Migrant Corridors from Central America to the United States. Mexico between Transit and Migrant Contention

MIGRATION IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD
International migrations are not recent social processes, nor are they limited to specific regions. They occur globally and involve men and women from different age ranges. These social processes, dating back centuries, are driven by numerous necessities and have played a very important role in numerous contexts: from the formation of modern nation-states and the establishment of development initiatives and regional and global networks for trade and employment, to the expansion of cities, the rapid urbanization, and the emergence of ethnic neighborhoods and cultural enclaves around the globe.

According to the United Nations’ World Migration Report (IOM, 2024, see https://worldmigrationreport.iom.int/), approximately 281 million individuals worldwide are international migrants (approximately 3.6 per cent of the global population). Most of them are of working age, and there seems to be a rise in the per centage of migrant women. The main destination countries are high income-economies, located in the global North and attract foreign populations for numerous reasons.

According to the mentioned IOM report, the countries with the largest international migrant populations are led by the United States (hosting more than 51 million migrant individuals), followed by Germany (with almost 16 million), Saudi Arabia (with 13 million), Rusia (with 12 million) and the United Kingdom (9 million). On the other hand, the countries that send the greatest numbers of migrants are: India ranked first (with 18 million), followed by Mexico (with about 11 million), Russia in third place (with slightly less than 11 million), China (with about 10 million), and Syria in fifth place (with more than 8 million).

MEXICO AND ITS POSITION IN THE MIGRANT CORRIDORS OF AMERICA
Regarding the Americas, the United States is the main entry point for different populations from North, Central and South America, as well as around the world—receiving people from extra-continental nations like China and India, among many others. In contrast, Mexico has historically been a source of migrant individuals, particularly towards the global North (mainly the United States). According to the latest OIM report, there were over 11 million Mexicans residing in American territory. While Mexico has been a significant source of migrants, it has also gone through different processes in its migrant corridors since the end of the 20th century. These corridors connect Central and North America, and due to its importance and the migratory populations involved, have aroused four key dynamics: deportation, return, transit and refuge.

Deportation
Mexico has transformed into a country that receives thousands of deported individuals; primarily Mexican migrants who have been forced to return from the United States. This has intensified over the past two decades, coinciding with the administrations of American presidents George Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.

Return
Mexico has also consolidated as a country of return migration. This is the case of thousands of Mexicans that “voluntarily” decide to return to Mexico after years of working abroad, especially in the United States.

Transit
There is another notable process that has gained considerable mediatic attention. Due to its geographical location, since the late 20^th century, Mexico has served as a transit territory for various migrant populations seeking to reach the North American countries with higher economies. These populations, predominantly from northern Central America (and to a lesser extent from South America and other extra-continental regions), undertake journeys by land through the Central American isthmus, undocumented, and cross the Mexican territory under precarious conditions with the goal of reaching the United States. Each year, thousands of people partake in these migration processes.

Refuge
Less frequently, Mexico has also developed into a temporary or permanent destination for some of these populations who expect to migrate and settle in the United States but end up staying in different parts of Mexico due to diverse adversities and the inability to achieve their original aim.

MEXICO: A TERRITORY FOR MIGRANT CONTENTION
Regarding the transit conditions for various migratory flows, Mexico has recently developed into a containment zone for undocumented foreign populations who attempt to reach American territory. Over the past decade—and particularly due to recent pressure of American administrations on the Mexican government—thousands of migrants, a lot of them traditionally coming from countries like Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and most recently, Venezuela and Cuba, have been detained by Mexican immigration authorities at different points throughout the nation. Most of these detentions occur in the border states, primarily in the south, and to a lesser extent in the north. Among the thousands of migrants detained annually, a significant majority (particularly those from Central America) are deported back to their countries of origin, often despite facing challenging life conditions and risking their lives.

The use of detention and deportation as means of migration control has been implemented with less intensity in specific moments over the past decade. Notable cases include the unaccompanied children crisis at the Mexico-United States border in the summer of 2014, and, more recently, the migrant caravans heading towards the Mexican northern border in 2018 and 2019.

