Many scholars have written about the merger of concerns about crime and concerns about migration and, in doing so, on the different consequences of the blurring of boundaries between crime control and migration control for individuals in their encounters with law enforcement officials.
This research also addresses the blurring of boundaries: between human smuggling and human trafficking. While human trafficking and smuggling are often considered and treated as distinct phenomena, it is crucial to research the extent to which this distinction turns out to be accurate in practice, and to research the impact of this perceived dichotomy on law enforcement practices and those who are subjected to these practices.