Allen continues our coverage tonight,
showing us one of the most deady
threats these people face.
And we are here in Tijuana,
where we had the chance to visie
of the many migrant shelters he,
getting a first hand look at why many
migrants are forced to flee ther
own countries and the dangers ty
face as they hope to enter ours.
It's lunchtime at Casa del Migrant A.
One of roughly 30 migrant shelts
scattered throughout Tijuana,
and This is no ordinary day her,
was over in 36 years of service.
Father Pat Murphy is director of Casa
del Mika Dante, which provides ,
lodging and support for as manys
140 migrants seeking asylum in the US,
including dozens of children.
This is great.
And while the mood is festive
with preparations underway
for a party later in the day,
the reason these migrants come here in
the 1st place is nothing to celebrate,
many of them fleeing violence ad
persecution in their home count,
from Honduras and Venezuela
to El Salvador and Haiti,
even one migrant from Banglades.
He doesn't speak our language
or we don't speak, his
father, Murphy, says.
The largest group of migrants
here is actually from Mexico,
escaping the violence in places
like Mitual Economy and Guerrer,
people whose businesses and
houses have been taken over by e
cartel and they're told you have
three days to leave and if not,
we're going to. Your house down
Cuban, born to V PED as Acosta,
has been staying here at Casa dl
Miga Dante for the past three w.
They just have nothing but great
hopes of getting to the other s.
While Devide is not seeking asylum himself,
he's familiar with the stories
of the other residents here,
pointing to the desperation they
face in fleeing their homelands.
I think the word desperate right
about now is an understatement.
I think for them it's a
matter of life and death.
Right now, these families just .
A better life? Oh, that's the oy
thing they hear from Nobody wano
immigrate for fun. It's for survival.
And with Title 42, which alloweS
border officials to automaticaly
turn back migrants now ending,
Father Murphy expects more and e
migrants to continue to come to Tijuana,
hoping to cross over to
the US and claim asylum.
But these migrants also face another threat.
Human smugglers offering to
transport them illegally into
the US for thousands of dollars,
often their life savings.
For sure
more people will come to Tijuana
and the coyote, say smugglers.
We just keep giving.
Misinformation Mother Murphy
points out that whenever there's
significant change in border po,
like right now, human smugglers
take advantage of the confusion,
praying on migrants desperate fr
a way into the United States and
exploiting them for their own profit.
That's amazing what they
can do with confusion.
They have 0 regard for life
Supervisory Border Patrol Agent
Daniel Anderson tells CBS8 that
they've seen a spike in human
smuggling attempts in recent mo.
In January, for instance,
Customs and Border officers at
the Brownfield Border Patrol
station stopped a dozen vehicles
involved in human smuggling.
12 in one day. Is is much,
much more than we're used to se,
an increase that's expected to
continue as Title 42 lapses.
Agent Anderson stresses that the migrants
who place themselves in the hanf
smugglers often face unknown dangers.
They don't care about the
the humans in the lives that
they're they're smuggling.
They're in it for the money.
The people they smuggle are
just a commodity to that, no.
Different than vegetables or dr,
they're just moving people
for a profit. In June,
51 migrants died in the worst kn
human smuggling operation on US soil,
their bodies recovered in the
trailer of an 18 Wheeler on
the outskirts of San Antonio.
Some migrant rights advocates
say that in some cases,
those who are smuggled end up in
forced labor or sex traffickingo
pay off their debts to the smugglers.
A lot of times we don't know what happens
to the people. Kind of disappea.
Under federal immigration law,
migrants caught coming into the
US without documentation through
a smuggler or not will be remov,
barred from legal RE entry for at least
five years and could face prosecution.
This is something that you do nt
want to take a chance with. Do t
and Customs and Border Protectin
officials encourage anyone who s
to enter the United States to ue
the ports of entry, emphasizing
that they are both legal and sa.
In Tijuana, Richard Allen, CBS8.
Thank you, Richard, now.