Life in Transit: Migration and Learning Through Mexico’s Frontera Centro

• In Event: Pedagogies of Migration: Teaching and Learning across Global Contexts

Proposal

Border externalization of immigration enforcement between the U.S. and Mexico has led to migrant shelters becoming frontline institutions, grappling with the immediate and long-term needs of migrants. Changes in migration patterns and policies place much of the responsibility for well-being on non-governmental shelters and organizations, which count on limited resources and often cannot offer prolonged care. Migrants frequently enter and exit shelters as they await the next step along their journey. While their stay varies depending on shelter rules and the needs and profiles of migrants, these transitional, liminal spaces provide more than food and refuge. Shelters become a nexus, places where people converge to share what has been learned across the voyages, share advice, and forge new kin networks. I argue that migrant shelters are transitional educational spaces outside formal settings, which impart guests with more than just refuge. This paper focuses on migrants in transit through Central Mexico. Drawing on 18 months of fieldwork, including 40 in-depth interviews with migrants and social service providers, this paper extends the theorization of out-of-school time to include migrant shelters. I explore how and what migrants learn about migration, which is often managed by the structures and systems of the shelters. I demonstrate how migrant shelters are forced to respond due to state in/action, yet restricted by international organizations who provide funding.

Author

• Claudia Triana Ipinza, University of Wisconsin-Madison