Challenges of Enforcing Immigration Laws Against Human Smuggling

Challenges of Enforcing Immigration Laws Against Human Smuggling

In the United States in recent years, the economy has become more interdependent with those in other countries, communications technology has improved, and immigration has increased in volume and heterogeneity. All of these factors have stimulated transnational crime, which includes the smuggling of humans. Some of these people come to the United States to pursue employment opportunities, while others are part of criminal or terrorist enterprises that can threaten national security. This paper seeks to (1) improve understanding of law enforcement's problems in enforcing immigration laws on human trafficking and (2) examine the perceptions and attitudes of law enforcement personnel, immigration advocates and the media on the apparent effectiveness of current policies on human trafficking. A variety of law enforcement officers, prosecutors, immigration advocates and representatives of the media will be interviewed in the United States and Canada, and results reported.