Illustrates rainer petter
Edition Felipe van Deursen
– (Rainer Petter/Strange World)
1 – The work has well-planned stages and relies on intermediaries infiltrated throughout the Americas. As it falls under the human trafficking law (with a penalty of up to 40 years in the US), the scheme is handled with complete discretion. Those who live outside Mexico can contact the gang by phone, email or in person with a local recruiter.
2 – The customer travels to Mexico City. There, he is received at the airport and taken to a van, where he meets with other immigrants and pays for the crossing, in cash. If he wants to be taken to an American city, he pays another amount after crossing the border. Those who don’t pay can become hostage, have their family extorted or even be killed.
- Coyotes charge between $6,000 and $20,000. This does not include the ticket to Mexico..
3 – The coyotes divide the immigrants into small groups and take them to private homes or shelters, where they wait up to 10 days to be transferred. This kind of private prison is established by the coyotes in order not to arouse suspicion in the neighborhood and to ensure that no one gives up on the idea at the border.
4 – After the period of captivity, the coyotes distribute the immigrants in vehicles and transfer them to border towns. The nearest of these, Reynosa, is 1,053 km away. Division into groups is necessary to prevent the entire operation from failing in the event of a blitz. Upon arriving in these cities, the gang installs the immigrants on farms
– (Rainer Petter/Strange World)
5 – When it’s time to leave, carts pass by picking up everyone and leaving them at the entrance to dirt tracks or on the side of roads that are not very busy. The route crosses the desert and rivers and is done on foot, with groups of immigrants in line. They face up to five days under the threat of snakes and scorpions, as well as thieves, kidnappers and rapists.
6 – At the border, those who chose to continue on their own follow the path. Those who have paid to get to a US city move on to other coyotes, who live in the neighboring country and will drive them around. In general, these coyotes have a relationship with the American police. Payment for this stage is made on the spot, but there are no guarantees that the immigrants will reach their final destination.
7 – Those who decided to explore the American territory without coyotes run the risk of getting lost over the course of three days and up to 300 km of walking to reach the chosen city. The crossing is usually done in summer. The heat of 40 thC is tricky, but it pays off because that way they camouflage themselves more easily among tourists on vacation
– (Rainer Petter/Strange World)