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Criminal justice professor: Smugglers are taking advantage of increase in migrants

By: Tony Velasquez Jr.

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A recent article from the New York Post says migrants are posing as unaccompanied minors to be smuggled into the country.

“They're doing that - you can see some of these individuals, they're small statured, they look very young, and so they're able to pass off as being juveniles, as being minors,” Steve Romero, a criminal justice professor at the University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley said.

“So they'll pose as the minor which is being accompanied by their family, which is not their family, just to get those cartel members into the United States,” Romero said. “They'll transfer them from that detention center next door to a Department of Health and Human Services - the federal agency that's supposed to take custody of children within 48 hours.”

A backlog in processing migrants is causing some asylum seekers to be released without court dates, Romero said.

“It's hurting everything, from border enforcement at the border, all the way to housing these unaccompanied children and also releasing individuals,” Romero said.

The only people coming out on top of the current situation is the cartel, Romero said.

“They're advertising, charging top dollar, and they're making more money now, smuggling people than they are with the drugs that are coming into this country,” Romero said.   

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