EL PASO, Texas (NewsNation) — Despite the slowdown of migrant encounters at the U.S. southern border, cartels are still using brutal and grotesque tactics to punish and manipulate people.
NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo obtained graphic video that shows a man being burned alive by cartel members of the La Línea, an extract of the Cali Cartel. The man was allegedly a member of the cartel.
Note, the video below may be disturbing to some.
Border Patrol has said that the post-Title 42 slowdowns at the border are also being controlled by cartels.
“The cartel is that fourth leg on that stool that’s controlling everything that’s happening here in the United States. People have to pay to get to the border,” said Chris Clem, a Border Patrol agent.
Cartels have forced migrants across the Rio Grande at gunpoint and hold asylum seekers in stash houses, but many migrants have said the dangerous journey is still worth the risk, and as many remain in limbo, they’re still hopeful.
“Our country is in like a war, and some criminal things. So we have to run from the danger, and we just want some help,” a migrant told NewsNation. “Nothing we can do, just wait for help, stay strong, and pray.”
Authorities have seen a drop in the number of migrant encounters along the border since Title 42 expired on May 11.
U.S. Customer and Border Protection sources told NewsNation that there were 5,000 migrant encounters at the border on Monday compared to previous weeks, and none of the nine border sectors has 1,000 illegal crossings.
“Over the last three days, we have seen approximately a 50 percent decrease in encounters compared to the days leading up to the end of Title 42,” said Blas Nuñez-Neto, the assistant secretary for border and immigration policy at the Department of Homeland Security.