Irregular migration and social inclusion and exclusion: The case of Ciudad Juárez

Abstract

Recent years have seen several waves of irregular migrants and asylum seekers from many different countries transit through Mexico and arrive at the US–Mexico border. Although the goal of these migrants is to cross into the United States, many find themselves stranded on the Mexican side of the border for various reasons, forced to insert themselves in its cities' urban spaces and activities. Their presence has forced government actors, the public and civil society organizations, and market players to deal with them. Each of these actors deploys different strategies to deal with the migrants' presence, all of which can be pinned on a spectrum of inclusion and exclusion, according to their interests and perception of the migrants' station in their midst. This article examines the practices of social inclusion and exclusion of migrants in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, based on concepts by Bramley and Power, and outlines the challenges of inclusion for migrants and residents as both perceive their sojourn in the city as mainly transitory.