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1 1 (December 20, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govefag0001 and id is 1 raw text is: C o n gE r e s i n l R s a c e v c S December 20, 2021 Migrant Smuggling: Background and Selected Issues Migrant smuggling, also known as human smuggling, refers to the voluntary transportation of an individual across international borders, in violation of one or more countries' laws. Smugglers facilitate migrant travel, typically in exchange for payment, sometimes using fraudulent identity documents and covert transit. While smuggled migrants agree to be smuggled-a condition that distinguishes the practice from human trafficking-they may be vulnerable to abuse by their smuggler or later become a trafficking victim. Various United Nations (U.N.) sources cite estimates that globally, migrant smuggling totals $7-$10 billion a year or more, but the full extent of the problem is not known. Through oversight hearings and proposed legislation, Congress has sought more information on migrant smuggling and on ways to deter and punish smugglers. Background and Definitions In recent years, situations of migrants and other vulnerable groups on the move has elevated congressional concerns about transnational crime, humanitarian protection, human rights, and border security (see Figure 1). The movement of these groups, which often travel the same routes and use the same modes of transportation, is referred to as mixed migration. Increases in attempted migrant smuggling along many international mixed migration routes, such as in the Mediterranean region, parts of Asia, and particularly along the U.S. Southern border, have heightened U.S. policymakers' attention to the issue. Motivating Factors The migrants using smuggler services usually do not have the required documentation, such as passports and visas, needed to legally travel from one country to another. Factors motivating their departure may include violence, conflict, food insecurity, natural disasters and climate- related impacts. Other may choose to migrate due to economic circumstances. Individuals who seek to migrate illegally using a smuggler usually do so when other options are not available or are less feasible. Treatment of Smuggled Migrants Smuggled migrants often face mistreatment at the hands of their smugglers. Reports of difficult conditions and abuses of migrants (including extortion, sexual violence, torture, abductions, and deaths) are common along migrant smuggling routes. Crimes against smuggled migrants are often not reported because the migrants lack legal status and may fear deportation. Humanitarian experts contend that many arrivals, including smuggled migrants, require due process to evaluate whether they may require assistance, international protection, and opportunities to regularize their status through safe and legal mechanisms. Other experts argue that many smuggled migrants are economic migrants, and have willingly participated in a transnational crime, and should not be thus accommodated. Figure I. Origins of Smuggled Migrants P'ar ts. o ft AeWest Noth, Wet Ea% and d th Hom Suheat A of Africa * Main identifid areas of origin for smuggled persons Source: Created by CRS based on information from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Global and U.S. Prevalence There is no comprehensive data on the prevalence of human smuggling globally and into the United States, as is generally the case for clandestine or black market activity. In 2018, the first (and to date, only) UNODC Global Study on Smuggling of Migrants identified 30 primary smuggling routes and found that at least 2.5 million migrants had been smuggled along those paths in 2016. Some observers have relied on U.S. apprehensions of unauthorized migrants at U.S. borders to provide insight, but these apprehensions do not always involve instances of smuggling and do not speak to its nuances. For example, they do not reveal the number and profile of individuals who rely on smugglers to enter the United States or the demographics of the smugglers. Nonetheless, experts agree that most migrant smuggling into the United States occurs across the Southwest border and largely involves migrants from Mexico and Central American countries. Role of Smugglers Research suggests that smugglers may operate on their own or as part of larger transnational criminal organizations (TCOs). Often, smugglers have local ties that they leverage in order to gain customers. U.S. government and U.N. sources describe smugglers as motivated largely by profit and the low risk of prosecution. In some cases, smugglers abuse and exploit migrants, such as by raising prices mid- journey or abandoning migrants in unsafe conditions. In other cases, smugglers may see themselves or be viewed by migrants and their families as providing a necessary service to vulnerable people who are forced to flee. ittps:/rsreport

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