mexico
As a country of transit

Mexico was considered the worldwide largest “bilateral corridor” to reach the United States (United Nations, 2017). A classic example of this is ‘La Caravana del Viacrucis Migrante’ comprised of immigrants coming from the Northern Triangle of Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras) that were escaping from political instability, economic crisis and high rates of violence in their home countries. According to the Migrant Institute of Jalisco (2018), in March 2018 there were around 1, 500 immigrants trying to cross the border to the United States passing by Mexico. However, due to difficult circumstances along the way, a smaller group of around 600 people made it to the north of Mexico. To reassure no one migrate in an irregularly manner, the United States militarized its border, potentially violating the prohibition of collective expulsions (see Art. 22.9 of the American Convention on Human Rights “Pact of San Jose, Costa Rica”). Many actors were involved in this phenomenon, from public institutions to civil society organisations contributed to the wellbeing of immigrants, providing food, water and medicines, and most important, monitoring the violation of human rights in their arduous journey. For instance, NGOs were pivotal to monitor living conditions and safety of this immigrant group.  Demographic characteristics showed that around 101 kids under 12 years old, 86 adolescents between 13 to 18 years old, 419 adults, and 9 elderly people were part of this migrant “Caravana” (Migrant Institute of Jalisco, 2018). A considerable part of the group were kids who were exposed to different traumas.
National Population In The Country

129, 163, 276 in 2017

Number of international migrantes and percentage of total population

1, 224, 000 in 2017

0.9 percentage of total population in 2017

Legends
Transit migrant

Umbrella term that covers labour migrants and refugees. According to the OHCHR (2016), migrants in transit risk a range of human rights violations and abuses.

Refugees

Someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war or violence (UNHCR, 2019)

Asylum seeker

When people flee their own country and seek sanctuary in another country, they apply for asylum (UNHCR, 2019)

Title:

Main nationalities and migration drivers

Result:

♦ Economic Migrants
 
 ⇒Number:  
 
Around 250, 000 apprehension of transit migrants who travel in an irregular manner.
For at least two decades, tens of thousands of people from the Northern Triangle have traveled annually through Mexico to reach the United States (see Annex 1).

⇒Nationalities:
 
Transit migrants coming from Central America headed to the United States, with emphasis in the “North Triangle” cone:

  • Honduras
  • Guatemala
  • El Salvador

National- origin composition of undocumented border crossers in 2014:

  • Honduras: 36, 876 immigrants
  • Guatemala: 32, 346 immigrants
  • El Salvador: 15, 000 immigrants

♦ Refugees and Asylum Seekers:
 
⇒Number:
 
Almost 30, 000 asylum seeker requests, of which 10, 000- 15, 000 are pending solutions in 2018. (See annex 2).
 
 ⇒Nationalities:
 
El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. More recently, also Venezuelans. (Migration Policy Institute, 2019).
 
♦ Migration drivers to economic migrants, refugees and asylum seekers:

  • High levels of violence due to criminal gangs
  • Drug trafficking cartels, as well as human smuggling and trafficking groups
  • Deplorable economic conditions accompanied with high levels of extreme poverty

Source

_________________________________________

Title:

Legislation

Result:

♦ Federal level 

  • Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos
  • Ley General de Migración
  • Ley sobre Refugiados, Protección Complementaria y Asilo Político (refugiados)
  • Reglamento de la Ley de Migración
  • Reglamento de la Ley sobre Refugiados y Protección Complementaria
  • Ley General de Atención de Víctimas

♦ State level

Sources:

_________________________________________

Title:

Main current challenges related to transit migration

Result:

♦ Common to economic migrants, refugee & asylum seekers:

  • Large numbers of child migrants traveling without parents or other family members/ unaccompanied migrant children
  • Human trafficking and human smuggling
  • Corruption of authorities and weak rule of law, especially in areas where presence of drug cartels are predominant.
  • Abuse of power by authorities, especially in geographically routes where rule of law is weak.
  • Episodes of xenophobia in the local communities:
    • “An October survey conducted by El Universal found 64.5 percent of Mexicans thought that Central Americans would either increase violence in Mexico or take jobs from Mexicans. The negative sentiment jumped to 73.1 percent in November. In Tijuana, which has become the biggest waiting room for migrants seeking to enter the United States, residents marched against the caravan, and the mayor classified the migrants as “stoners” and claimed that “human rights are just for the right humans.” Still these episodes were countered with widespread calls for tolerance and respect for immigrant rights, but they stirred intense debate about what many called hidden “Trumpism” in Mexican society” (Migration Policy Institute, 2019).

