E.g., 06/20/2026
E.g., 06/20/2026
Smuggling & Trafficking

Smuggling & Trafficking

_Trafficking

Smugglers and traffickers—of human beings as well as illicit drugs and other contraband—are among the “bad actors” who facilitate and profit from illegality. As governments around the world make increasing investments in immigration controls, there is a growing demand for ever more sophisticated and creative means to circumvent border controls. The research here focuses on the roles played by trafficking and smuggling organizations, the repercusssions of their activities, and the exploitation and abuse of individual migrants and trafficked persons.

Recent Activity

A crowd in Benin City, Nigeria. (Photo: IOM/Agara Barinedum)
Articles
April 8, 2026
Nigeria Aims to Capitalize on Regional Integration amid Evolving Emigration Patterns
By Samuel Okunade
Women at a site for displaced people in Niger.
Articles
August 20, 2025
On Shifting Sands in Africa’s Sahel Region: Tensions between Security and Free Movement
By Abraham Ename Minko
Map of North and South Korea
Articles
July 8, 2025
Slipping through the Cracks in South Korea: The Uncertain Futures for the Children of North Korean Defectors
By Noël Um-Lo and Eunsook Jang
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Policy Briefs
June 2025
Small Boats, Big Stakes: Options for a UK-EU Deal on Migration and Asylum
By  Meghan Benton, Susan Fratzke and Nurbanu Hayır
Cover image for Facing New Migration Realities...
Policy Briefs
May 2025
Facing New Migration Realities: U.S.-Mexico Relations and Shared Interests
By  Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Doris Meissner and Andrew Selee
An Eritrean refugee in Ethiopia.
Articles
April 9, 2025
Severe Repression in Eritrea Has Prompted Decades of Exodus
By Amanda Poole and Jennifer Riggan
A German border sign next to a road
Short Reads
September 2024
Germany, and Maybe the European Union, Are at a Migration Crossroads
By  Hanne Beirens, Susan Fratzke and Camille Le Coz
Turkish authorities assist a migrant.
Articles
August 27, 2024
Turkey Aims to Halt Irregular Migration and Migrant Smuggling in the Eastern Mediterranean
By Bülent Baykal and Özlem Özdemir
More
Cover image for Small Boats, Big Stakes
Policy Briefs
June 2025
Small Boats, Big Stakes: Options for a UK-EU Deal on Migration and Asylum
By  Meghan Benton, Susan Fratzke and Nurbanu Hayır
Cover image for Facing New Migration Realities...
Policy Briefs
May 2025
Facing New Migration Realities: U.S.-Mexico Relations and Shared Interests
By  Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Doris Meissner and Andrew Selee
Cover image for Migration at the U.S.-Mexico Border
Reports
January 2024
Migration at the U.S.-Mexico Border: A Challenge Decades in the Making
By  Alan D. Bersin, Nate Bruggeman and Ben Rohrbaugh
Cover image for Migration Narratives in Northern Central America
Reports
June 2023
Migration Narratives in Northern Central America: How Competing Stories Shape Policy and Public Opinion in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador
By  Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, Aaron Clark-Ginsberg, Alejandra Lopez and Alejandro Vélez Salas
Cover image for COVID-19 and the State of Global Mobility in 2021
Reports
May 2022
COVID-19 and the State of Global Mobility in 2021
By  Meghan Benton, Samuel Davidoff-Gore, Jeanne Batalova, Lawrence Huang and Jie Zong
Cover image for The Central Role of Cooperation in Australia’s Immigration Enforcement Strateg
Reports
March 2022
The Central Role of Cooperation in Australia’s Immigration Enforcement Strategy
By  Henry Sherrell
Cover image for Migración de Huehuetenango en el Altiplano Occidental de Guatemala
Reports
March 2022
Migración de Huehuetenango en el Altiplano Occidental de Guatemala: Respuestas de políticas públicas y desarrollo
By  Andrew Selee, Luis Argueta and Juan José Hurtado Paz y Paz
Cover image for Migration from Huehuetenango in Guatemala’s Western Highlands
Reports
March 2022
Migration from Huehuetenango in Guatemala’s Western Highlands: Policy and Development Responses
By  Andrew Selee, Luis Argueta and Juan José Hurtado Paz y Paz
More
A crowd in Benin City, Nigeria. (Photo: IOM/Agara Barinedum)
Profile
April 8, 2026
Nigeria Aims to Capitalize on Regional Integration amid Evolving Emigration Patterns

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and one of its largest economies, sits at the crossroads of the continent’s migration landscape. As both a regional immigration hub and an origin for significant emigration, the country contends with a wide range of migration issues that have evolved over time. This country profile situates Nigeria's migration trends and policies.

