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Social media apps like TikTok have become an essential tool for smugglers and migrants alike.
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Depiction of migrants with faces covered by emojis giving testimony that they arrived safely to the U.S. as part of the smugglers social media campaign to build their brand of trust, based on hundreds of TikTok videos reviewed by the AP. “With God’s help, we’re going to continue working to fulfill the dreams of foreigners. Safe travels without robbing our people,” wrote one enterprising smuggler.
As she gained more contacts on both sides of the border, she began connecting people from across the Americas with a network of smugglers to sneak them across borders and eventually into the U.S. Later, smugglers began to infiltrate those chats and use the choice social media app of the day, expanding to Facebook and Instagram.
“It’s a marketing strategy,” Correa-Cabrera said. “Everyone was on TikTok, particularly after the pandemic, and then it began to multiply.” Narratives shift based on the political ---environment and immigration policies in the U.S. During the Biden administration, posts would advertise getting migrants access to asylum applications through the administration's CBP One app, which Trump ended.
“In a moment of desperation, I started searching on TikTok and, well, with the algorithm videos began to pop up,” she said. “It took me a half an hour” to find a smuggler.
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