♦ Specifically to refugees and asylum seekers:

  • Informal/unclear procedures regarding waiting lists at the border lines.
  • Times to get an official response to a refugee petition could take up to 6 months.

♦ Development (cross-cutting) issues:

  • Lack of reliable data of: 
    • ​Numbers of transit migrants.For instance, it is common to see the term “apprehensions of migrants” when describing figures of total transit migrants.
    • Intersectionality variables. Related with the previous item, some cross-cutting issues such as gender, ethnicity, age, disabilities, among others, are not properly registered.

Sources:

  • Donelly, R. (2014). Transit Migration in Mexico: Domestic and International Policy Implications. James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University.
  • Robert Strauss Center and Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies (2019) Metering Update, May 2019.
  • Robert Strauss Center, Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, European University Institute, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies and Migration Policy Centre (2018). Asylum Processing and Waitlists at the U.S.- Mexico Border.

 

Observation

  1. Information grouped by different government administrations: July 2018- onwards (President López Obrador), July 2018- before (e.g. President Peña Nieto and others).
  2. Information gathered by type of migrant (economic migrant and refugee & asylum seeker).

Disclaimer:

This information does not reflect the total of programmes implemented during the current or past administrations. It only shows the data publicly available on internet. Hence, information may vary.

Federal level Institutions:

  • Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM) Unit of the government of Mexico dependent on the Secretariat of the Interior.
  • Comisión Mexicana de Ayuda a Refugiados (COMAR).
  • Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos.

Official (government) responses to transit migration:

I. Current government administration (from enforcement to protection):

  • Mexico’s Interior Minister, Olga Sánchez Cordero, announced that Border Worker Permits (Tarjeta de trabajador fronterizo) and Border Visitor Permits (Tarjeta de visitante fronterizo), currently only available to Guatemalan and Belizean citizens, will be expanded to Salvadorans and Hondurans. This extension will facilitate hiring Central American migrants for the construction of infrastructure projects such as a 930-mile railway connecting important Mayan archaeological sites and a new oil refinery in Tabasco. (Migration Policy Institute, 2019).
  • It was launched a temporary program to issue humanitarian visas to Central Americans who register at the Guatemala-Mexico border. Mexican authorities fast-tracked applications for these one-year permits, which allow migrants free movement and work authorization during their stay. Thousands lined up to register and await a humanitarian visa at the Ciudad Hidalgo border crossing. INM issued more than 12,000 humanitarian visas in the first six weeks of 2019. The agency has also started issuing humanitarian visas in shelters in Mexico City and Piedras Negras to register those without proper documentation. (Migration Policy Institute, 2019).

♦ Special programs for refugees and asylum seekers

  • To achieve its protection and integration goals, the current administration will also have to shore up Mexico’s asylum system. So far, the government has not announced plans to strengthen COMAR or the asylum system. In fact, the 2019 federal budget cut funding for COMAR. And rather than granting permanent refugee status to those with a credible protection claim, the government’s reliance on temporary visas-which expire after a year and do not allow access to a range of services available to refugee-will limit the integration of Central Americans in Mexico. (Migration Policy Institute, 2019).

