On Thursday’s broadcast of “NBC Nightly News,” NBC News Senior White House Correspondent Gabe Gutierrez reported on a conversation with a human smuggler in Mexico who he said told him that “Trump’s stricter border policies have caused his business to plummet about 80% since Inauguration Day.”

Gutierrez said, “Illegal border crossings dropped dramatically after the U.S. tightened asylum restrictions during the last part of the Biden administration. Since Trump was re-elected, they’ve fallen even more, 35% from December to January. Trump’s border czar now says they’re down to 229 a day, down from a peak of 11,000 a day during President Biden’s term. Marcos is a coyote, a human smuggler in southern Mexico who’s concealing his face and last name. The troops won’t make a difference, he says, it’s foolishness, but he does concede Trump’s stricter border policies have caused his business to plummet about 80% since Inauguration Day.”

Gutierrez also stated that Marcos told him he might have to raise his prices.

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