Mexican human smugglers are charging up to six times more under President Trump as the “gringos” have gotten tougher, according to a Thursday report from Cronica.
Records from Mexico’s migration department shared with Cronica revealed that the smugglers, commonly known as coyotes, charged between $1,500 and $2,000 under President Obama and this price has raised to $10,000 in 2017. Some migrants are being charged up to $13,000, specifically if they are from a country other than Mexico.
One smuggler told Cronica that the “gringos have gotten tougher every time and it costs more.” Another smuggler, who was previously deported from Minnesota, said that tough surveillance from the Trump administration and more severe punishment for crossing the border has forced him to up his price. (RELATED: Border Apprehensions Hit 17-Year Low)
He currently charges $10,000 a person to bring them to California. Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly said Tuesday that there’s “nothing more” him and Attorney General Sessions would “like more than to put human smugglers out of business and we will do anything within the law to do so.”