Download Report

The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) Report: Mexico’s Southern Border – Security, Central American Migration, and U.S. Policy

KEY FINDINGS
It  has  been  nearly  three  years  since  the  Mexican  government  announced  its  Southern   Border  Program,  which  dramatically  increased  security  operations  and  apprehensions   of  northbound  migrants.  This  report—based  on  field  research  in  the  area  surrounding   Tenosique,  Tabasco  along  Mexico’s  border  with  Guatemala—examines  migration  flows,   enforcement, and insecurity in southern Mexico.

THERE  HAS  BEEN  A  SHARP  INCREASE  IN  THE  NUMBER  OF  MIGRANTS AND ASYLUM SEEKERS WHO INTEND TO STAY IN MEXICO, RATHER THAN TRAVEL TO THE UNITED STATES.
Many are seeking asylum or other forms of immigration status. Between 2014 and 2016, there was a 311 percent increase in asylum requests in Mexico. In the first three months of 2017, Mexico had received more asylum applications than all of 2015. The UN Refugee Agency estimates that Mexico will receive up to 20,000 asylum requests in 2017.

DECREASED MIGRATION FLOWS THROUGH MEXICO AND AT THE U.S.   SOUTHWEST BORDER DURING THE MONTHS FOLLOWING PRESIDENT TRUMP’S INAUGURATION ARE NOT SUSTAINABLE. 
News of the Trump administration’s  hard  line  appears  to  have  caused  a  wave  of  Central  American  migration  before  January  20,  and  a  sharp  drop  afterward.  However,  until  there  are   improvements  in  the  violence  and  adverse  conditions  from  which  Central  Americans  are  fleeing,  people  will  continue  to  migrate  in  large  numbers.  By  May  2017,   apprehension  levels  at  the  U.S-Mexico  border  had  begun  to  tiptoe  back  up,  with   a 31 percent increase in total apprehensions compared to April, and a 50 percent  increase in apprehensions of unaccompanied minors.

ALTHOUGH MEXICO REGISTERED LOWER APPREHENSION LEVELS IN  THE  FIRST  FOUR  MONTHS  OF  2017  COMPARED  TO  PREVIOUS  YEARS,  MIGRATION  ENFORCEMENT  UNDER  MEXICO’S  SOUTHERN  BORDER  PROGRAM REMAINS HIGH.
Total migrant apprehensions increased by a staggering 85 percent during the Southern Border Program’s first two years of operation  (July  2014  to  June  2016)  compared  to  pre-Program  levels.  Limited  government   resources, migrants’ and smugglers’ ability to adjust to new security patterns, corruption among authorities, and an overall drop in migration from Central America  since  President  Trump  took  office  have  all  likely  contributed  to  the  leveling  off  of   apprehensions seen in Mexico in recent months.

CRIMES AND ABUSES AGAINST MIGRANTS TRAVELING THROUGH MEXICO CONTINUE TO OCCUR AT ALARMING RATES, AND SHELTERS HAVE NOTED  A  MORE  INTENSE  DEGREE  OF  VIOLENCE  IN  THE  CASES  THEY  DOCUMENT.
While  Mexico’s  major  organized  criminal  groups  do  not  operate   heavily in the Tenosique corridor, smaller criminal bands and Central American gang  affiliates routinely rob, kidnap, and sexually assault migrants along this portion of the  migration route. Migrant rights organizations in southern Mexico documented an increase in cases of migration and police authorities’ abuse of migrants as a result of the Southern Border Program, including recent accounts of migration agents, who are supposed to be unarmed, using pellet guns and electrical shock devices.

THERE HAVE BEEN FEWER U.S.  ASSISTANCE DELIVERIES TO MEXICO FOR THE SOUTHERN BORDER PROGRAM THAN ORIGINALLY EXPECTED, BUT BIOMETRIC AND COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAMS CONTINUE APACE.
The U.S. State and Defense Departments are currently implementing a US$88 million dollar program to increase Mexican immigration authorities’ capacity to collect  biometric  data  and  share  information  about  who  is  crossing  through  Mexico  with   the  U.S.  Department of Homeland Security.  The U.S.  State and Defense Departments are also funding a US$75 million project to improve secure communications between Mexican agencies in the country’s southern border zone. This program has erected 12 communications towers so far, all of them on Mexican naval posts.

THE MIGRATION ROUTE INTO MEXICO THROUGH TENOSIQUE, TABASCO HAS SEEN A SHARP INCREASE IN CHILDREN AND FAMILIES FLEEING VIOLENCE IN THE NORTHERN TRIANGLE REGION.
Between 2014 and 2016, the  number  of  children  (both  accompanied  and unaccompanied)  apprehended  in the  state  of  Tabasco  increased  by  60  percent.  The majority of migrants traveling through this area of the border are from Honduras.