At long last, after six years of dismal failure, there is clear evidence that Barack Obama’s policies finally managed to stimulate an industry. The Washington Examiner tells us that “coyote” smugglers are doing great business across the porous southern border of the United States, expanding rapidly into a corporate empire that includes a professional “sales force,” competitive pricing, first-class hotels, and even VIP bus service for those who can afford a platinum-level illegal immigration experience:
Coyotes credit President Obama for giving them a new “business model” that allows them to transport unaccompanied minors to the U.S. border with Mexico, then safely turn around and pocket big profits.
Those are the surprising assertions of “Juan,” a coyote chieftain who consented to an interview with the Washington Examiner earlier this month in the rough-and-tumble western Guatemalan district of Huehuetenango.
In the shadowy world of human smuggling, verifying such claims is extremely difficult. His credentials were validated for the Examiner by a Guatemalan Ministry of Justice employee and a former Guatemalan judicial official. Both spoke on condition of anonymity.
Based on a two-and-a-half-hour interview with Juan, dozens of present and former government officials and parents who have used coyotes, it is clear that the human smuggling business resembles, in some respects, legal enterprises like McDonald’s and Mazda.
Why is President Obama getting all the credit? No gratitude for the taxpaying suckers in the United States who finance the benefits these people are coming to collect, and the job market they wish to exploit?
Juan lives in Soloma, a municipality of Huehuetenango that he described as the center of Guatemala’s coyote business.
“There’s a concentration of coyotes in Soloma,” he said. “Seventy percent of Soloma is involved in this business. Not all necessarily coyotes, but indirectly.”
Among the local businesses that work with coyotes are transport companies, motels, food caterers, clothing shops and grocery stores.
Juan is stoutly built with a quick and easy smile. He wore a Baltimore Orioles T-shirt and shorts. The smuggler brought his 10-year-old nephew, Enrique, who sat quietly during the interview.
Juan said he has worked as a coyote since he was 19 and is now 33 years old. “After your first trip, it’s an eye-opener,” he said.
Unfortunately, a lot of people in the United States still have their eyes screwed firmly shut.
Juan described a sprawling business organization that allows Guatemalan coyotes to transport, feed and house thousands of illegal immigrants making their way to the United States each year.
“This is a big pie,” he said. “Everybody takes a piece, and it’s like a corporation. Everybody shares in profits. We help each other.”
He said there are 5,000 coyote “bosses” in Guatemala.
Now that’s what I call “job creation.” It’s a lively business model too, with money from $5,600 adult tickets ($3,500 discount rate for children) to a host of peripheral industries, including food, clothing, and housing… plus plenty of cash going into the pockets of corrupt Mexican and Guatemalan officials, natch. (No need to pay off the Americans – Obama’s services are provided to the illegal alien community free of charge – but remember to vote the right way when you get that amnesty!)
Coyotes may appear to be uninformed and unsophisticated smugglers, but, according to Juan, they pay close attention to U.S. immigration laws.
Juan praised Obama for implementing a federal policy in a manner that prevented unaccompanied minors from Central America from being deported immediately and requires they receive a court hearing. Juan called it a new “business model.”
“Obama has helped us with the children because they’re able to stay in the United States. That’s the reason why so many children are coming,” he said. “The children are able to stay, and that’s what interests us,” he said.
And what if the Guatemalan government cracks down on coyotes?
Juan just shrugged and replied: “They can make it more difficult for us. And what we’ll do is, we’ll raise the price. That’s how all our business works.”
As long as the Americans don’t get smart and close the border down, this gravy train is going to keep rolling forever. And what are the odds of that?
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