Irregular Human Movement and the Creation of Liminal Spaces

Various forms of illicit human movement leave many individuals without functioning citizenship, often because they are outside their country of legal nationality and cannot claim rights for fear of arrest, deportation, or some other form of retribution. These categories of migration include irregular migration—sometimes called “illegal” or “undocumented” migration—as well as those who, often as part of this process, cross borders via human smuggling or trafficking. Here we see definitional lines blurring; there are debates about who counts as a migrant versus a refugee, at what point smuggling becomes trafficking, and so forth. In some cases, lack of functioning citizenship is what necessitates migration in the first place. Yet these forms of illicit movement also create liminal spaces where migrants and trafficking victims exist outside the law, beyond the reach of functioning citizenship where they are dangerously vulnerable to rights abuses.