Using a pilot geospatial simulation program, START researchers identified 13 chokepoints that intersected with more than 70 percent of human smuggling and trafficking routes along the U.S.-Mexico border. The identified chokepoints represent unique opportunities for law enforcement to increase the likelihood of detection and interdiction of smugglers and migrant, according to the START research team.
"If additional monitoring and interdiction efforts are applied to these chokepoints, it could increase the costs for smugglers and potentially deter some of the traffic," said Brandon Behlendorf, START senior researcher.
The research brief, "Countering the Inhumane: Modeling Probable Pathways for Human Smuggling and Trafficking Along the U.S.-Mexico Border," is available on START's website here.