Mexico's Northern Border Research Articles

Fentanyl and xylazine on the Northern Border of Mexico: A New Challenge for Drug Health Policy

Fentanyl and xylazine on the Northern Border of Mexico: A New Challenge for Drug Health Policy

Mexico: Territory of confinement during the pandemic

Since the 1990s, Mexico has been a transit country par excellence in the Americas. However, since the beginning of the 2010s, