How managing migrants has become tied to profit-making

An introduction to a special issue argues that states, businesses and nonprofit groups are increasingly woven into one migration economy.

Editorial illustration — not from the study.

The article introduces a special issue on the changing migration industry. It asks whether states, businesses and nonprofit organizations are now more deeply combined in the organization of migration, with governments acting not only as regulators and funders but also as market participants.

The authors propose a political-economy approach that treats the migration industry as both a form of government and a cross-border economy. They focus on the infrastructures and services used to manage migrants, as well as on how control over migrants’ bodies can create opportunities for capital accumulation. The special issue’s contributions are used to examine what has changed and what has continued over time and across places.

How the migration economy works

The authors argue that the migration industry is characterized by a close joining of profit-making with not-for-profit activity and by states taking an active role in markets. In this arrangement, governments fund physical and digital infrastructure and services while also creating ways for capital to accumulate through the management of migrants. The article situates these developments within a broader politics of dehumanization and presents them as part of a transnational economy and a new form of government.

Why the links matter

The article draws attention to how migration management can operate through linked public, private and nonprofit activities rather than through government action alone. This perspective matters because it connects the organization of migration with the economic interests and systems that surround it, while keeping the treatment of migrants at the center of the analysis.

Evidence and limits

This is an introductory and conceptual article for a special issue, not a report of a single experiment, survey or dataset. Its claims are developed through a political-economy framework and illustrations drawn from the contributions to the issue. The abstract does not specify the cases, data or methods used in those contributions, so it does not provide a single numerical estimate or establish that the described patterns apply in the same way everywhere.

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