Women at a site for displaced people in Niger.
Feature
August 20, 2025
On Shifting Sands in Africa’s Sahel Region: Tensions between Security and Free Movement

Migration governance in Africa's Sahel region has been been pulled in different directions, torn between security-focused border restrictions and economic visions for free movement. New complexity was added after Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger withdrew from the regional ECOWAS bloc. This articles provides insight on the migration and policy trends in a dynamic region.

Map of North and South Korea
Feature
July 8, 2025
Slipping through the Cracks in South Korea: The Uncertain Futures for the Children of North Korean Defectors

As the number of defections from North to South Korea has declined, South Korea has struggled to respond to a new trend: a rising number of children born during defectors' long stays in China or other third country. As this article explains, these children automatically become South Korean citizens upon arrival but are not eligible for the range of government benefits designed to support defectors, leaving many to fall through the cracks. 

An Eritrean refugee in Ethiopia.
Feature
April 9, 2025
Severe Repression in Eritrea Has Prompted Decades of Exodus

Eritreans account for a disproportionately large share of the world’s refugees. But fleeing the harshly repressive country is rarely easy. This article provides a primer on the situation in Eritrea and the conditions that refugees and other emigrants have encountered abroad.

Turkish authorities assist a migrant.
Feature
August 27, 2024
Turkey Aims to Halt Irregular Migration and Migrant Smuggling in the Eastern Mediterranean

Turkey is engaged in wide-ranging efforts to halt irregular migration and break up migrant smuggling networks. In recent years, the government has installed a three-meter-high wall along much of its borders with Syria and Iran, arrested thousands of smugglers, and engaged in agreements and cooperation with the European Union. This article explains the motivations behind the enforcement and how the strategy is evolving.

More
A German border sign next to a road
Short Reads
September 2024
Germany, and Maybe the European Union, Are at a Migration Crossroads
By  Hanne Beirens, Susan Fratzke and Camille Le Coz
European and UK leaders at 2024 European Political Community summit
Short Reads
July 2024
The Door Opens for a New Chapter in European Cooperation on Migration
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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at a press conference
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June 2024
Rocking the (Small) Boat: Novel Options to Tackle Irregular Migration to the United Kingdom
By  Meghan Benton and Susan Fratzke
Governmental leaders at the May 2024 Los Angeles Declaration ministerial meeting in Guatemala
Short Reads
May 2024
Translating Principles into Action: Countries Set New Agenda on the Los Angeles Declaration’s Second Anniversary
By  Andrew Selee
Governmental leaders at the May 2024 Los Angeles Declaration ministerial meeting in Guatemala
Short Reads
May 2024
De los principios a la acción: una nueva agenda para el segundo aniversario de la Declaración de Los Ángeles
By  Andrew Selee
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other leaders at the 2022 Summit of the Americas
Short Reads
June 2022
The Los Angeles Declaration Could Represent a Big Step for Real Migration Cooperation across the Americas
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Short Reads
March 2021
Hampered by the Pandemic: Unaccompanied Child Arrivals Increase as Earlier Preparedness Shortfalls Limit the Response
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Short Reads
July 2019
Soluciones estratégicas para afrontar la crisis migratoria en Estados Unidos y México
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Short Reads
July 2019
Strategic Solutions for the United States and Mexico to Manage the Migration Crisis
By  Andrew Selee, Silvia E. Giorguli-Saucedo, Claudia Masferrer and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto
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Short Reads
April 2019
Policy Solutions to Address Crisis at Border Exist, But Require Will and Staying Power to Execute
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More
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Explainers
April 2019

Explainer: Illegal Immigration in the United States

How has the size of the unauthorized population in the United States changed over time? How is illegal immigration changing, and where do unauthorized immigrants come from? This explainer answers basic questions about illegal immigration, the changing patterns from Mexico, and more.

Expert Q&A, Audio
October 27, 2023

Is Climate Migration a Homeland Security Threat?

Former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff talks about the security implications of climate change and migration in this episode of the podcast Changing Climate, Changing Migration.

