Stuck in the Middle With You: The Intimate Labours of Mobility and Smuggling along Mexico’s Migrant Route

The Coercive Power of Debt: Migration and Deportation of Guatemalan Indigenous Youth

“…However, scholars argue that further criminalization of smugglers only serves to drive up smuggler fees and increases the precariousness and violence that plague current migration routes (Donnelly and Hagan 2014;Valdez et al 2015). While some smugglers have alliances with drug cartels and gangs, the scholarship on smuggling reveals more diverse and complex relationships between irregular migrants and smugglers, many of whom are family members, community leaders, or even government officials (Sanchez 2014;Vogt 2016). Importantly, a focus on organized crime as the exclusive financiers of irregular migration belies the presence of notaries, lawyers, organizations, and financial institutions-all of which issue credit that funds migration, with little regulation or oversight.…”

“…In response to increased migration, first under, NAFTA and then CAFTA, increasingly restrictive border policies seek to control the unauthorized entry and settlement of workers who historically have migrated cyclically (Hernandez 2010;Massey and Riosmena 2010). The past twenty years have seen record levels of U.S. government funding of immigration enforcement (Andreas 2012;Rosenblum 2012); the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border (Loyd et al 2013); an infusion of U.S. funding, technology, and training for Mexican authorities to thwart migration through Mexico (Vogt 2013); and the parallel growth, heightened coordination, and extreme brutality of gangs and cartels throughout Mexico and Central America (Naim 2010). Given its proximity to the U.S., however, Mexicans have not experienced the same degree of credit demand and corresponding debt to fund irregular migration-a notable distinction from indigenous Guatemalans.…”

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Irregular Transmigrants’ Journeys and Mental Mapping Methodology

“…The analysis of this situation is complex; the phrase “I needed to use what I had” (Fátima, 33‐year‐old) is a reference of agreeing to fondling and sexual intercourse with her smuggler in order to guarantee the travel without economic remuneration, a smuggler who afterwards became her “partner”. What this case exemplifies is the arrangements and relations that are shaped in the transit, “a complex matrix of dependency and survival” (Vogt, , 367).…”

“…Thus, "migrants undertake transnational clandestine journeys both despite state bordering practices, and because of state bordering practices" (Mainwaring and Brigden, 2016, 244). Hence, clandestinity, risky means of transportation and being victims of crime are a common reference in the narratives of irregular migrants (Coutin, 2005;Hagan, 2008;Vogt, 2016). It is therefore crucial to deepen our understanding of transmigrants' experiences and how they are embodying and dealingphysically, emotionally, economically, and so onwith their dangerous journey.…”

Critical Perspectives on Clandestine Migration Facilitation: An Overview of Migrant Smuggling Research

“…Reports on factors like reliability, punctuality, risk levels, cost, and quality of transportation are as important in the decision to travel with a specific smuggler as are the more subjective, affective issues like kinship proximity, levels of respect shown towards women and the elderly, quality of care via personal interactions, friendliness, honesty, cleanliness, and quality of room and board provided (Vogt 2016). Combined, these factors play a role in clients' decisions to travel with a specific smuggling facilitator, and on the ability of facilitators to generate and secure business for themselves and others.…”