However, American government’s influence to impose its anti-migrant agenda during the second and third years of the COVID-19 pandemic (2021 and 2022), made these expressions of migration control in Mexico to be displayed crudely. Frequently, the detentions carried out by Mexican immigration authorities occurred in contexts where migrants faced attacks and their fundamental rights were violated, including their right to transit freely, to receive dignified treatment, to seek international protection, to demand respect for their integrity, and access to healthcare services, among others. Several academic studies and reports from human rights organizations have demonstrated that if Mexico’s migratory policy remains centered on “national security” and aligns with American interests, the result will be continued violence against migrants and a disregard for security and human dignity. A drastic shift in Mexico’s migratory policy is necessary to prioritize the practice and unrestricted respect for the rights of foreign individuals in migration transit through Mexico.

It is crucial to recognize that international migration dynamics involve diverse aspects (economical, sociopolitical and historical), which incorporate various populations and countries. Consequently, it is essential to propose migratory and border policies that provide visibility and guarantee the rights of all parties involved, particularly foreign populations, and emphasize a framework where laws prioritize respect and dignity for migrants. UNAM has been working on systemic measures related to this problem for years.

STUDYING MIGRATION THROUGH GEOGRAPHY FROM UNAM
In the ample espectre of migration studies, different relevant approaches have been made from several disciplines (economy, political science, history, sociology, anthropology, international relations, law). There are people in UNAM developing research and several working groups in the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, in the Faculty of Economy, as well as in research units as the Centre for Research on North America (CISAN, Spanish initials), the Regional Centre for Multi-Disciplinary Research (CRIM), the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CIALC), the Institute for Economic Research (IIEc), the Institute for Research on Law (IIJ), the Institute for Social Research (IIS), and the Geography Institute (IGg). There are also specialized seminars as the University Seminar for Internal Displacement, Migration, Exile and Repatriation Studies (SUDIMER), which is developing thorough work addressing training, dissemination, research and liaison with civil society.

Particularly in the IGg, as a part of the population studies conducted by the Social Geography Department, three research axis on migration have been addressed during the last decade. The approach has been done using geographic perspectives related to spatial analysis of migration, construction processes in rural settings, and border production dynamics in binational contexts.

The fist axis—spatial analysis of migration—addresses spatial characterization processes of migrant flows conceived as irregular (formed by people without migration documents heading to the global North). Studies have been developed on non-documented Mexican migrants, specially from the south of the country, in their way to the United States in search for better life and work conditions, and in the context of the negative impacts of the North America Free Trade Agreement and its outcome in a deteriorated quality of life in southern Mexico. As a part of this axis the situation of Mexico in the Central-North American migration corridors has been addressed, as well as a description of migrant populations from northern Central America that move towards the United States’ territory.

The second axis, on the construction processes of rural territories, encompasses work on the local impacts of migratory processes from Mexico to the United States, specially in the scope of the relations between population, territory and social and economic changes. In this area, international migrations (and their impacts) have generated transformations of the processes of territorial construction in rural communities, whose dynamics have been studied, particularly in ethnic-peasant contexts in southern Mexico. A key element of this axis is thinking how rural communities and their territories reconfigure due to migration.

The third axis—how borders are produced in binational contexts—addresses socio-territorial relations between Central American migrations conceived as irregular, Mexican government migration policies and state production of borders in southern Mexico during the period of migrant caravans and COVID-19. A key idea of this axis is to show that Mexico is no longer just a hinge country (where liaison and transit occur) between Central America and the United States, as has been its role since the end of the 20th century, but has become a migration contention territory, which means that several processes of violence against migrants have appeared [see box].

Finally, it is necessary to insist that international migrations are complex phenomena that involve diverse actors and institutions. Migrations require public policy approaches intended not only to recognize every stakeholder (specially foreign populations), but that are able to point out that nation-states where migrations begin, as well as those that are transit territories and destinations, are obliged to respect the human rights of every migrant.

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