Migrant Smuggling Data and Research

the region in a fashion that may allow for and justify the implementation of
policies and practices by outside actors and interests. Hyper-represented,
highly visible topics such as human smuggling may often be narrated without
context, further inscribing ill-informed perceptions on conflict and violence that
further limit the ability of readers to engage with social phenomena in a critical,
comprehensive fashion.
Academic research
The processes tied to irregular transit migration in the Americas have
generated significant interest in academic circles, which in turn falls within
specific parameters. The majority of the empirically based academic production
has focused on the journeys of Mexican and Central American migrants bound
for the United States–Mexico border, and on the experiences of Central
American migrants through Mexico. Work on the dynamics of irregular
migration as present in South America and the Caribbean is scarce. Academic
research conducted by Latin American researchers has had limited diffusion
internationally, as it is published most frequently in Spanish, further limiting
access to the conceptualization of migration processes from the perspective
of the global south. Yet the work is also often reflective of the trends followed
by foreign researchers – that is, it focuses primarily on the Central American
experience, and on the precarity associated with the transits of Central American
migrants through Mexico. The work discussed in this section primarily reflects
the ethnographic work conducted on the topic, which has been carried out by
social scientists from the Americas and abroad (primarily American researchers).
Research on irregular migration in the Americas can be broadly
catalogued in terms of its methodological approach, alongside with the themes
it examines. There is a significant body of research that has involved mapping
of migrants’ experiences while on transit based on the analysis of primary and
secondary data collected from surveys and interviews on security conditions
on the ground, incidence of violence and interactions with State and non-State
actors. 111 There is also important ethnographic work conducted at specific sites
along the migration corridors, in the context of doctoral or dissertation-related
projects that provides important empirical information on the experiences of
111
One of the most significant efforts at surveying border crossing dynamics contemporarily has been
the one conducted in the context of the Migrant Border Crossing Study (MBCS), initially developed at
the University of Arizona. While focused on the experiences of migrants deported by the US migration
enforcement system, the data collected by the MBCS researchers – pertaining to 1,113 interviewees – are
a fundamental source of information leading to improved understandings on the nature of the border
crossings, smuggling practices and violent events faced by irregular migrants. The initial report can be
found on https://sociology.columbian.gwu.edu/sites/sociology.columbian.gwu.edu/files/downloads/UA_
Immigration_Report2013print.pdf
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11. Latin America