“They took all my clothes and made me walk naked for two days so I couldn’t escape”: Latina immigrant experiences of human smuggling in Mexico

Abstract

Latina migrants often suffer rape, assaults, and gun violence during unauthorized immigration from Mexico to the US. Despite widespread violence during immigration to the US, social work scholarship on this issue is sparse. This article seeks to close that gap by examining the narratives of women who survived smuggling from Mexico. Social workers who practice with immigrants and refugees may encounter women who relied on human smugglers to traverse borders and thus need to understand the human rights violence they may have suffered. The question of how women perceive, navigate, and survive smuggling is critical for understanding the consequences of immigration enforcement and the perpetuation of the human smuggling industry.