II. Past government administrations

  • Mexico’s Southern Border Program implemented in 2014. Its main objective was to address migration issues at the southern border and to foster the social and economic development of the 23 municipalities next to Guatemala and one adjacent to Belize. In the end, most analysts agree that this program emerged in response to the migration “crisis” that took place at the Mexico-U.S. border earlier in 2014. Circumstances would have forced the (hurried) implementation of it. Hence, the program became a middle-ground step between a full-scale program and an emergency, scaled-down, initiative. (Arriola, 2017). Roadblocks, checkpoints, and new infrastructure were set up along the routes migrants use. Examples abound. A report written for the U.S. Congress declared that INM set up “more than 100 mobile highway checkpoints as part of Southern Border Program”. (Arriola, 2017).
  • Allegedly abuse of power- Unlike in the past, when only INM officials conducted roundups, as of August 2014, raids began to include members of the military, the navy, federal police (including the gendarmerie), and state and municipal police, all working together in joint operations. Even members of Grupo Beta, a unit within INM set up to offer first aid and to protect and defend migrants’ human rights, cooperated actively at some point in the operations, for instance by escorting migrants into custody in Tapachula. In this sense, Beta officers violated the group’s mandate, a troubling development. Official statistics from INM presented in an independent report show that the number of enforcement operations in which different authorities participated in controlling unauthorized migrants climbed after July 2014 (Arriola, 2017).
  • The Merida Initiative implemented in 2008. It is a program that has funnelled “security aid” under four directives, or pillart, namely: “(1) disrupting organized criminal groups, (2) institutionalizing the rule of law, (3) creating a 21st century border, and (4) building strong and resilient communities” (Seelke and Finklea 2016). At least US$1.5 billion was delivered to Mexico between FY 2008 and FY 2015 for “training, equipment,and technical assistance” (Seelke and Finklea 2016). Part of this funding has addressed Mexico’s southern border security issues. (Arriola, 2017).
  • Mexico also passed a law against human trafficking in 2012 (the Ley para Prevenir y Sancionar la Trata de Personas),25 which appointed a Special Prosecutor for Crimes of Violence Against Women and Trafficking in Persons and obliges states to align anti-trafficking legislation with national legislation (IOM, 2016).
  • In 2010, a high-level steering committee was created to strengthen the security and efficiency of the border, and a multi-agency US–Mexico Binational Group on Bridges and Border Crossings meets three times a year to improve the efficiency of existing crossings and co-ordinate planning for new ones (IOM, 2016).

 

    Observation:

    1. Information gathered by route of migration (western, central and east/train line routes).
    2. Information grouped by type of migrant (economic migrant and refugee & asylum seeker).

    Disclaimer:

    This information does not reflect the total of programmes implemented during the current or past administrations. It only shows the data publicly available on internet. Hence, information may vary.

    Local Government:

    Municipal Governments for the three routes:  Western, central and east/train line.

    • Governments of:
      • Matamoros, Tamaulipas
      • Ciudad Miguel, Alemán, Tamaulipas
      • Piedras Negras, Coahuila
      • Acuña, Coahuila
      • Ciudad Juárez, ChihuahuaAgua Prieta, Sonora.

    Official (government) responses to transit migration

    ♦ Economic migrants, refugees and asylum seekers

    • Along the route, local and state governments set up improvised shelters to temporarily house the migrants and provide them food and basic aid. These shelters, usually operated in collaboration with religious and civil-society organizations, ranged from small tents in a town square to a sports stadium in Mexico City offering people three meals a day, water and hygiene kits, and medical attention. In Tijuana, the last stop for most in the caravans, city officials set up a makeshift shelter that quickly overflowed, straining local resources. The federal government was forced to intervene and open a bigger shelter. (Migration Policy Institute, 2019).
    • Centers for Comprehensive Management of Border Traffic (CAITF by their acronym in Spanish), mega facilities to control the movement of people and goods. The first one opened in 2013 in Huixtla, near Tapachula; A couple of centers were built at Trinitaria and Playas de Catazajá, both in Chiapas, in April 2015 (SEGOB-CAIMFS 2015, 36), and in 2016 another opened in Palenque (Chiapas). A fourth one had been planned for Frontera (Tabasco) (SEGOB-CAIMFS 2015, 37). (Arriola, 2017).

    ♦ Refugee and asylum seekers:

    Information collected from Robert Strauss Center and Center for U.S. Mexican Studies (2019).

