Around one in four drivers caught smuggling migrants last year in the Sunland Park-Santa Teresa area were children, most U.S. citizens living locally, according to U.S. Border Patrol, which began recording the juvenile driver data in fiscal year 2021.

Mexican youth have long guided migrants into the United States. Recruiters tell both Mexican and U.S. teens they are unlikely to face legal consequences because they are minors, according to around two dozen government and law enforcement officials, attorneys, migrant advocates and local residents Reuters spoke to.

U.S. children as young as 14 learn of the work from social media and friends and transport mainly Mexican adults.

The young drivers can earn hundreds of dollars per migrant, and locals jokingly call them “Ubers.” Some see it as a way to get ahead in Sunland Park, a working-class town with three times the national poverty rate where a third of residents are under 18 and many children live with grandparents.