1) It's incredibly profitable for some of the participants 2) Until maybe 2007, there were not a whole lot of comparably-profitable licit opportunities for Eas

1) It's incredibly profitable for some of the participants 2) Until maybe 2007, there were not a whole lot of comparably-profitable licit opportunities for Eastern Europeans. The contract marketplaces have helped. We really need to fix our immigration system in the US (and, worldwide, really) to help more. 3) A lot of the more dangerous parts are essentially blue collar crime; this is FAR safer than drugs/prostitution/human trafficking/terrorism/armed robbery/etc., so it's a clear decision for those guys.