Home Institution

Washington University in St. Louis

Publication Date

Fall 2023

Program Name

Mexico: Migration, Borders, and Transnational Communities

Abstract

This work concerns the use of temporary documentation by migrants in transit through Mexico, specifically an identification known as the Clave Única de Registro de Población (CURP.) In recent years, migrants have employed a strategy entailing applying for asylum in Mexico solely to obtain a temporary CURP, falsely believed to provide safe transit through Mexico. Past research on similar temporary documentation concludes that issuing permission to travel through the country is typically ineffective at providing safety from corruption and crime. Documentation also fails at providing reliable access to human rights guaranteed to all by the Mexican Constitution and Immigration Law of 2011. Rather, these documents serve Mexico and U.S. policy goals by creating internal borders, distracting from government-perpetrated crimes against migrants and creating precarious legal situations for migrants. In Oaxaca, Mexico, I conduct interviews with migrants in transit as well as an immigrant woman. Specifically, my research seeks to define the motivations behind this strategy and how effective it is at ensuring safe transit and protection of human rights. I find that desire for protection through Mexico is significant, but the money and time obtaining the temporary CURP requires is a great cost to migrants in transit. As for providing access to the rights and services Mexico promises for all, the temporary CURP cuts off access the undocumented as well as many of the documented.

Disciplines

Immigration Law | International Relations | Latin American Studies | Migration Studies | Social Justice

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