Migrations in Mexico

For several decades, Mexico has not only been a country of origin for “irregularized” migrants, it has also become a transit territory (Castillo Ramírez, 2018) and, to a lesser extent, a place of destination, but also a country of return migration and mass deportations (Castillo Ramírez, 2020). In this context, in recent months the Report of the Documentation Network of the Organizations Defending Migrants (REDODEM in Spanish) was made public, a network that is made up of approximately 23 migrant shelters and houses, in approximately 14 states of Mexico. The report is entitled Migrations in Mexico: borders, omissions and transgressions (2020), and it gives an account of various inter- and cross-border human mobilities throughout Mexico. In the context of the nearly 200,000 irregular migrants who transited through the country in 2019 (according to data from the Migration Policy Unit of the Mexican Government's Ministry of the Interior), the REDODEM shelters and houses received about 27 thousand migrants (of various nationalities) during that year; and the vast majority of them headed to the United States (US) as their main destination, and, far behind, the second most important destination was Mexico (although every year more migrants think of Mexico as their preferred destination).

In addition, just over a quarter of the migrants in 2019 reported having previously experienced deportation processes. Most of the total of the migrants ranged between 18 and 35 years (in full working age), and they were mostly men (83.91%). Of the total migrants, 15.3% were boys, girls and adolescents (BGA), of these BGA, 68% were accompanied and 32% were unaccompanied. Likewise, it was reported that the number of women was growing (compared to previous years). Furthermore, most of the migrants were from the Northern Triangle of Central America (Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador). Of relevance in the report were the reflections on the “migrant caravans” of 2019, which were conceived as processes of political agency and collective action of migrants as social subjects.

Causes of migration and processes of exclusion, criminalization and violence

According to the REDODEM report, migration from the Northern Triangle of Central America has, mainly, three structural causes. On the one hand, those of an economic nature, such as the lack of economic development, the rising cost of living, meager wages, lack of work and job opportunities. On the other hand, those of a political / social nature, which refer to local political conflicts, violence and insecurity by gangs and organized crime, and domestic violence; almost half of the women cited reasons related to violence as the cause of leaving their place of origin. Finally, there are also environmental causes, generating forced displacements caused by geophysical and climatological events (hurricanes, waterspouts, droughts, etc.).

The crimes committed in Mexico against migrants are of different types, and include theft (which is the most frequent), then extortion, abuse of authority, intimidation, kidnapping, sexual abuse, torture. And the aggressors who commit crimes against migrants are diverse social subjects. Individuals and criminal gangs are the two most frequent, then the municipal police, the federal police, agents of the national migration institute and the state police. And the spatial distribution of crimes showed a concentration in southern Mexico (especially in Chiapas, but also in Tabasco, Veracruz and Oaxaca).

“Forced” and “irregular” migration: Processes of exclusion and violence

In this context, according to the findings of the report, Mexico is already a country of origin, transit, destination, temporary stay and return, within a framework of complex processes of mobility and exclusions. The southern border of Mexico has been securitized and has become an outsourcing device for the US borders. This has been happening in dynamics of increasing processes of "irregularization" and "criminalization" of migrants, due to the geopolitical weight of the US anti-immigration pressure and agenda on Mexico and the Central American region. In the same vein, we must read the “Migrant Protection Protocols” (MPP), which de facto was a procedure for the extra-territorialization of the asylum procedure in the United States. Thus, in the northern Mexican border and derived from the MPP, camps of tens of thousands of migrants have emerged trapped in immobility and in very precarious conditions of existence.

However, and as pointed out by various chapters of the report, it should be noted that migrants are social subjects with different social networks and resources; migration has been a way of coping with the adversity of his life. In fact, the “migrant caravans” were groups with the capacity to organize and generate collective actions and migratory trajectories, in contexts of multiple risks and dangers. For their part, pro-migrant organizations (such as REDODEM shelters and houses), continued their work of support, solidarity and advice. But, already from the context of the caravans, they were overwhelmed by the sudden increase in migrants. This situation, now in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, has not improved, least of all with the increase in the processes of criminalization of the defense of the human rights of migrants.

Recommendations: Towards a migration policy based on human dignity

As the REDODEM report points out, and in the current context of US geopolitical pressure to impose its anti-immigrant agenda in Mexico and the region, a drastic change of focus in the production of migration policies is necessary in Mexico. On the one hand, border securitization, territorial containment, and the criminalization of migrants are not compatible with respect for human dignity and the exercise of human rights. It is essential to recognize the structural causes of migration, as contexts related to processes of exclusion / violence. On the other hand, it is necessary to think of migrants as social subjects and individuals deserving of unrestricted respect for their human rights. For this reason, it is essential in terms of migration policy to generate comprehensive perspectives at various levels - local, state, national and regional - and from a geopolitical reading.

Recommendations derived from the REDODEM report:

• Guarantee the human rights of people in a situation of mobility

• Create conditions for civil society organizations to carry out humanitarian assistance

• Train authorities with a human rights and gender perspective

• Avoid punitive and containment actions towards migrants, and instead generate spaces for dialogue

• Full access for migrants to economic, social, political, civil and cultural rights

• Coordination between the governments of the region is urgent (US, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico)

• Address the critical situation of thousands of migrants on the northern border, a situation derived from the US government's MPP Program.

• Guarantee the rights of people subject to international protection, and think of Central Americans as forced migrants and refugees

• Provide care protocols (to civil society, governments and strategic actors), in the context of migrant caravans

This text is dedicated to the memory of Father Pedro Pantoja, who, for decades and for a large part of his life, gave himself fully to the causes of migrants, providing support and solidarity accompaniment.

Notes: 

Castillo Ramírez, G., (2020), “Forced migration and violence process: Centroamerican migrants in their way through México”, Revista Española de Educación Comparada, número 35, Madrid: UNED, pp. 14-33.

Castillo Ramírez, G., (2018), “Centroamericanos en tránsito por México. Migración forzada, crisis humanitaria y violencia”, Revista Vínculos Sociología, análisis y opinión, número 12, Guadalajara: U de G, pp.  39-60.

The REDODEM report can be consulted in the following link: https://redodem.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/REDODEM_Informe_2019.pdf