    ⇒East/train line route:
     

    • Municipal Government of Matamoros, Tamaulipas. As of May 8, 2019, there are two waitlists in Matamoros: one waitlist for the Gateway Bridge and another for the B&M Bridge. The Gateway Bridge list is now posted publicly so that asylum seekers waiting at this bridge can know their place in line. The 50 or so asylum seekers who are first in line wait on the bridge. The others stay at shelters, which are over capacity, or in apartments and hotels. Previously, Mexican migration officials would periodically limit civil society’s access to asylum seekers. However, over the past six months, civil society in Matamoros has developed a much stronger relationship with Mexico’s National Migration Institute (INM).
    • Ciudad Miguel Aleman, Tamaulipas. In February 2019, a group of Cubans arrived at the international bridge. Civil Protection periodically provides blankets and food to the asylum seekers on the bridge and offered to convert a fire station six kilometres away from border into a shelter. However, the asylum seekers refused to leave the bridge. In late April 2019, there was no list and conflicts arose over allegations that Customs and Border Protection Officers (CBP) were not following the order in which asylum seekers had arrived. By mid- May, the National Migration had created a waiting list. Ciudad Miguel Aleman has a population of around 20, 000 and does not have a migrant shelter.
    • Municipal Government of Piedras Negras, Coahuila. In mid-April 2019, the municipal government of Piedras Negras, Coahuila closed the waitlist for asylum seekeres. The waitlist is scheduled to reopen on June 1, 2019. The majority of the asylum seekers in Piedras Negras are from Honduras. The main shelter is full and facing shortages of basic goods.
    • Municipal Government of Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila. On November 29, 2018, Grupo Beta created the first list for asylum seekers arriving in Ciudad Acuña. There are now two waitlists, one run by Grupo Beta for families and another run by the Municipal Civil Protection for single adults. Both agencies communicate directly with CBP. In mid-April 2019, the single adults camped out on the bridge and refused to leave. In response, Grupo Beta stopped managing the list for single adults (and continued managing a list just for families). As a result, single adult asylum seekers created their own list, and kept waiting on the bridge. The Municipal Civil Protection eventually took control of the list for single adults. The agency provides two shelters for the migrant families, which are now at full capacity. The individuals instead have had to pay for hotels. Currently, 90 percent of the single adults are Cuban. As of May 9, 2019, the lists are now closed and asylum seekers are being asked to go to different border crossings.  According to Ciudad Acuña’s Municipal Civil Protection, the influx of asylum seekers to the city was due to a rumor that CBP was processing 20 people per day in Del Rio, Texas

    ⇒ Central route:

    • Municipal Government of Ciudad Juárez, Chiahuahua. At the end of March 2019, the State Population Council (COESPO) took over waitlist management from the Casa de Migrante due to reports of cloned bracelets (which had migrant’s waitlist numbers), and rumors that some asylum seekers had sold their bracelets to people who wanted to skip the line. Currently, COESPO is managing the list through a closed Facebook group that is updated twice a day. In this Facebook group, asylum seekers can check how many people CBP is accepting.8 COESPO has reported that between 40 and 150 asylum seekers register on the list each day, and that the majority of the asylum seekers are Cuban. However, around 30 percent of asylum seekers do not show up when their number is called and Ciudad Juárez authorities believe that these individuals cross between ports of entry.  Ciudad Juárez shelters are at full capacity, leaving thousands of people on their own for accommodations.
    • Municipal Government of Agua Prieta, Sonora. a waitlist when 60 asylum seekers arrived in Agua Prieta in a single weekend. Two weeks later, they passed the waitlist to the Center for Migration Attention (Centro de Atención para Migrantes, CAME), due to constant threats from criminal groups. During the past month, CAME has managed the waitlist and received 18 threats from criminal groups. The CAME shelter has room for 44 people but is currently housing 110 migrants and asylum seekers. The Agua Prieta municipal government also runs a shelter—Casa de la Mujer Migrante—that can provide lodging to 60 people. The remaining asylum seekers rent hotel rooms. An American church group supports CAME in some shelter operations and also accompanies asylum seekers to the ports of entry to help protect them from organized crime.

    ⇒Western route:

    • Routes of transit migration flows

    Routes

     

     

    • Mexican Border Cities with Waiting Asylum Seekers

     

     

    Source: Robert Strauss Center and Center for U.S. Mexican Studies (2019)

     

    Observations:
     

    1. Institutions divided by: a) think tanks or policy institutes, b) academia, and c) churches.
    2. Information gathered by route of migration (western, central and east/train line routes).
    3. Information grouped by type of migrant (economic migrant and refugee & asylum seeker).

