https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-smugglers-mexico-us-migrants-immigrants-52ba1b44126f3c2b7887b808307ffa96
At a time when legal pathways to the U.S. have been slashed and criminal groups are raking in money from migrant smuggling, social media apps like TikTok have become an essential tool for smugglers and migrants alike. The videos — taken to cartoonish extremes — offer a rare look inside a long elusive industry and the narratives used by trafficking networks to fuel migration north.
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Narratives shift based on the political environment and immigration policies in the U.S. During the Biden administration, posts would advertise getting migrants access to asylum applications through the administration’s CBP One app, which Trump ended.
Amid Trump’s crackdown, posts have shifted to dispelling fears that migrants will be captured, promising American authorities have been paid off. Smugglers openly taunt U.S. authorities: one shows himself smoking what appears to be marijuana right in front of the border wall; another even takes a jab at Trump, referring to the president as a “high-strung gringo.”
Comments are dotted with emojis of flags and baby chickens, a symbol meaning migrant among smugglers, and other users asking for prices and more information.
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One smuggler, who asked to only be identified by his TikTok name “The Corporation” because of fear of authorities tracking him down, said that other accounts would steal his migrant smuggling network’s videos of customers saying to camera they arrived safely in the U.S.
“And there’s not much we can do legally. I mean, it’s not like we can report them,” he said with a laugh.
