Mexico’s interior minister said in a report that the illegal human trafficking business brought in approximate profits of $615 million in 2019 alone.
The Aztec country is the gateway to the United States for thousands of illegal migrants. And as is well known, many of its citizens charge large sums to bring emigrants to the northern border with the United States.
Rocío González, head of migration policy at the Interior Ministry, stated during a summit on migration issues and human trafficking that 7 out of 10 migrants paid an average of $4,559.00 to human trafficking networks just to be crossed.
Estimates suggest the cost of each crossing could be much higher three years later. After the pandemic and worsening living conditions in several Latin American countries, expect migrants to pay much more to reach US soil.
The Cubans
With Cubans, payments become significantly more expensive due to their status as islanders. They are known to have to pay large sums to take flights connecting them to Central or South America and then travel from there.
Most Cubans who have emigrated in the last 8 months have done so thanks to the migratory benefits that Nicaragua offers. Let’s recall that last November, Daniel Ortega’s government introduced a free visa for Cubans, which made it possible to create a kind of migratory corridor from his country to the United States.
Quite a few have also used their visas for Panama, Mexico and other countries in the region, but in any case the sums are really high. Behind this phenomenon stands an equally or even more complex reality. Hundreds of families have sold all their possessions in Cuba, including their homes, or incurred huge debts to pay for human trafficking networks.
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