     
    Disclaimer:

    This information does not reflect the total of programmes implemented. It only shows the data publicly available on internet. Hence, information may vary.

    Institution:

    ♦ Think tanks

     I. Red de Documentación de las Organizaciones Defensoras de Migrantes (REDODEM):

    Description:

    REDODEM gathers civil society institutions that are dedicated to the attention of migrants in transit, generating annual reports which shed light on the routes used by migrants and the different violations of human rights during their journeys. REDODEM is comprised of the following organizations:

    • Albergue Casa Tocha, Mexico city
    • Albergue Decanal Guadalupano, Veracruz
    • Albergue Hermanos en el Camino, Oaxaca
    • Casa de la Caridad Cristiana Hogar del Migrante, San Luis Potosí
    • Casa del Migrante Hogar de la Misericordia, Chiapas
    • Casa del Migrante San Carlos Borromeo, Guanajuato
    • Casa del Migrante San Juan de Dios, Guanajuato
    • Casa Nicolás, Nuevo León
    • Centro de Acogida y Formación para Mujeres Migrantes y sus Familias (CAFEMIN), Mexico city
    • Centro de Derechos Humanos Juan Gerardi, Coahuila
    • Centro de Orientación del Migrante de Oaxaca (COMI), Oaxaca
    • Centro Marista de Apoyo al Migrante (CAMMI), Querétaro
    • Dignidad y Justicia en el Camino.A.C.FM4 Paso Libre (Jalisco)
    • Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes México (SJM), Mexico city

    Non-State Actor responses to transit migration

    REDODEM has carried out important investigations in the following thematic areas: 

    • Transit Migration and violation of human rights. Examples:
      • Narrativas de la transmigración centroamericana en su paso por México. Report issued in 2013.
      • Migración en tránsito por México: rostro de una crisis humanitaria internacional. Report issued in 2015.
    • Cross-cutting issues such as violence. Examples:
      • Migrantes invisibles, violencia tangible. Report issued in 2015. 
      • Migrantes en México: Recorriendo un camino de violencia. Report issued in 2016.

    II. Migration Policy Institute:

    Description:

    Founded in 2001, the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) has established itself as a leading institution in the field of migration policy and as a source of authoritative research, learning opportunities, and new policy ideas. 
     
    To support this, the Migration Policy Institute:

    1. Provides accessible and timely data, information, and analysis on immigration and integration issues that cover the major issues on which policymakers and the general public need information
    2. Pursues research that fills major gaps of understanding around migration flows and immigration and integration policy
    3. Assesses the effectiveness of current immigration and integration policies, as well as the impact of immigration on labor markets, educational outcomes, and social cohesion
    4. Promotes a trusted space for dialogue and a series of learning opportunities around ways to address immigration and integration issues
    5. Provides technical assistance to policymakers, practitioners, and nongovernmental organizations that are trying to solve specific immigration and integration challenges

    Develops innovative policy ideas to address immigration and integration challenges more effectively.

    Non-State Actor responses to transit migration:
     

    • The Migration Policy Institute has carried out important investigations in the following thematic areas:
      •  Migration and governance.
        • Example: Protection and Reintegration: Mexico Reforms Migration Agenda in an Increasingly Complex Era. Article issued in 2019.
      • Migration and economic development in countries of origin and destination. Examples:
        • Thinking Regionally to Compete Globally: Leveraging Migration and Human Capital in the U.S., Mexico and Central America. Report issued in 2013.
        • Manufacturing in the United States, Mexico, and Central America: Implications for Competitiveness and Migration. Report issued in 2013.
        • Ripe with Change: Evolving Farm Labor Markets in the United States, Mexico, and Central America. Report issued in 2013.

    _________________________________________

    ♦ Academia

    I. Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas, UNAMDescription:
     
    Critically review legal research practices, in order to promote up-to-date research. For this endeavour, this Institute focuses on the following programmatic areas:

    1) Diagnosis of the quality of the research;

    2) Tools for epistemological, theoretical and methodological innovation in legal research;

    3) New ways of teaching legal research.
     

