Migrant Smuggling Data and Research

Simultaneously, some journalistic inquests have attempted to provide
more critical perspectives into migration transits and their facilitation. Reports on
the community dimensions of migration and the importance of solidarity during
the transit (Fox, 2016; Round Earth Media, 2016) and those that are effective at
integrating anthropological inquiry to the analysis of activities such as migrant
kidnapping and extortion (Stillman, 2015; Trujillo, 2011) have provided a much
nuanced and needed analyses of migration processes as taking place on the
ground.
Grey literature
There is a large body of grey literature pertaining to irregular migration
in the Americas. The majority of these reports, completed or commissioned by
intergovernmental organizations, international non-governmental organizations,
research institutions, foundations and other private organizations has primarily
concerned the security conditions faced by migrants in transit along the Mexican
corridor (Amnesty International, 2010; Human Rights Watch, 2016; Sin Fronteras,
2013a and 2013b; Ruiz, 2004) while also reporting on the varying ability of State
actors at providing the necessary protections to those who travel irregularly
(UNHCR, 2013). Human rights protections have been at the core of many of these
documents in light of the widespread reports of corruption, threats and violence
targeting migrants during their transits (México Unido Contra la Delincuencia,
2012; Quiroz Rendón, 2011; REDODEM, 2013). Some reports have also sought
to raise awareness over the challenges faced by unaccompanied minors not only
during transit but once they arrive to the United States–Mexico border (USCCB,
2013; Stinchcomb and Hershberg, 2014; Sin Fronteras and INCEDES, 2011;
Passel, Cohn and González-Barrera, 2014; Cavendish and Cortázar, 2011). The
majority of these reports refer to migrant smuggling as a negative consequence
of increased enforcement, however often framing smuggling and its facilitators
themselves solely as violent, organized criminal entities.
It is important to remark that as in the case of journalistic coverage,
grey literature products reflect a specific editorial line and a particular agenda
reflective of the organizations that commission or sponsor them. In this sense,
some publications have been developed seeking to generate improved migrant
conditions (INEDIM, 2011; FIDH, 2008; CIDH, 2013); others are developed in
order to report on ongoing security trends to inform political circles (Evans,
2014; Evans and Franzblau, 2013), while others seek to systematically collect and
organize data on a particular topic for reference and policy development purposes
(Ribando Seelke, 2014; Wassem, 2009; Rosemblum et al., 2012). While many of
these publications may seek to furnish data objectively and impartially, they may
often reinscribe perceptions of migration processes taking place in occurring in
Migrant Smuggling Data and Research:
A global review of the emerging evidence base
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