Asylum System in Mexico: Continuity in the Production of the Illegality of Central American Migrants

• In Event: 4151 - International Migration Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 min): Table 1: Critical Refugee Studies I

Abstract

This paper examines the experience of Central American women and their encounters with the asylum system in Mexico. The analysis from a border regime perspective facilitates unraveling and understanding the neocolonial functioning of the system of migration governance in which the Mexican asylum system has an important role influenced by the U.S. to perpetuate the goals of controlling and disciplining migratory movements. I argue that rather than fostering and enhancing international protection measures for people fleeing violence and persecution, the asylum system in Mexico works as an effective machine for the production of illegality of Central American migrants. This paper connects the historical and racialized production of the illegality of the Central American migrant population in Mexico, a production mainly driven by the externalization of the US border to Mexican territory, with the current functioning of the asylum system throughout three specific mechanisms: immigration detention, immobilization, and protracted waiting. In addition to examining the three mechanisms, the paper highlights the desires, experiences, and strategies that Central American women apply to navigate this system.

Author

• Mónica Salmón Gómez, New School for Social Research