    Non-State Actor responses to transit migration:

    One of its main research focus is migration. Through an online portal, this Institution has created a directory of NGOs that can provide support to migrants. This information is geographically divided by States:
     
    https://migrante.juridicas.unam.mx/es/directorio/ong%27s
     
    II. Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law

    Description:

    This Center integrates expertise from across the University of Texas at Austin, as well as from the private and public sectors, in pursuit of practical solutions to emerging international challenges.

    Non-State Actor responses to transit migration:
     

    • The Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law has carried out important research in the following thematic areas:
      • Mexico Security Initiative: This program explores the high-intensity violence and political disruption in Mexico in recent years, including its causes, its international dimensions, and assessments of past, present, and potential policy responses. Example: Under this initiative this Center has carried out investigations on Refugee and Asylum Seeker’s state of human rights, according to three geographically migration routes:

    * Information collected from Robert Strauss Center and Center for U.S. Mexican Studies (2019).
     
    ⇒East/train line route:
     

    • In Matamoros, Tamaulipas, civil society coordinates with them, intervenes on behalf of migrants, and directs complaints to them. Instances of corruption and extortion of migrants are reportedly down.The B&M Bridge list is maintained by an INM official and is not public. Everyone on the list waits at the bridge
    • Reynosa, Tamaulipas. In February 2019, the Senda de Vida Migrant Shelter created a waitlist for asylum seekers who were on the bridge. Asylum seekers are no longer allowed to wait on the bridge and are directed instead to the Senda de Vida shelter. CBP notifies INM regarding how many people they will take each day and INM notifies the shelter.  The Senda de Vida shelter has 300 beds and is at full capacity. It has turned away asylum seekers after they have placed their name on the list given insufficient capacity to house and feed them. 

    ⇒Central route:
     

    1. Agua Prieta, Sonora. Outside the Agua Prieta port of entry, there is an improvised shelter where the five individuals at the top of the waitlist stay until it is their turn. This shelter consists of blankets tied to the border wall. There is a nearby building with a bathroom, water, and a shower. Every afternoon, a Christian group provides food to these waiting asylum seekers.
    2. Nogales, Sonora. Brenda Nieblas, a private individual, runs the list in Nogales. Her family runs migrant shelters in Nogales. Asylum seekers arriving in the city are first redirected to the Red Cross for medical care. They then contact Nieblas, who adds them to the waitlist and assigns them to a shelter. Nieblas notifies them directly when it is their turn.

     
    ⇒Western route:
     
    In Tijuana, Baja California. Every day, between 40 and 180 asylum seekers add themselves to the waiting list. Over the past several months, the times when asylum seekers can add themselves to the waitlist has decreased from four hours to two.10 A volunteer has created a website for the list (elnumerodelalista.com) so that asylum seekers can track the waitlist numbers without having to travel daily to the port of entry, where the latest number is posted.

    III. Colegio de frontera norte​

    Description:

    Dedicated to high level research and teaching. Its main purpose is to:

    • To generate scientific knowledge about the regional phenomena of the US-Mexico border, 
    • To train high-level human resources and;
    • To create an academic network to contribute to the development of the region.

    Non-State Actor responses to transit migration:
     

    • Colegio de Frontera Norte has carried out important research in the following thematic areas:
      • Sociology of migration/Media analysis research. Example: 
        • Words matter: Representation of Mexican immigrants in newspapers from Mexico and the United States.
      •  Labor reintegration for returnees in Mexico. Example: 
        • Labor Reintegration of Return Migrants in Two Rural Communities of Yucatán, México
      •  Cross-cutting issues such as violence. Example: 
        • US- Mexico Border Militarization and Violence: Dispossession and Disorganization of Undocumented Laboring Classes from Puebla, Mexico

    _________________________________________

    ♦ Churches

    I. Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes- México

    Description:

     

    Non-governmental, humanitarian and non-profit organization that seeks to reduce the vulnerability of migrants.

