Mexican Official Says Human Smugglers Charging Up to $40,000 per Person to Enter U.S.

In the final months of the Joe Biden administration, Customs and Border Protection agents were recording more than 90,000 encounters with undocumented immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border. Under the Trump administration's tougher immigration policies, that number has dropped significantly, falling from 61,445 encounters in January 2025 to just 9,733 in January 2026.

While stricter enforcement has contributed to the decline, a new report from Mexican media outlets suggests other factors are also driving the decrease in migrants attempting to enter the United States.

With fewer migrants and increased border surveillance, individuals who transport migrants from Mexico to the United States, commonly known as "coyotes," are now charging as much as $40,000 per person, promising safe passage. But upon reaching the border city of Ciudad Juárez, many migrants are extorted or kidnapped, according to Chihuahua Public Security Secretary Gilberto Loya.

"When large caravans were common, we were talking about $10,000 to $15,000 per person. Now, with migration down and higher security measures, they are charging up to $40,000, and in cases of kidnapping, they charge double. That's what a person is spending to try to reach the 'American dream,'" Loya said.

Loya told El Heraldo de México that authorities have identified more than 1,500 migrants held in safe houses, where they were deprived of their freedom and extorted for ransom, often forced to pay additional fees for crossing or while waiting to be smuggled into the United States.

According to Loya, the high fees charged by coyotes allow organized crime groups to expand their influence in the region. He said Mexican authorities remain in close coordination with their counterparts in the United States and other Latin American countries, including El Salvador and Colombia, to combat the trafficking of people, drugs, weapons and money along the border.

Before Donald Trump's return to the presidency, Mexican authorities estimated that human smuggling generated roughly $100 million a month in direct profits for organized crime. And while irregular migration to the United States has declined between 80% and 95% over the past two years, according to state officials, human smuggling "remains a major criminal business."

"For us, it is just as important to combat this jointly with U.S. authorities, because the real problem is the profits that organized crime generates, to corrupt officials, to buy weapons and to hire gunmen," Loya said.

Crackdowns on human trafficking and smuggling networks have remained a top priority for U.S. authorities.

Last month, the Department of Justice announced a lengthy sentence for a Mexican national who led a human smuggling ring that transported hundreds of undocumented immigrants into the United States.

According to court documents, the organization led by Pedro Luis Martinez-Jaquez, of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, charged $9,500 per person, with half of the proceeds going to Martinez-Jaquez.

Prosecutors said the group smuggled more than 500 people and generated over $4.7 million between January 2021 and July 2022. Martinez-Jaquez was sentenced to 30 years in prison.