Smugglers are telling illegal migrants crossing into New Mexico to use Uber and Lyfts - and local cops say they are helpless to stop it

Illegal migrants crossing the border at New Mexico are being told by smugglers to take rideshare services like Uber or Lyft once they enter the United States, and local police say they are helpless to stop it.

E. Gallardo, a veteran of the Las Cruces and Sunland Park police departments, said that in Sunland Park, most migrants enter the US border by walking down a nearby mountain in the early morning hours, where human smugglers await to instruct them to order a car through a rideshare app. 

'That’s probably an ,' Gallardo told KRQE during a ride-along, before adding that he spotted a car circling around an Encinos neighborhood street in Sunland Park, but it immediately fled the area when it saw the police car. 

'Almost everyone carries a cellphone now.'

Local police officer E. Gallardo takes KRQE on a ride-along in as he patrols along the New Mexico US border with Mexico

The area has become a hotspot for human smugglers based out of Juarez, Mexico thanks to a nearby mountain, which offers travelers cover while crossing the US-Mexico border

A police officer in New Mexico questions a migrant along the US-Mexico border

'They hide in the brush, behind houses, under mobile homes … they’ll go to sleep and rest a bit and won’t come up for hours,' he said of the migrants. 

The news outlet reports that Uber said the company actually has an internal team of law enforcement that works closely with local police departments nationwide and assists them in investigations.

The rideshare giant added that it also has partnered with several nonprofit organizations to teach their drivers on how to spot and report potential human trafficking. 

Meanwhile, a representative from Lyft did not immediately return a comment.  

Over 180,000 migrants have crossed the southern border illegally in the month of June alone

Gallardo said that local cops working along the border can't stop vehicles that pick up passengers unless they speed or pick up up more riders than legally allowed. 

Over 180,000 migrants have crossed the southern border illegally in the month of June alone, according to Fox News. 

'Ultimately, if I can see them on a private property, I can make a consensual stop. I gotta protect the dwelling and the safety of the residents,' Gallardo admitted to Fox. 

The outlet reports that Sunland Park has become a recent hotspot for human smugglers based out of Juarez, Mexico thanks to a nearby mountain, which offers travelers cover while crossing the US-Mexico border.  

​​'People blame us sometimes, here in the municipality,' McAllen Texas Mayor Javier Villalobos told Fox News on Thurdsay. 

Lyft did not immediately return a comment regarding the use of their rideshare services among smugglers and illegal migrants

Uber states that it also has partnered with several nonprofit organizations to teach their drivers on how to spot and report potential human trafficking

'We tell them it’s outside of our jurisdiction. You want to place blame? We know exactly where to do it, and that’s in Washington. And whether it be the president, Congress, the Senate, whatever it is, they’re the ones who can take care of it.'

In the meantime, Villalobos and other local Texas officials are pointing the blame at the Biden Administration, who they claim have relaxed border policies to the point where the Mayor of McAllen had to issue a full-on emergency declaration to build a 'tent city' on Friday to deal with the overflow of migrants crossing the border from Mexico.

Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz , who echoed Villalobos sentiments, poses in his office in City Hall

'The Catholic charities just couldn’t handle it anymore,' Villalobos said.

'We get a call, so we have to immediately act because we cannot—we shouldn’t and we cannot let the immigrants roam around our city—especially with a high COVID rate.'

Fellow Texas Mayor Pete Saenz echoed Villalobos sentiments, 

'Something’s terribly wrong here,' said the Mayor of nearby Laredo.

'It’s not orderly, there’s chaos, and obviously it’s creating this crisis that we’re facing here throughout the entire border area.'

Last week, Uber revealed that their drivers do not need to get the COVID-19 vaccine, however it did mandate it's office workers to receive it in order to work in the company's headquarters, Mail Online reported on Thursday.