The etiology of migrant smuggling in Mexico: The importance of pull factors

Abstract

The etiology of migrant smuggling has been ascribed to the growth of transnational organized crime, the demand of migrants' social networks, and employer demand. Studies based on secondary sources tend to link this activity to transnational organized crime, while those based on primary sources argue that it is not organized-crime operated. This article, based on primary sources, underlines the preeminence of pull factors (the demand for migrant labor by U.S. employers), because, after interviewing 170 migrant smugglers between 2008 and 2015 (mainly from the Mexico's Northeast), the author found that in almost nine out of ten cases, U.S. employers played a fundamental role in financing or hiring undocumented migrants.