    Non-State Actor responses to transit migration:
     

    ⇒Projects in Communities of Origin and Transit

    • "Woman and Migrant Family" model of attention to the affective psychic problem of women and their family, who have traumas as consequence of migration. It pivots around three activities: a) mental health through the formation of self-help groups, b) training for the efficient administration of resources through the creation of community banks, and; c) the accompaniment for the design and start-up of productive activities.
    • "Strengthening local capacities to care for migrants in transit and families of migrants" through processes of raising awareness, training and team capacity building this programme seeks to transform humanitarian activities into strategies to meet the needs of migrants to reduce their vulnerability.
    • "Production of educational materials" that promote training and awareness aspects in various topics related to migration.

    ⇒ Cross-cutting projects

    • "Promotion and coordination of work in networks". This project seeks to promote through social media channels the different initiatives carried out in the communities. 
    • "Nonlocalized migrant people". This project seeks to provide assistance through the church networks, in the search of migrants reported by relatives or friends. They have a web page where people can publish specific cases of missing people, and send alerts to organizations that are related to human rights monitoring.
    • 13 Catholic church-sponsored shelters across Mexico states that, at the peak of apprehensions under Southern Border Programme (the second half of 2014), the number of migrants who made use of shelters decreased, yet another outcome of the program (REDODEM, 2015, 22)
    1. Arriola, L. (2017). Policy Adrift: Mexico’s Southern Border Program. Migration Studies and Transborder Processes Group, Colegio de la Frontera Sur.
    2. Instituto para Migrantes de Jalisco (2018). Paso de la Caravana del Viacrucis Migrante por el are metropolitana de Guadalajara.
    3. IOM (2016). Measuring well-governed migration. The 2016 Migration Governance Index.
    4. Migration Policy Institute (2019). Protection and Reintegration: Mexico Reforms Migration Agenda in an Increasingly Complex Era. Available at: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/protection-and-reintegration-mexico-reforms-migration-agenda.
    5. Robert Strauss Center and Center for U.S. Mexican Studies (2019). Metering Update, May 2019.
    6. Red de Documentación de las Organizaciones Defensoras de Migrantes (REDODEM) (2015). Migrantes invisibles, violencia tangible. Informe 2014.” Report. México: REDODEM. Available at: http://fm4pasolibre.org/pdfs/informe_migrantesinvisibles_redodem2015.pdf.
    7. Red de Documentación de las Organizaciones Defensoras de Migrantes (REDODEM) (2013). Narrativas de la transmigración centroamericana en su paso por México. México: Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes, Hermanos en el Camino / La 72 / FM4 Paso Libre / Centro de Derechos Humanos Juan Gerardi / Albergue Decanal Guadalu- pano / Centro de Orientación del Migrante de Oaxaca / Casa del
    8. Migrante San Carlos Borromeo.
    9. Red de Documentación de las Organizaciones Defensoras de Migrantes (REDODEM) (2015). Migración en tránsito por México: rostro de una crisis humanitaria internacional. México: Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes, Hermanos en el Camino / La 72 / FM4 Paso Libre / Centro de Derechos Humanos Juan Gerardi / Albergue Decanal Guadalu- pano / Centro de Orientación del Migrante de Oaxaca / Casa del
    10. Migrante San Carlos Borromeo.
    11. Red de Documentación de las Organizaciones Defensoras de Migrantes (REDODEM) (2016). Migrantes en México: Recorriendo un camino de violencia. Available at: http://migrare.org.mx/wpcontent/uploads/2017/10/informe_redodem_2016_17.pdf
    12. Seelke, Clare R. and Kristin Finklea. 2016. “U.S.-Mexican Security Cooperation: The Mérida Initiative and Beyond.” Congressional Research Service Report R41349. Washington, D.C. February 22 (Update).
    13. Secretaría de Gobernación-Coordinación para la Atención Integral de la Migración en la Frontera Sur (SEGOB-CAIMFS) (2015). “Informe de Actividades, julio 2014-julio 2015.”  Available at: https://www.wola.org/sites/default/files/MX/WOLAFUNDAR/CAIMFS%20%20Informe
    14. United Nations (2017). International Migration Report. Available at: https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/publications/migrationreport/docs/MigrationReport2017_Highlights.pdf (Consulted 21/05/19)
    15. United Nations Human Rights (2016). Situation of migrants in transit. Report A/HC/31/35 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
    16. UNCHR (2019). What is a Refugee? Available at: https://www.unrefugees.org/refugee-facts/what-is-a-refugee/