The ever-worsening United States-Mexico border crisis is at its peak. There are many potential threats when you are trying to cross the border into America, from newly commissioned drones, to corrupt police, to human smuggling gangs. Gangs demand anywhere from $500 to $3,500 to smuggle someone across the Mexican-American border. Many people enter the smuggling business either running the business from home, as a soloist, Or working for smuggling syndicates, and gangs with hopes of becoming the leader.

Most of the people fleeing Central America are children, with more than 50% of all refugees being children. These children usually pay around $4,000 to get smuggled across the border. People want to leave Central America mostly because of drugs, violence and political unrest. There were over 55,000 refugees this year alone who fled to America.

Now, unaccompanied refugees have begun riding the ‘Death Train’ from Mexico, to America. Many of the riders are children, even though the death rate is over 40%, the children are undeterred. Many of these children leave because of gang violence, and death threats if they don’t join a gang. These children are faced with the choice to die, of take the risk on the train, and many choose the train. First, you board a train, and must ride on the roof for four days, though many fall off during the journey, it still isn’t over. Then they must survive a three day trek through the desert without any food or water.

The easiest way to get into the United States is to wander up to the U.S. Port of Entry and look around for any shady character squatting on the sidewalk. Such people might offer you a fake California driver's license and a fake Social Security card for $400. With those, you may be able to walk straight through immigration, and into the United States. For a few hundred dollars more you might even be able to buy a fake passport. Another way to cross the border is to rent a real driver's license and real Social Security card, again for about $400, though this time you will be handed real documents, and the photo will be of someone who looks close enough to how you look to get you through. There will usually be a person on the other side of the border waiting for you. He will confront you, and you will hand the real documents back to him. They might even go far enough to hand you a real United States of America passport.

One of the major issues that the U.S. has encountered is that in a number of Central and South American islands and coastal areas, people have been trying to reach the United States by sneaking into the cargo hold of a boat leaving a local harbor, or sneaking on the boat. The United States has combated this problem by doing thorough searches of boats and documentations of the boats that are docking in US waters. If an illegal immigrant is found, then they are sent on the next boat back to their homeland. Some illegal immigrants try avoid this by jumping into the water, and swimming to shore. Many don’t make this journey though, because of the frigid water temperatures in some areas they get hypothermia, and sometimes die. In other cases they just don’t know how to swim, and end up drowning. Even if you make it to shore the chances of you not being seen are very slim.

With the dawn of the new age of technology the American Border Service and Patrol has been adapting. Instead of using people they have turned to using automated drones. These drones operate in both the air and on land. The United States’ new drones research program have created a number of multifunctional drones, with many ‘add ons’ to make the drone more efficient. The most advanced of these drones can take high resolution of people up to a half of a mile away making it much easier to stop illegal immigrants coming into the United States. I also said that there were drones on land. When you think of drones, you usually think air, but the term also applies for automated land vehicles. The more advanced of these can scan passports and other identification. If it is assaulted it also has a large arsenal of weapons that it may fight back with. But, it is programmed to only use force when necessary and not to be aggressive. Some of these robots speak multiple languages, and can carry out basic conversations, and even make jokes!

Along with the turmoil at the border, border states have had mixed feelings about the immigrants staying temporarily in their cities. At first, in states like Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, people were fine with the small flow of immigrants. But, as the flow steadily increased the people joined together in an uproar. First, they went to city council, but it was a legislative matter. So, they appealed directly to the president, but he has yet to address them with a response. Then, there was everything from peaceful protests to violent clashes. But, the locals have gotten used to it so there hasn’t been any injuries, or protests for the past couple months.