BACKDOOR ENTRY TO US: ROUTES, MODES AND COST
Whatever be the route, the coyotes give every client three chances to get inside the United States
Fly to Ecuador, take land route via Colombia, Panama jungles to Mexico.
Travel time to US: 1-3 months Cost: 8,000 to 15,000 US dollars Get to Colombia, Peru or Bolivia and from there fly directly to any Central American country, or even Mexico (sometimes using forged documents and visas), and continue the land route. Travel time: Several weeks or months
Cost: 10,000 to 20,000 US dollars (Cost includes transportation, food, fake documents and bribes for local authorities in the countries to be crossed) (Source: International Organisation for Migration)
THE MEXICO MAZE
Before crossing the border migrants are forced to carry drugs by coyotes at gunpoint Drug trafficking cartels impose a ‘tax’ for every migrant transported.
Children are used as decoys to distract authorities thus allowing larger, more profitable groups to cross undetected. Commission is paid to them for each migrant they are able to cross. They earn more if the migrant is a non Mexican There are shelters, dining rooms and homes for migrants in their journeys to the US.
USMEXICO BORDER
Length: 3,155 km
US side: California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas
Mexico side: Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tamualipas
Fence: About 1,100 km. The fence has big gaps.
Enforcement: The US Border Patrol uses cameras, thermal imaging, drones, underground sensors, besides about 16,000 personnel on the ground.