Caravans Adrift: Central American Migrants Stranded Along the Northern Border of Mexico

Abstract

The chapter analyzes the evolution of migrant caravans from political or religious mobilizations to an organized method of migration. In so doing, it describes the expectations and the mobility/settling strategies deployed by caravan participants at the U.S.-Mexico border. The examination centers on the movement of Central Americans through Mexico between October 2018 and January 2019, when more than ten thousand Central American migrants entered Mexico in large contingents and crossed its territory together in a quest to arrive at the U.S. border and apply for asylum. This mobility strategy was referred to by activists, scholars, and journalists as “caravans.” For more than ten years before this upswell, two different religious and political demonstrations organized these caravans: Migrant Viacrucis (a Catholic celebration representing the Way of the Cross of Jesus) and the Caravan of Mothers of Missing Migrants. These mobilizations would gather a few hundred people and conclude their journey in Mexico City or near the northern border. In April 2018, the Viacrucis arrived in Tijuana—situated along the northwestern end of the border—with several hundred migrants and activists. While some requested asylum in the United States, most remained in Mexico. By the end of that year, caravans had for the most part lost their originally religious purpose; for people who joined them during this time, the main goal was to migrate to the United States. The paper also covers how border securitization and the harsh asylum policies of the Trump administration stranded many Central American migrants in these caravans in Mexico.