Irregular migration in the time of counter-smuggling

This special issue of Trends in Organized Crime brings together recent empirical research on migrant smuggling. Challenging the overemphasis on ‘organized crime’ and criminal networks that has long characterized mainstream discussions on smuggling, the contributions refocus our attention towards critical but underexamined dynamics present in the facilitation of irregular migration in a variety of geographic contexts, and shed light on the roles lesser examined elements in smuggling like race, ethnicity, gender, sex and intimacy play in irregular migration.