2023 Immigration Law and Policy Conference
Video
September 18, 2023

20th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

The 20th annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference, organized by MPI, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., and Georgetown University Law Center, features fresh, thoughtful policy and legal analysis, and discussion of some of the top immigration issues by leading government officials, attorneys, researchers, advocates, and other experts. 

Attorney General William Tong
Video
September 20, 2022

19th Annual Immigration Law & Policy Conference

Focusing on top immigration policy issues at federal and state levels, this 2022 Immigration Law and Policy Conference featured keynotes by Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson exploring the growing role states are taking in the national immigration debate.

Seeking the US border, many Central American migrants begin their journey in Mexico on 'La Bestia'
Video, Audio
May 24, 2022

En Busqueda de Seguridad: Opciones de protección regional para personas de Centroamérica

Con motivo de la publicación de un informe del Instituto de Política Migratoria sobre posibles vías de protección para las personas centroamericanas, este webcast ofrece un análisis sobre las vías humanitarias y de reasentamiento que ya se utilizan en la región así como las oportunidades y los obstáculos para expandir estos programas. 

Video, Audio
September 27, 2021

18th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference

The 2021 annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference featured a keynote conversation with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas and analysis by top experts on the early months of the Biden administration and how immigration law and policy can respond to our changing world in a manner that is humane and in the national interest.

More

Recent Activity

Articles
April 8, 2026

Nigeria Aims to Capitalize on Regional Integration amid Evolving Emigration Patterns

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and one of its largest economies, sits at the crossroads of the continent’s migration landscape. As both a regional immigration hub and an origin for significant emigration, the country contends with a wide range of migration issues that have evolved over time. This country profile situates Nigeria's migration trends and policies.

Articles
August 20, 2025

On Shifting Sands in Africa’s Sahel Region: Tensions between Security and Free Movement

Migration governance in Africa's Sahel region has been been pulled in different directions, torn between security-focused border restrictions and economic visions for free movement. New complexity was added after Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger withdrew from the regional ECOWAS bloc. This articles provides insight on the migration and policy trends in a dynamic region.

Articles
July 8, 2025

Slipping through the Cracks in South Korea: The Uncertain Futures for the Children of North Korean Defectors

As the number of defections from North to South Korea has declined, South Korea has struggled to respond to a new trend: a rising number of children born during defectors' long stays in China or other third country. As this article explains, these children automatically become South Korean citizens upon arrival but are not eligible for the range of government benefits designed to support defectors, leaving many to fall through the cracks. 

Policy Briefs
June 2025

Small Boats, Big Stakes: Options for a UK-EU Deal on Migration and Asylum

Crossings of Channel waters in small, often unseaworthy vessels have become a top concern in France and the United Kingdom. As UK policymakers and their European counterparts consider striking a readmissions deal to more collaboratively manage these small boat crossings, this policy brief explores what is at stake, options for future cooperation, and what it will take for a deal to work in practice.

Policy Briefs
May 2025

Facing New Migration Realities: U.S.-Mexico Relations and Shared Interests

No country has been more critical to U.S. border enforcement than Mexico, with Mexican policies central to reductions in irregular border arrivals witnessed since the start of 2024. As the United States and Mexico navigate the next chapter in their long-standing engagement on migration issues, this policy brief provides an account of how migration patterns and policy responses changed in recent years and the challenges ahead.

Articles
April 9, 2025

Severe Repression in Eritrea Has Prompted Decades of Exodus

Eritreans account for a disproportionately large share of the world’s refugees. But fleeing the harshly repressive country is rarely easy. This article provides a primer on the situation in Eritrea and the conditions that refugees and other emigrants have encountered abroad.

Short Reads
September 2024

Germany, and Maybe the European Union, Are at a Migration Crossroads

Germany's reinstatement of border controls with its nine neighbors runs the risk of creating a chain reaction, with other EU Member States following suit. In the process, this go-it-alone approach could pose a serious threat to the Schengen free movement zone as well as put the common European asylum system at risk, as this MPI Europe commentary explains.

Articles
August 27, 2024

Turkey Aims to Halt Irregular Migration and Migrant Smuggling in the Eastern Mediterranean

Turkey is engaged in wide-ranging efforts to halt irregular migration and break up migrant smuggling networks. In recent years, the government has installed a three-meter-high wall along much of its borders with Syria and Iran, arrested thousands of smugglers, and engaged in agreements and cooperation with the European Union. This article explains the motivations behind the enforcement and how the strategy is evolving.

More