SAVANAH HERNANDEZ REPORTS: Illegal immigrants use Facebook ‘black market’ to work in NYC, buy fake IDs and access human smuggling services

During the investigation into how illegals are working for food delivery services, it was discovered that multiple Facebook pages with digital flyers advertising the activation or rental of accounts for Uber Eats, Doordash and Instacart alongside a WhatsApp number for interested parties to reach out to.

On one Facebook page titled, “Trabajo para Latinos en Queens, Nueva York”, one woman posted an image reading, “rent account for Doordash” in Spanish.

When asked how much she was renting the account for, she quickly deleted her posts and responded via voice message. Our source shares that once you reach out to an individual advertising illegal services, they’ll typically delete their post and begin conversing with customers privately, sending voice messages to avoid putting admissions of illegal activity in writing.

Our source who infiltrated these various markets shares that, “For Uber accounts to run they typically need social security numbers and drivers licenses, so it’s people’s actual information that’s being sold and used to start these accounts”.

On these pages illegal immigrants can “buy” their own food delivery accounts or rent out the accounts, giving the original owners a cut of the delivery fee.

On the ground in Manhattan, illegal immigrants confirmed that another way to get an account is through buying one on the black market in Queens for upwards of $500 dollars.

“Uber runs you the most because they won’t shut you down,” a source shared, “Doordash and Instacart are more likely to shut down fraudulent accounts, that’s why Uber is the most expensive”.

After crossing the border many illegal immigrants will destroy or dispose of any form of identification they have, but finding a fake ID is as simple as searching the words “driver's license” in Spanish on Facebook.

During one search, a page was found titled, “Obtenga su licencia de conducir de EE. UU. aqui” which means “Obtain your license to drive from the United States here”. Upon scrolling down this page, multiple fake licenses are shown in several videos, alongside fake social security cards and even credit scores. These fake licenses are advertised for every state from New York to California.

Multiple videos also show these IDs being passed under a blacklight checked for “authenticity”. The seller passes the IDs under a blacklight with the IDs showing the authenticity holograms typically added as an extra security measure to government-issued IDs throughout the US.

We reached out to the user of this page and he responded that he could in fact create an ID for whatever state was needed. On the ground in Queens, a source shareed that there’s also a physical black market selling these same services.

Human smuggling is another service advertised on these pages. A Facebook group titled “El Coyote 502” with almost 100,000 followers, advertises human smuggling services by posting videos of migrants being transported throughout Mexico. In one video a large group of Guatemalans is seen waiting in a large room with the caption reading “pick up, ten minutes, and I’ll come for you”. In another video, the smuggler is seen driving through Utah, and in another, he’s walking a group of migrants through Mexico.

Comments on these videos are in the hundreds, with multiple other smugglers commenting counter offers, promising to smuggle illegal immigrants in even faster and cheaper.

Another group, La Pulga of Phoenix, which means “flea market of Phoenix” has over 72,000 followers. On this page a video of a smuggler, named Poncho L. Chiko, was found advertising his services by posting a video of illegal immigrants climbing over the border wall.

After seeing his advertisement, we reached out to him personally and asked him to clarify his services. He responded with “el brinco” meaning “the jump” and then commented “rapido, facil y seguro” which means “fast, easy and secure”. He then confirms that he can cross anyone over in 30 minutes or less, re-sending the video of illegal immigrants jumping the border, alongside a video of the trail he uses to smuggle them in. He then gave pricing, sharing that it would be “$7,500 per person,” adding, “I’ll give you $1,000 per person as a finders fee”.

He then began sending voice messages to avoid putting down his services in writing.

He was also asked if he sells “papers to work” to which he verbally responded that he could get us an Arizona drivers license.

Other services advertised on these pages include renting out bank accounts. In a group titled “Latinos en el Bronx, Queens, Manhattan y Brooklyn” with over 26,000 followers, one of their posts advertised the ability for illegal immigrants to rent a bank account for as little as 25 dollars, something needed to start up a food delivery account.