Of course, human smugglers don’t directly share their intentions. Instead, they market their human smuggling operations as driving gigs with various sums of money offered.
In addition to TikTok and Instagram, other apps human smugglers target children on include Twitter, WhatsApp, and Facebook.
Texas state troopers have already made arrests of various minors who came across false ads for driving gigs, only to do the bidding of human smugglers.
Unfortunately, many of the people using children to smuggle illegal immigrants over the border are cartel members and/or gang members. This remains a very dangerous situation for any child (or adult, for that matter) to have involvement in.
How parents can protect their children
More and more children use social media these days. Therefore, if parents are going to allow their kids on sites like Twitter, TikTok, etc., they need to know who their children are speaking with.
Parents can also place certain controls on devices used by their children for safety purposes. The right protective measures can ultimately lower children’s likelihood of contact with human smugglers or other criminals.
