Smugglers Give Discount for Children

The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) interviewed Monica Maple, an investigator for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), for one of its reports.  The report stated:  “Mapel said human smugglers or brokers in home countries cut package deals where a parent provides a child (especially if parents have more than one) to a child-less migrant for a fee or an in-kind reduction in the real parent’s own smuggling fee. Such packages can reach $7,000 for transportation, food, doctored birth certificates, and the child. ‘If you have children to spare during your trip to the U.S., your trip is not as expensive,’ she explained.

“The child, real parent, unrelated adult client, and smuggler often make the trip together. Only at the border is the child and bogus birth certificate given over to the paying migrant, who is expected to return the child days or weeks later once everyone is inside the United States.”

Thanks to a loophole in U.S. law, migrants know that bringing children with them increases the likelihood that they will be able to stay in the U.S. after making asylum claims.

Read more at cis.org

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