This article explores how competing and overlapping legal classifications such as ‘victim of trafficking’, ‘smuggled migrant’, ‘illegal alien’, and ‘refugee’ play out in the United States (US) immigration system. In particular, it focuses on the repeated failure of US authorities to identify and protect survivors of human trafficking who were victimised by the smugglers they voluntarily employed in fleeing their home countries—a scenario that is becoming increasingly common in the midst of the Central American refugee crisis. The article draws upon the authors’ experience providing direct legal representation to Central American migrants in the US to discuss how misassumptions about this population, a misunderstanding of the relevant legal terminology, and the US government’s focus on border security negatively impact the conduct of law enforcement agencies and immigration adjudicators. Due in large part to the US government’s increased restrictions on, and criminalisation of, many forms of migration, survivors of human trafficking who are victimised by smugglers often find themselves classified as ‘illegal aliens’ or ‘criminal aliens’, and their legitimate claims for protection are frequently dismissed for the irrelevant fact that they initially consented to be smuggled. Such mistreatment and misidentification fail to hold perpetrators accountable, and to offer assistance to populations that the US government has pledged to defend.

中文翻译：

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“名字叫什么？”：标签错误，标识错误以及美国政府未能保护中美洲难民危机中的人口贩运幸存者

本文探讨了在美国（美国）移民系统中如何竞争和重叠的法律分类，例如“贩运受害者”，“被偷运移民”，“非法外国人”和“难民”。特别是，它着重于美国当局一再未能确定和保护人口贩运幸存者，这些幸存者是他们在逃离本国时自愿雇用的走私者的受害者-这种情况在中美洲难民中越来越普遍危机。本文借鉴了作者在美国为中美洲移民提供直接法律代理的经验，以讨论对这一人口的误解，对相关法律术语的误解，美国政府对边境安全的关注对执法机构和移民审判员的行为产生了负面影响。很大程度上是由于美国政府对多种形式的移民越来越多的限制和将其定为刑事犯罪，因此，被走私者所害的人口贩运幸存者经常发现自己被归类为“非法外国人”或“犯罪外国人”，并且他们的合法主张是由于他们最初同意走私的事实无关紧要，因此经常取消保护。这种虐待和误认未能使肇事者承担责任，也无法向美国政府保证捍卫的民众提供帮助。人口走私的幸存者经常受到走私者的伤害，被归类为“非法外国人”或“犯罪外国人”，他们对保护的合法要求经常因与他们最初同意走私无关的事实而被驳回。这种虐待和误认未能使肇事者承担责任，也无法向美国政府保证捍卫的民众提供帮助。人口走私的幸存者经常受到走私者的伤害，被归类为“非法外国人”或“犯罪外国人”，他们对保护的合法要求经常因与他们最初同意走私无关的事实而被驳回。这种虐待和误认未能使肇事者承担责任，也无法向美国政府保证捍卫的民众提供帮助。