Migrant Smuggling Data and Research

Some Cuban nationals and residents from other Caribbean countries such as
the Dominican Republic have also opted for flying to Central America as part of
their migration journeys (Mark, 2016; Kyle and Scarcelli, 2009). Panama has in
this sense become an important migrant destination (CEAM, 2010; Dyer, 2016).
Here, migrants often turn themselves to the authorities, who – unable to verify
their identities – often grant exit visas that allow those in transit to continue with
their journeys (Fox, 2016), often by hiring the services of smugglers or brokers of
specific services that may ease their path into Mexico and beyond.
Visa regulations in Brazil, and until recently in Ecuador, have played
a role in easing the journeys of many migrants, including those embarking in
transcontinental journeys. Able to apply for a visa upon arrival,migrants fly into
Brazil and then on to Ecuador from where journeys by air, boat or overland
through Central America into Mexico and onto the United States, can be arranged
with smugglers. Smuggling journeys can also be arranged from Colombia, where
boat operators transport paying migrants to Panama. For those lacking financial
resources trekking on their own the Darien Gap in order to reach Panama often
constitutes their only option (Jackson, 2015; Correa Álvarez, 2013).
Maritime travel is also an alternative. Some Ecuadorians travel to
Guatemala by boat, where they are then instructed to dress in local tribal garb
– a practice often used by smugglers for their clients to “pass” for locals during
their journeys into Mexico (Stone-Cadena, 2014). In the Caribbean, smuggling
scholarship has most often focused on the journeys of Cuban nationals seeking
to reach the United States by boat. While there are in fact legal mechanisms in
place for Cubans to be admitted into the United States and receive relief, they
must first obtain a permit to leave the island, a taxing and complicated process
that plays a role in the decision to travel irregularly instead. Numbers indicate
most Cuban nationals rely on irregular migratory journeys on their quest to reach
the United States (Wassem, 2009). Many travel from the island to Colombia and
then onto Panama, following the route of the Darien (Correa Álvarez, 2013).
Haitians and Dominicans also seek to reach US territory, relying on boats or
dinghies – known as yolas – that take them across the Mona Passage into Puerto
Rico (Ferguson, 2003:30; Duany, Hernández Angueira and Rey, 1995). As in the
case of many other clandestine migration efforts, this method and route are
often lethal, given the poor conditions of the boats used. Many in the Caribbean
opt to travel to Mexico (Mexican coasts lie only 120 mi away from Cuba) from
where they embark in journeys to the United States, travelling along the coasts
of the Gulf of Mexico – the route preferred also by many Central American
migrants. The Pacific coast is often relied upon by migrants of Asian or other
transcontinental origin) seeking to reach the Western United States (Casillas,
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11. Latin America