'No background check': Reports say smugglers use social media to lure Turkish migrants to easy entry into US
Turkish migrants are entering the U.S. through the southern border at record numbers, with smugglers turning to social media to boast how easy it is to enter the country through California, according to reports.
Data on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website shows that in 2021, the number of Turkish migrant encounters along the southern border was just over 1,400. The following years, that number jumped to 15,445, and in 2023, there were 15,542 Turkish migrant encounters.
So far this year, there have been 7,486 encounters by border agents with migrants from Turkey, who entered the U.S.
In 2023, 9,154, or 41% of the 15,542 Turkish migrants who entered the U.S. came through the San Diego sector, which this year became the busiest sector in the country for migrants to enter the U.S. illegally.
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The New York Post reported that Telegram channels translated from Turkish to English were reviewed by the publication’s team and provide insight into how smugglers are helping migrants in getting through the U.S. border from Mexico.
Smugglers offer routes on social media from Cancun to Tijuana, Mexico, which include flights and travel into the U.S. The smugglers reportedly tell migrants not to "delay your dreams," in advertisements for the travel routes.
Photos and videos are provided in the posts to show evidence of smugglers successfully getting migrants into the U.S. from Mexico.
For example, one post reads, "Our passenger had passed in Cancunda [sic] without any problem. If anyone wants to go, contact me."
The Post reported that one video it reviewed showed migrants arriving in Cancun and vacationing in hotels while showing off stamped passports.
The videos also reportedly show migrants being guided by smugglers along a path to the border from Tijuana.
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Along with the positive side of things, the posts also show members of the social media group expressing concerns about coming to the U.S. in the midst of a presidential election and over Texas’ strict border enforcement.
"There is no problem at the Tijuana border. Our wish is that there won’t be any. The situation does not spread [sic] from the Texas Juarez border to other border gates. Because Texas wants to leave the USA," one message in the Telegram chat reads.
Another poster told group members the Democrats in power will leave the border alone for another year, "since Trump has fallen."
Sources within the Border Patrol confirmed with The Post that Turkish migrants are categorized as "special interest" migrants.
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US Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens posted to X last week that more than 52,000 special interest aliens had been apprehended by border patrol agents since the beginning of FY24 in October. He added that nearly 88% of those apprehensions took place in the San Diego sector.
Special Interest Aliens (SIAs) are illegal aliens from countries that have potential national security concerns, and they are supposed to receive additional DHS vetting during processing, though that has proven difficult because many of these countries do not share databases or records with the U.S.
CBP did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for more information on Turkish migrants entering the U.S. through the southern border.
A Turkish migrant, who told Fox News he paid around $10,000 to a cartel on his way to the United States, selling everything he owned, said Americans should be worried about the lack of security at the southern border.
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"American people is right, completely true," the migrants said. "Who comes into this country? They don’t know. OK, I’m good. But how if they’re not good? How if they’re killers, psychopath, else? No guarantee of that."
He added of crossing the border: "Like, no security, no security check, no background check."
He said he worried about who is crossing the border because "people are not normal."
He told Fox News his trek to the U.S. took him 24 days, and he traveled through Qatar, Dubai, Egypt, South Africa and Brazil before he arrived in Central America to come to the U.S.
San Diego County has become the busiest sector in the country for illegal crossings, with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol saying 37,370 people came through in April, according to the Los Angeles Times.
CBP told Fox News that 120 Chinese migrants crossed into California just on Thursday.
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This comes as record numbers of migrants continue to cross the border illegally, and a day after a bipartisan immigration bill failed for a second time in the Senate on a 43-50 vote after it was blocked by Republicans and a few Democrats.
Illegal immigration has become one of the main issues going into the 2024 presidential election this fall.
Fox News’ Brie Stimson and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.