In the second part of her series on the problems of prohibition, Katie Arnoldi describes how the cartels have seized control of the human trafficking business:
In the old days, crossing into the U.S. was an unorganized system of independent men working as guides for migrants. Typically a friend of a friend, who had experience crossing the border, would show you the best route for a few hundred dollars; families would refer one another to their favorite guide, and it was mostly done by word of mouth.
It’s very different now, very organized. The drug trafficking organizations have essentially eliminated the independent guide. Either the coyote works for the cartel, or he doesn’t work at all. They control the smuggling routes and have armed militia on both sides of the border insuring that no one poaches on their territory.
Today a migrant can expect to pay several thousand dollars to cross with a guide. There are opportunistic bandits everywhere and trigger-happy border agents on the U.S. side. Even with the cartel assistance it’s incredibly dangerous. Women have an especially difficult time; more often than not they are forced to perform sexual favors if they want to arrive safely at their destination. It is said that rape is part of the price of admission when crossing illegally into the United States.
(Photo: A cow skull, probably hung by an immigrant smuggler, points the way up a backcountry trail into Arizona from Mexico near Green Valley, Arizona on July 31, 2010. By John Moore/Getty Images)
The Dish 