Smuggling foreigners into the United States earns transnational criminal organizations billions of dollars. Every year, hundreds of thousands of migrants shell out anywhere from $3,500 to $50,000 to get themselves into America illegally.

“The smuggling organizations, they’re in it for the money,” said Paul Beeson, director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Joint Task Force’s West division. “They’re not in it because they’re some altruistic folks who think they’re doing a service. The people, they’re a product. They’re chattel.”