9 Shocking Facts About Our Border with Mexico
1. It is common for the bodies of dead migrants to be found after starvation and exposure to heat on U.S. soil.
After illegal immigrants get past the river or fence, they still have to clear a secondary checkpoint by U.S. Border Patrol. Those checkpoints are routinely set up between 60 and 80 miles north of the border. In places like Falfurrias, Texas, human smugglers force illegal immigrants to walk dozens of miles through harsh desert-like terrain in order to get around the checkpoints. That harsh trek in addition to the extreme weather in Texas and Arizona often leads to fatal consequences where human smugglers often leave behind those who are not able to keep up with the pace...
2. The entire border is broken down into regions or “turf” controlled by Mexican narco-cartels.
Mexican cartels fight for the lucrative corridors into the U.S. and the turf they win extends deep into both countries. The Drug Enforcement Administration’s maps give a general overview of which regions specific groups control and the U.S. can be seen broken up into Mexican cartel turf...
3. One U.S. border sector, Tucson, has Mexican cartel scouts operating deep within U.S. territory.
The remote regions in the Tucson Sector of Arizona have Sinaloa Cartel scouts who enter the U.S. and use radios to report on law enforcement presence for the purposes of guiding illegal loads of humans and narcotics into the interior of the U.S. These scouts are sometimes U.S. These scouts often hide near the tops of mountains and can call cartel strike teams to go after anyone who uses the territory without permission from the cartel — even though it’s U.S. soil.
4. U.S. law enforcement along the border are often afraid to be targeted by Mexican cartels.
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5. U.S. gangs act as enforcement and smugglers for Mexican cartels; this occurs along the border and as far north as Minnesota.
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6. Public corruption of both U.S. politicians and law enforcement officers is common along the border.
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7. Mexican cartels are paid and fueled by illegal immigration; no one crosses the border without paying the cartels.
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8. Some factions of the Gulf and Los Zetas cartels routinely make as much or more from illegal immigration than from narcotics.
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9. Illegal Immigrants are often kidnapped by the cartels they are paying for permission to cross the border into the U.S.
In addition to the smuggling fees, which run from several thousand to tens of thousands of dollars depending on the immigrant’s country of origin, cartel members also make additional funds by kidnapping and holding illegal immigrants for ransom. Relatives are forced to wire funds to the cartel in Mexico to keep their relatives from being mutilated...
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