Human Smuggling and Associated Revenues: What Do or Can We Know About Routes from Central America to the United States?

Unlawful migrants from Central America apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border each year often hire smugglers for assistance or pay others for rights of way during their journey north. The authors of this report examine what is known or knowable about the structure, operations, and financing of actors that engage in human smuggling along routes from Central America to the United States and develop a preliminary estimate of associated revenue.