‘Cheap Merchandise’: Atrocity and Undocumented Migrants in Transit in Mexico’s War on Drugs

Abstract

Undocumented migrants in transit in Mexico are victims of atrocity. The subject has been largely ignored by scholars, however, until recently when a number of migration experts became interested in the matter. Most observers argue that abuses suffered by migrants are the consequence of the ‘securitization’ of Mexican immigration policy. For them, Mexican authorities perceive migrants from Central America as a threat to national security and have hardened laws and migratory practices as a result, but there is insufficient evidence to support these claims. This article looks at the political economy of undocumented migration in transit in Mexico and the violence associated with it. It investigates the abuses suffered by migrants not as the result of supposed security policies but rather as the consequence of the interplay between local and global economies that generate profits from undocumented migration. The article explores the role played by state officials, cartels and ordinary Mexicans in the migration industry.

Criminal Victimization of Central American Migrants in Transit Through Mexico

“…Migrants who used trains had three times higher odds of victimization relative to those who did not use trains (OR 3.0, p <.01). This result is consistent with the great exposure, visibility, and proximity that occurs with respect to criminals when low-income people use the railways (Basok et al 2015;Trevino-Rangel 2021). Those who used trailers or cargo trucks and who assume the risk of suffocation and accidents (París Pombo 2017; Torre Cantalapiedra 2021b), had 2.5 times higher odds of victimization (OR 2.5, p < .01).…”

“…In this context, it is not surprising that Central American migrants on their journeys through Mexican territory have been subjected to a growing number of crimes of all kinds: robberies and assaults, extortion, physical assaults, sexual assaults, human trafficking, kidnappings, disappearances, and murders (Calleros Alarcón 2013, 2021b. Various actors (state agents, criminal groups, and ordinary Mexicans) take advantage of migrants as if they were profitable merchandise (Vogt 2013;Trevino-Rangel 2021). In addition, the increasingly lucrative activities of exploiting transit migrants led the drug cartels to forge a new criminal market niche in human mobility (Casillas 2015;París Pombo 2017).…”

“…The greatest danger of this mode of transportation is organized crime, which has meticulously tracked the trains' logistics (Trevino-Rangel 2021). There is countless anecdotal evidence of the atrocities committed on trains against migrants (Casillas 2015;Brigden and Mainwaring 2016;Cortés 2018;Trevino-Rangel 2021). Migrants are obligated to take various precautions when they take trains, such as avoiding train stations because many migrants congregate there and are easy prey for criminal actors (Basok et al 2015).…”

Mujeres migrantes en tránsito por México. La perspectiva cuantitativa y de género

“…Las personas migrantes que se ven orilladas a cruzar el territorio mexicano de manera irregular, en su afán de sortear los retenes, puntos de control móvil, entre otros obstáculos interpuestos por las autoridades, emplean las rutas más peligrosas e inhóspitas donde incrementa la posibilidad de que sean víctimas de delitos (París Pombo y Montes, 2020). En este contexto, diversos actores (agentes del Estado, agentes criminales y mexicanos ordinarios) sacan partido de los migrantes como si se tratase de mercancías (Trevino-Rangel, 2020).…”

“…Los migrantes emplean los medios de transporte en función de los recursos de los que disponen, y otros factores, como la contratación de coyotes durante sus travesías por México. La opción más económica es viajar en los trenes de carga -dado que viajar en los mismos de manera "furtiva" es "gratuito"-, pero supone tanto la posibilidad de sufrir graves accidentes como ser víctima de los criminales que actúan en los mismos y en sus inmediaciones (Ruiz Marrujo y Red de las Casas del Migrante-Scalabrini, 2001;Trevino-Rangel, 2020). Casi un 20% de los varones devueltos a sus países de origen por las autoridades estadounidenses emplearon los ferrocarriles en sus trayectos por México, en contraste, tan solo 7.1% de las mujeres recurrieron a este medio de transporte (Gráfica 1).…”