Coyote Inc.

It is early afternoon, and Victor is in a restaurant in Agua Prieta, looking for new customers. He sits down at a table of three young men; their jeans and tennis shoes are caked with mud. They set out in a group of 30 the night before and were caught by the Border Patrol around 9 a.m. that morning. Victor places his mobile phone on the table and hands one of them a note. It says that he can cross them for $600 apiece, including lodging and food the night before the trip. He promises there will be only 10 minutes of walking. The men know better. They decide to stick with the same guide and try again later that night. One of the men, 21-year-old Emanuel Nava, says they will keep trying until they make it to Phoenix.

Back in Mexico City, Nava drove a taxi for a living. "I worked 13 or 14 hours a day for about $10," he says. Then Victor mentions the group of 20 he recruited earlier that week: "Four days ago, I made $800 in 20 minutes." With that kind of income gap in Mexico, the U.S. Border Patrol will be hiring for a long time to come.

Still Coming to America--But Now It's Big Business

The average price to cross the border is $800, from which the coyote has to pay his subcontractors. The guide gets $10 to $20 a person. Here's the rest of the chain: