“It’s like we’ve been given a vacation,” says one person who makes a living off the border crossing economy. “There won’t be a shortage of clients; they can deport thousands and thousands will return.”
Recently, Parriva interviewed a well-known “coyote” who works on the border. He wasn’t worried about this whole operation promoted by the Trump administration.
“It only increases the price of crossings. There are always people waiting for the best deal to cross.” “They are few now, but the number will increase in the coming months,” he says in a text exchange.
His position seems to be reaffirmed by the Coast Border and Border Patrol.
Just last week, four “pangas” (small boats used by “coyotes”) carrying dozens of immigrants were intercepted in the San Diego area.
Last weekend, five suspected undocumented immigrants were taken onto the Cutter Active, and six were transferred to another nearby cutter. All 11 and their boat were taken to Ballast Point in San Diego, where they were transferred to Border Patrol custody.
Although migrant apprehensions at the southern border of the United States decreased dramatically with the arrival of Donald Trump to the presidency, in recent months there has been a slight increase of 9% in attempts to cross from Mexico.
Figures from the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reveal that between January and April, In 2025, Border Patrol apprehended 96,210 migrants along its southern border, nearly 87% fewer than the number of apprehensions documented during the same period in 2024, when 735,204 migrants from around the world were apprehended.
