The Trump administration is turning up the heat on parents who pay smugglers to bring their children into the US illegally, officials say. The attempt, which comes as part of the crackdown on all aspects of illegal immigration, is intended to discourage families from using human smuggling operations.
A new round of sweeps on immigration has seen officials target parents and other relations deported from the US, only to return and then have their children illegally smuggled over the US border. It is easier and quicker to prove illegal re-entry cases than is the case with smuggling, according to legal experts. Officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement claim that parents and other family members already in the US have often paid smugglers to bring their children to the border, where they give themselves up and end up being reunited with their relatives.
Over the course of the last three years, tens of thousands of immigrant women and minors have arrived at the US border. This started with a mass influx in mid-2014 when many were trying to flee the poverty and gang violence in Central America.
It is currently unclear how many people will be affected by the move to begin arresting and prosecuting relatives for illegally re-entering the US. Officials say that the intention of the plan is to deter parents and other family members from paying smugglers to bring their children into the country illegally.