When she began, Gurrola and her family were typical of other smugglers at the time.
Decades ago, Mexicans in small towns and villages who wanted to seek work in the United States often would hire a trusted family member or neighbor who had already been and who would agree to guide them for a small fee.
But mom-and-pop organizations have faded away with the dramatic increase in border security. Migrant smugglers started charging thousands of dollars in fees to pay for risking the journey through increasingly remote areas to avoid detection, and the illegal industry has become a booming, billion-dollar business attracting violent, organized crime networks – and even drug cartels – that muscled smaller competitors aside.
Despite all that, Gurrola continued to work, with the help of her daughter and others. She met migrants at Tijuana's Suites Royal Hotel where she would give the migrants immigration documents belonging to others and told them to memorize the information, according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement affidavit. Her ring – of almost all women – would then take the migrants to a beauty salon to look more like the photos on the documents.
