Saving in the U.S. with dreams of a business in Mexico.
José had wanted to come to the United States for ten years. In 2012, soon after his brothers Leonardo and Emiliano made their crossing, he decided to try. He was nineteen years old at the time.
José travelled by airplane from Mexico City to Tamaulipas, but things stared to go badly almost immediately. As he was trying to deplane, he was stopped by soldiers. José had to pay a bribe of MXN 500 ($42 USD) just to be allowed off the airplane. He was stopped by a different group of soldiers as he was trying to leave the airport. He was detained for two hours, and he only was let go when he had to pay them a bribe of MXN 500 as well. He met up with his coyote and tried to cross the Rio Grande. He was almost immediately spotted by a helicopter and detained. He tried three more times. He was detained when he was resting in a bodega, trying to gather his strength for the next leg of his journey. He was detained when the car that picked him up broke down on the highway. Finally, he was detained at an immigration roadblock just outside of Houston. He had no luck!
Each time he was detained, the U.S. Border Patrol noted his identification, fingerprinted him. and then deported him. Every time he was deported. he had to pay the Mexican immigration officials a bribe of MXN 500 to allow him to leave the border crossing area and return to Mexico. The only bright spot was that at that time the border in Tamaulipas was not fully controlled by the narcos, so he did not have to pay them a fee each time he tried to cross. After six weeks of trying, he was exhausted and out of money, and he decided to return home.
For the next ten years he cobbled together a living working a series of different odd jobs. In 2021, he found himself working as a bartender and living in a small room above the bar. He was making between MXN 1,000– MXN 2,000 ($50–100 USD) a week depending on how many days he worked. He was ambitious. He wanted to own his own home and run his own bar, but he would never be able to save up enough money unless he went to the U.S.
His opportunity came when a friend of his brother Emiliano wanted to come to the U.S. This friend did not want make the dangerous trip alone, so he asked Emiliano if there was anyone in his family who wanted to come with him. Emiliano asked José, and José said sure. José’s older brothers sent him the MXN 30,000 ($1,500 USD) he would need for his journey from Puebla to the border.
José travelled to Hidalgo just north of Mexico City and met up with Emiliano’s friend and with the coyote he had selected. A group of five coyotes had chartered a bus, and each of the coyotes and their clients met at the appointed time at the bus terminal. Everyone knew the number and location of the bus. Everything was very organized. Jose said, “It was almost like a tourist excursion.”
The bus was stopped five times before it reached its destination. It was stopped by the state police, the federal police, the army, the National Guard, and Fuerza Civil Coahuila. At each stop an official got on the bus and counted the number of people. The official then multiplied the number of people by the specific per person bribe required MXN 1,000–2,000 ($50–100 USD), to determine the amount that needed to be paid. The bus driver collected the money from the passengers and noted down the amount that was paid and the organization of the official that received it. When the bus arrived at its destination each of the passengers was charged a fee. For Jose, the fee was MXN 30,000 ($1,500 USD); however, this amount was discounted by the amount of bribes that were paid along the way.
José explained that at this point the narco control of the human smuggling routes through Piedras Negras is so complete that no one is able to ask for a bribe unless they are part of the organization. The narcos know exactly who is asking for bribes and how much, and it is easier for them to let these law enforcement entities collect the money for themselves along the way rather than having the narcos collect it all at once and then have to redistribute it. However, if one of these law enforcement entities asks for too much money, or if non-associated police officers ask for bribes there can be severe consequences. Of course, it is possible to travel to the border on your own. However, individuals that do this have to pay the full MXN 30,000 for the fee. It is simpler and cheaper to take a narco-approved-coyote-organized “tourist excursion.”
José waited at a ranch outside of Piedras Negras until the coyote felt that it was a good time to cross. While at the ranch the migrants were protected, but not entirely safe. There have been many cases where rival gangs will fight over human smuggling routes. Rival gangs are known to attack a ranch, kidnap the migrants there, and take them to another location. At a minimum the gangs will demand an additional payment, but they also may demand a larger ransom from the migrants’ relatives in the U.S.
José’s time at the ranch was peaceful, and his crossing was uneventful. This time he was lucky! He crossed the river and walked for three nights and two days through rough country. His group was small with only fifteen people. He travelled with thirteen liters of water and sport drinks and lots of chocolate. The U.S. Border Patrol has planes, helicopters, drones, 4x4’s quads, horses, and dogs; but José only saw drones and these only at a distance. They arrived at a pick-up location, and his group was taken to Houston. He waited there for his brothers to wire the $5,000 for the crossing. He then took a car to Chicago for $500 and then another car to New York for $600. The entire journey from his hometown to New York cost $7,600.
José almost immediately obtained a job at a pet store caring for the dogs and cats. He feeds them, cleans them, and cleans their cages. The store is owned by man that José described as a Hindu. There are Mexicans, Columbians, Guatemalans, and Peruvians caring for the animals. The only Americans that work there are salespeople communicating directly with customers in English.
He works thirteen hours a day six days a week. He is paid $15 an hour and grosses $1,170 a week. He is not paid overtime even though puts in a 78-hour work week. He is working on a fake Social Security Number. It is either invalid or belongs to someone else. He pays around $4,500 in Social Security and Medicare Taxes, and $6,000 in federal and state withholding a year, but receives no associated benefits or tax refunds. He has been advised that he can amend his W-4 to reduce his withholding, but he does not want to do this, because he does not want to trouble his employer or draw any attention to himself from the tax authorities.
He has been in the U.S. a little more than one year. He lives in an illegal basement apartment with two other men. It is a large single room with three beds and a separate bathroom. They have access to a laundry and to the kitchen. The basement apartment costs $1,290 a month and they each pay $430 each.
He saves $500 a week in a tanda, which pays out $5,000 every ten weeks. After paying his rent and contributing to his tanda he has around $350 a week to live on, and he is even able to save some of this. He repaid his debt to his brothers very quickly, and he has already made a down payment on a house in his hometown. He is currently making payments. He is also saving money so he can invest in his bar. The municipality where his hometown is located is famous in Mexico for its lakes, waterfalls, and vistas. Also, it is in central Mexico far from the border, and is much safer than other areas in Mexico. For these reasons it has a great deal of tourism. He feels that a bar that caters to tourists would be a good business.
He is not happy in the U.S. He especially does not like the lack of privacy because he has to share a room with multiple people. He is a private person, and he likes to have his own space. He wants to work hard, make as much money as he possibly can, save it, and then return in four years. “It is true that you can make a lot of money, but it is hard to live here.”