Jeffrey Kaye, a special correspondent for PBS, argues that policies to encourage immigration may actually hurt immigrants. Governments, corporations, recruiters, and even human smugglers all participate in what Kaye, author of Moving Millions: How Coyote Capitalism Fuels Global Immigration, calls a “global system” that turns migrants, whether legal or illegal, into something like human cargo. “I don’t mean that in a conspiratorial way,” he assures, but “it all kind of works together.” Below, Kaye chats about how immigration policy could hurt immigrants, and how to make a better system.

*Video produced by Laura Villalpando. Photo courtesy SEIU International.