exploit our immigration loopholes and get released into the United States.”

Garibay said the smugglers who advertise know they have “a multi-billion dollar industry with no rules” that won’t be slowed any time soon.

“So that’s why we’re constantly asking for the changes in the laws, in order to help us close these loopholes and eliminate that pull factor for them to come here,” he said.

Garibay said the migrant surge — fueled by advertising — is demoralizing to agents, but they’ll keep working.

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona has released a summary of his trip last week to Yuma and his findings with the Border Patrol.

The situation on the U.S.-Mexico border is a humanitarian & national security disaster. @RepAndyBiggsAZ, @RepSeanDuffy, @RepJohnJoyce, @RepMattGaetz & @Rep_Hunter detail the crisis they saw during a recent trip to the border in this @FoxNews op-ed. ⬇️ https://t.co/mPeqydYbiU

— House Republicans (@HouseGOP) April 26, 2019

“Further investigation has revealed that the adults are being effectively sold into servitude to American employers, managed by Mexican cartel associates,” Biggs wrote.

“The children are held captive until they are shipped back to the border to be paired up with an illegal border crosser who will claim asylum as a family unit with the rented child.”

KTAR News 92.3 FM confirmed the story about “recycled children” this month during a tour of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Biggs also said the computer software that border agents use to process Central American migrants is “rudimentary.”

Agents use Microsoft Excel to log the migrants they meet, Garibay confirmed.

“But, as Border Patrol agents, we’ve done what we can with what we have, and we’ll continue to do so,” he said.

Garibay said his colleagues scanned the worksheets and found more than 50 migrants used the same name and address for a sponsor. Immigration and Customs Enforcement busted that ring in South Carolina.

“The smugglers would actually cut off their ankle monitors and discard them, as well as discard their paperwork that shows them when to show up for their court date,” he said.

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