Resumen :
The phenomenon of immigration has become a lucrative business, both for those who
exploit immigrants for minimum wages in the countries of origin, as well as those who are
dedicated to facilitating their transit from the country of origin to the destination in an irregular
manner. Professional mafias dedicated to this task have been set up, moving large amounts of
money as is the case with human trafficking, which in Spain moved around 5 million euros a
day in 2019. Since 2010, there has been an increase in the number of migratory movements
globally, driven especially by the economic crisis of 2008, and by the continuous warlike
conflicts on the African continent, such as the civil war in Syria, Nigeria, or the Congo. These
are two of the main causes that motivate groups of people to move their habitual residence to
another country, that is, for economic and/or political reasons. Related to this last cause,
personal causes also tend to appear, they are those that motivate people to move to another
country for reasons of gender, homophobia, or xenophobia. In recent years, there has been an
increase in the Mediterranean area of arrival of immigrants through the sea, with the so-called
pateras. This type of irregular entry had its peak in 2018, with the arrival of
58,569 people, according to data collected by UNHCR (1). It is an extremely dangerous
mode of displacement, which has led to an increase in deaths and disappearances at sea, which
have increased to 811 people in 2018. Despite its danger, this type of displacement is the most
used in recent years, being the main form of irregular access to European territory. The purpose of this work will therefore be to analyses Criminal Policy, oriented towards
immigration, especially in Europe and North America, as well as the criminal actions of the
mafias present in these flows and their possible legal consequences.
The main objectives to be analyses are European and Spanish regulations related to
irregular immigration, real cases tried in Spanish courts, and to compare Criminal Policy at an
international level such as the United States and the European Union, the current situation of
immigration in Spain and, finally, the results obtained in the survey carried out about this work.
The methodology used is mainly a bibliographic review of articles and studies carried
out by authors about migration. Likewise, different databases are analyses, with the aim of
extracting statistical samples. On the other hand, the main sources that will be used will
operations carried out in the Canary Islands, Ceuta, Algeciras, and La Linea (Cádiz), more than
100 people have been arrested. Regarding unaccompanied foreign minors, it is important to
highlight that these immigrants are minors and that they undertake the journey alone, without
their families, with the aim of improving their living conditions and that of their family. The
main problem for unaccompanied foreign minors is when they reach the age of majority, as they
are expelled from the protection center, often without money and without legal documentation.
Keywords: immigration,
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