“Enganchadoras” are “female grabbers” who are involved in the business of smuggling people across the Mexican border and into the United States. The term “engonchadoras” has not yet entered many English-language publications, but “engonchadoras” was used in a translated four-part series by Claudia Núñez of La Opinion about human trafficking into the border states of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California.
   
   
La Raza Chicago Inc. (November 7, 2007) 
Human Traffickers Have the Scent of a Woman
This is the first of a four part investigation carried out by La Opinión, with testimonies and information on the life of women in the people smuggling business in the border states of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California.
 
Claudia Núñez
La Opinión
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They have worked all the ropes of this smuggling business: “enganchadoras” [grabbers], who look for customers for whoever pays best; caretakers, who feed the “merchandise” en route to the final destination; and even “burreros” [literally, mule skinners], who put themselves at risk by taking the undocumented across the Rio Grande and the Arizona desert. 
 
La Raza Chicago Inc. (November 16, 2007)
A Gaviota flying between the two Laredos
Having control of the operation is the key to the business for this woman who, in the past 15 years, has helped at least 7,000 undocumented people cross the border
 
Claudia Núñez
La Opinión
LAREDO, Texas — No one knows for sure how many of them are in the business, but in the border town of Nuevo Laredo, the “coyotas’” — or female human smugglers’ — presence is felt everywhere.
 
These “enganchadoras,” withered women wandering around border bus stations, public parks and even outside so-called “Migrant Houses” looking for clients, are, to many, the first female faces in the human smuggling business.
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Her almost 15 years in the undocumented people smuggling business have taught Gaviota that, in this business, as in any other business, there are hierarchies, and being an “enganchadora” or “cuidadora de pollos” is, for many women, just the beginning of a career in which not everyone can reach the top.