Migrant Smuggling Data and Research

Review of migrant smuggling research
Research on migrant smuggling in the United States involves a multitude
of issues and perspectives, depending on the disciplinary interests of the
researchers. The following reflects some of the major themes of human
smuggling research.
Describing trends in human smuggling
In 2014, members of an Armenian-led migrant smuggling ring were
caught transporting Armenian nationals through the San Ysidro port of entry in
San Diego (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 2014). Armenian
smugglers employed the classic identity fraud of training clients to assume
the identity of another person. Their clients in this case were charged up to
USD 18,000 each, and moved through a series of third countries. First, they were
flown into Moscow using fraudulent Russian passports, and then into Cancun,
Mexico. Once inside Mexico, they were transported overland to Tijuana, which
borders with San Diego, where they were provided valid United States legal
permanent resident cards (that is, green cards) or passport cards.
Explaining unique patterns in transnational migration and concomitant
smuggling operations
Economic opportunities, or differences in earnings, are often used to
explain much of population migration. Other than in relation to armed conflicts
where people flee for their lives, people mostly move in order to seek better
work or living conditions. The increasing immigrant populations in general have
been attributed to the growing employment opportunities in such industries,
such as construction, agriculture and food processing plants (Moreno, 2005).
However, wage differentials are inadequate to explain transnational
migration alone. For instance, Mexicans make up the largest group of illegal
immigrants in the United States, accounting for 29 per cent of all foreign-born
population in the country or 11.7 million (US Census Bureau, 2012). Within
Mexico, the majority of illegal migrants have traditionally come from the centralwestern
States, such as Michoacan, Guanajuato and Jalisco; however, migrants
from Oaxaca and Guerrero have also increased rapidly in recent years (Lewis,
2005). According to one estimate, the lion’s share of the migrants came from
about 5 per cent of its municipios (counties) in interior Mexico (Cornelius, 2005).
One then must ask why transnational migrants do not come evenly from the
most destitute regions of the world or country and why migrants tend to come
from concentrated regions in their home countries (Zhang, 2008).
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12. United States