A Social-Legal Perspective on Border Dynamics. The Northwest Research and Teaching Station of UNAM’s Institute for Legal Research

The establishment of the Northwest Research and Teaching Station “Héctor Felipe Fix-Fierro” (ENID) at the Institute for Legal Research (IIJ, Spanish initials) was a long-awaited development that finally began operations in 2015. Its location in Tijuana, Baja California, the result of the convergence of various circumstances, had a good academic reason. The singularities of the border region provided a great framework for research and socio-legal research.

Some arguments presented to justify the creation of the ENID highlighted these factors. For instance, it was argued that, although studies on and from the border are not new and are conducted across various disciplines, providing diverse and enriching perspectives, there was a notable lack of academic contributions from a legal approach. The vision behind the ENID project aimed to establish, develop and consolidate this perspective, ultimately transforming it into a leading center for socio-legal research on border issues in the country and the region.

From the beginning, in line with the IIJ’s vision and academic policy, theoretical, conceptual, methodological and disciplinary plurality was considered essential in the academic design of the approach to border issues and dynamics. This was done without compromising the methodological rigor that was adopted as a central axis, particularly considering the formation process of individuals. Recognizing the complexity and amplitude of the problems requires acknowledging, in turn, a plurality of approaches and methods capable of delimiting and analyzing them, as well as proposing solutions.

One of ENID’s primary objectives is to form researchers and teachers. To achieve this, it offers a doctoral program in Law, which has become a privileged space for fostering individuals who conduct research and generate contemporary and original knowledge with a genuine interest in national issues and the dissemination of culture through a plural legal and methodological approach.

To fulfill the objectives of the ENID, the academic structure has been designed around six thematic research lines: human rights, transnational justice, Mexico-Latin America, Mexico-United States, Mexico-Asia-Pacific, and regional and national border issues. These axes do not constitute specific areas of research but rather general fields from which research projects are developed.

These six thematic axes are not mutually exclusive and are updated as needed to reflect the socio-legal dynamics influenced by changing realities. This structure enables the generation of positive intersections between diverse research activities, generating a constant dialogue among the station’s community through their various works. As a result, topics such as asylum, citizenship, international law, discrimination, ethnicity, equality, migration and mobility, multiculturalism, gender, public policies, labor and labor markets, public safety, and strategic litigation, among many others, are actively explored.

The research line “Mexico, Nation, State and Community” can be used to illustrate this. It discusses the concept of the Mexican nation today through a multidisciplinary approach, analyzing the legal framework aimed at regulating it, followed by a comparison with the concept of nation-state. This definition, which also addresses political, cultural, philosophical and social dimensions of the phenomenon, includes the study of migration in Mexico and the United States, and seeks to reach a conclusion on the meaning of the idea of the Mexican nation from these inter and multidisciplinary approaches.

Over the years, various activities have been organized that have addressed these and some other issues, not only promoting the work done by members of the ENID community, but also encouraging and generating synergies with other institutions in the city, region, and internationally.

Some examples of these activities include the 2023 discussions “Evolution of the Migratory Contexts of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in the Region Before, During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic,” and the colloquium “UNAM in the Mexican Borders.” Additionally, the station hosted the first regional meeting on “Researching and Teaching on Regional and Border Issues” and the international congress “Vulnerability of Girls, Young Women and Women in Institutions,” both held in 2022.

It is also worth highlighting the doctoral program in Law, as the campus in Tijuana has almost a dozen students who are engaged in original legal research, aligned with the research axes designed in the master plan. An example of this research include: “Analysis of Philosophical and Conceptual Aspects on Migration”, “Principles of Law and Legal Security in the Guard and Custody by the Mexican State of Not-Accompanied Children and Young Migrants,” and “Human Traffic in the U.S.-Mexico Border: Prevention and Punishment in the Context of Multi-Level Protection of Human Rights,” among others.

In terms of continuing education, in 2020 ENID hosted the first edition of the Mexican Public Law and Policy diploma course, a collaborative effort with the James E. Rogers College of Law of the University of Arizona. It is scheduled to begin its fourth edition in August 2024.

Throughout these years, ENID has established its position as a regional entity of the IIJ dedicated to promoting, developing and disseminating legal knowledge through research, teaching, training and cultural dissemination, standing out within the city and the region.

In January 2022, UNAM’s General Office for Constructions and Conservation partially delivered the building for ENID headquarters. This helped to increase the number of face-to-face activities, both for specialists and for the public, thanks to the multipurpose classroom, the auditorium and the area for students of the doctoral program. Under the direction of Dr. Juan Vega Gómez, ENID continues to consolidate its presence by hosting spaces for exchange, discussion and dissemination of knowledge with its regional and international allies. The station is expected to continue creating and promoting new spaces to address diverse topics from a plural socio-legal approach, adhering to the methodological principles that define scientific research.

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