In Their Own Words: Children and the Facilitation of Migrant Journeys on the U.S.-Mexico Border

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis study follows a group of 18 young people living the US-Mexico border city of Juarez who participate in assisting migrants to cross into the US clandestinely. As young mobility facilitators, the children are quick to adapt to market conditions and connect their social resources and knowledge of the geography to eke out a living. However, their experiences are also reflective of a complex series of community building and self-fulfillment dynamics not documented in the literature of the practice known by the state as migrant smuggling. Relying on data collected by the children themselves, we argue that increased securitization and border hardening have brought about income-generating practices to people living along the U.S.-Mexico border. But that rather than these being solely tied to the activities of transnational organized crime (namely, drug trafficking organizations) said practices constitute community-based responses to the increasing marginalization and inequality afflicting Mexico’s Northern border region. Findings in this study challenge mainstream perceptions concerning migrant smuggling dynamics, and open new possibilities in our understanding of the motivations and lives of the people behind migrant journeys.