How Do Immigrants Come To The US? Human Trafficker Smuggling Immigrants Across Border Arrested After Destroying Car

A suspected human trafficker transporting two undocumented immigrants across the U.S.-Mexico border into California was arrested Sunday after attempting to escape authorities at a Border Patrol checkpoint, officials said in a press release.

Customs and Border Protection detained a member of one of the most well-known border trafficking groups in the region in an early morning encounter that ended with the smuggler seriously injured and facing felony charges. The driver failed to stop at a border checkpoint that requires vehicles to provide U.S. residency or citizenship identification. Instead, the driver rolled past Customs and Border Protection agents at approximately 5 a.m. local time.

The suspected smuggler then reportedly crashed his vehicle, causing the it to roll over after agents demanded the driver stop the car. He was found to have been transporting two undocumented immigrants, who required care for minor injuries at a nearby hospital but did not appear to be seriously injured. Meanwhile, the driver suffered severe injuries to the head and torso and was airlifted by helicopter to a Palm Springs medical facility.

"The driver of this vehicle is an associate of one of the Indio Border Patrol Station’s top two alien smuggling organizations," said Scott Garrett, the patrol agent in charge of the Indio Customs and Border Protection station. "The driver chose to flee and wound up seriously injuring himself. Fortunately, the two individuals he was smuggling were not seriously injured, otherwise he would be facing additional felony charges."

Illegal immigration has slowed in recent years and the total population of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. has declined since reaching its peak in 2009. However, thousands of migrants were entering the country illegally by making the back-breaking journey over the border.

President Donald Trump has vowed to build a wall spanning all 1,500 miles of the nation’s southern border, increase immigrant detention and deportation rates and most recently even pledged to "bring the full force and weight of our government" in an effort to eradicate human trafficking in the U.S. and internationally.