CBP campaign: Stay away from smugglers
Ads target migrants seeking entry into US
In a campaign launched Wednesday, dubbed “Say No to the Coyote”, U.S. immigration officials are urging migrants to stay away from smugglers promising them easy entry into the U.S.
The digital ad campaign, launched by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, intends to reach migrants primarily in Honduras and Guatemala and dissuade them from falling prey to smugglers, commonly known as “coyotes.”
“Smugglers use lies to lure the vulnerable into a dangerous journey that often ends in removal or death,” Chris Magnus, CBP Commissioner, said in a statement. “This digital ad campaign is an important component of U.S. government efforts to prevent tragedies and curtail irregular migration.”
The ads will emphasize the harsh trek migrants go through during their journey, as well as how dangerous it is to work with a coyote. U.S. immigration laws remain in effect and “those attempting to cross the U.S. border without authorization will be immediately removed from the country or placed into immigration removal proceedings,” the CBP statement says.
The campaign, which will last two months, will send messages to migrants through their mobile devices, social networks and other digital platforms. In addition, the Department of Homeland Security has held press conferences and done interviews with news outlets in Central American countries.
In the fiscal year 2021, the agency said, migrants from Northern Central American countries accounted for 44 percent of migrant encounters along the southwest border.
In Arizona, Gov. Doug Ducey recently demanded of social media companies to put a stop to online recruitment from criminal organizations, saying “Arizona law enforcement has tracked posts and messages that mislead American citizens, who are often young, glamorizing a lifestyle made possible by human smuggling pay days.”
In the letter dated May 10, Ducey urged the platforms to use their mechanisms in place to track and stop criminal behavior.
In April, the governor signed HB 2696 into law, which cracks down on child sex crimes and human smuggling, and increases the penalty for human smuggling. The bill was signed after Ducey announced his partnership with 25 other GOP governors with the American Governors’ Border Strike Force, meant to toughen security at the border.
Activists: Migrants want ‘opportunities, not information’
Rachel Schmidtke, a spokeswoman for Refugees International, an organization that defends and promotes the rights of displaced people around the world, said that she has unfortunately heard of many tragic stories related to human smugglers.
She emphasizes that in the relationship between the coyote and the migrant, there will never be a balance. The coyote holds the power, she said, whether to demand more money from, to kidnap or, in the case of women migrants, to sexually assault and exploit. “It is difficult for the migrant to refuse because they can die if they do,” she said.
However, Schmidtke said that campaigns like these don’t typically work and added that the only way people will stop resorting to human smugglers will be when U.S. and Mexico’s governments offer more options to legally enter these countries.
“I think it is good that they receive information through campaigns, but I think that most migrants already know the risks they run. What they want are opportunities, not information,” Schmidtke said.
Irineo Mujica, director of the organization Pueblos Sin Fronteras, said that advertising campaigns such as the “Say No to the Coyote” that are promoted by the United States government, are simply money gone to waste.
Mujica recalled being in a migrant shelter in Oaxaca, Mexico, where he personally delivered such information to the many Central American migrants that make the trek from their homeland into Mexico in order to reach the U.S. He talked about the risks they were running, of kidnappings, of murders by organized crime and he showed them horrendous photos of migrants killed in the desert.
“After the talk, I asked who wanted to continue with the journey and everyone raised their hands,” he said.
Mujica said he does not like to focus on the issues but on the causes, and it is the governments of their place of origin that have caused adversity so that people flee, ultimately resorting to partnering with a coyote.
In order for things to change, Mujica said the U.S. needs to have consistent immigration policies and end those that have further damaged migration flows, like Title 42. The U.S. needs to “provide more opportunities and with that, people will stop contacting coyotes,” Mujica said.