Federal Agents Bust California Human Smuggling Ring That Allegedly Involved 20,000 People

When liberals hear the phrase “mass migration,” they seem to think of it as an opportunity to virtue signal about how welcoming they are to foreigners.

For conservatives and other supporters of President Donald Trump, however, that phrase conjures realistic images of horrors for everyone involved.

According to Fox News, federal agents disrupted a massive human smuggling operation on Friday when they arrested two Guatemalan men accused of trafficking 20,000 illegal immigrants into the United States since 2019.

The arrests occurred in downtown Los Angeles, California.

Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul and Cristobal Mejia-Chaj now face the possibility of the death penalty if convicted.

The smuggling operation, which included two other defendants, Jose Paxtor-Oxlaj and Helmer Obispo-Hernandez, featured elements akin to kidnapping and extortion.

For instance, the defendants allegedly charged $15,000 to $18,000 for safe passage into the United States. But that passage also allegedly included unexpected charges for transport across the U.S., and the smugglers kept migrants who could not pay as hostages in order to extort more money from their families back home.

U.S. Attorney Joseph McNally explained the significance of the arrests.

“These smuggling organizations have no regard for human life and their conduct kills,” McNally said.

“The indictment and arrests here have dismantled one of the country’s largest and most dangerous smuggling organizations. This work saves lives, and the members of the organization will now face significant consequences,” he added.

Since Trump’s political ascendance, Democrats have depicted mass migration as a moral imperative. Migrants get a better life, and racist Americans experience some much-needed diversity. To the garden-variety Democrat, it involves nothing more complicated.

Of course, none of that has any basis in reality. It flows from the kind of “luxury beliefs” in which affluent liberals indulge, partly because the indulgence costs them nothing, and partly because it makes them feel morally superior.

After all, they seem to feel very strongly at present about continuing to support Ukraine in its war against Russia, though they have not exactly rushed to emulate the American communists of the 1930s by forming something akin to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and putting their own lives at risk. Nor will they.

In like manner, they have not lined up to volunteer as hosts for illegal immigrants. They simply want to feel good about having exquisite sensibilities while those migrants languish in other people’s neighborhoods.

Conservatives, on the other hand, tend to see mass migration as a human tragedy for everyone involved.

In August, for instance, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General admitted that now-former President Joe Biden’s administration had lost track of approximately 325,000 migrant children.

Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, has prioritized finding those children.

Likewise, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has highlighted the exploitation of women and children brought across the border.

In December, Abbott launched a billboard campaign in Central America designed to warn prospective migrants about unscrupulous smugglers.

“How much did you pay to have your daughter raped?” one such billboard read.

In short, we have every reason to celebrate the disruption of the diabolical smuggling ring allegedly led by Renoj-Matul and Mejia-Chaj, because it means less suffering for prospective migrants, fewer dangers for U.S. citizens, and more proof that conservatives and Trump supporters of every kind have always told the truth about mass migration.

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