We are eagerly awaiting January 20 when the business can start up again and we can start earning a bit more dollars.
The people smuggler who is speaking has taken undocumented migrants, mainly from Central America and the Caribbean, to the USA over the past few years. It has been about 30 people per week, he says himself. However, since about a year ago, he has lost 80 percent of his income because the USA has allowed people to seek asylum at the border via an app. This has led to a decrease in demand for his services.
Now, better times are ahead for people smugglers, he believes, and thousands of others, since Trump has said that the app will be abolished.
They say they will close the border, but we always find a hole where we can sneak people through. They cannot close the entire border, it is impossible, says the man to Thompson Reuters Foundation's site Context.
"No choice"
January 20 is the day when Donald Trump will be sworn in as the President of the USA for the second time. One of his campaign promises is that more undocumented immigrants will be prevented from entering the USA. People who have managed to enter the USA – but do not have the right documents – will be deported.
How the deportations will be carried out has not been detailed, but Trump has not ruled out calling in the military if deemed necessary. What the entire operation will cost is also unclear, and according to the incoming president, there is no price tag.
Really not, we have no choice. When people have killed and murdered, when drug barons have destroyed countries, then they should go back to their countries because they should not be here, he said in November.
Families may be split
Around 5.1 million children who are American citizens live with an undocumented family member, according to the lobby organization American Immigration Council. Now, ahead of Trump becoming president again, many are trying to prepare for a future where families may be split due to mass deportations.
Lillie is an American citizen and has been married to an undocumented man from Honduras for ten years. She has recently made sure that their children, who were born in the USA, have obtained their American passports in case her husband is deported.
If something happens and my husband is detained or deported, it would be very difficult for me to get passports for my children, our children, to be able to leave the country to meet him, she says to NBC News.
Her husband was detained for two months in 2017, when Trump was president previously. According to Lillie, her husband has been clear that if it happens again, he will not stay and fight, but rather leave the USA.
He does not want to be detained again, she says.
Preparatory role-playing
Even migration lawyers and activists are preparing to meet Trump's promised deportations. Tips are being spread, among other things, about gathering important documents in a safe place, seeking legal help, and avoiding being scammed online.
The migrant organization Casa is arranging well-attended meetings with, among other things, role-playing where participants learn how to act if the immigration authorities knock on the door.
We go through in detail what is needed for your family to be prepared in case you are taken away, or if there is an ICE raid at work and you are separated from your children, says Catherine Paul at Casa, writes The Guardian.
According to Tom Homan, responsible for Trump's promised deportations, parents with children born in the USA will not be protected from deportation. Homan has been given the epithet "border tsar" by Trump. Previously, he was the head of the migration and customs agency ICE.
You know you are in the country illegally and you chose to have children. So you put your family in this situation, he says to The Washington Post.
We will need to build family facilities. How many beds we will need depends on the statistics.
A business worth billions
But the tightened rules do not deter people from seeking to enter the USA, says Maureen Meyer at the human rights organization Wola (Washington Office on Latin America).
Instead, it feeds money into organized criminal groups, she says to Context.
In 2017, the UN agency UNODC estimated that criminal organizations earn up to 4.2 billion dollars annually from human smuggling to the USA.
The USA's incoming president Donald Trump has said that he will initiate the "largest deportation in USA's history", and deport millions of undocumented migrants. It may also become relevant to use local police and national guard.
He has also promised to reintroduce the disputed entry ban from mainly certain Muslim countries.
At the same time, Trump has said that it may become relevant to issue work and residence permits to foreign citizens who take a college degree.
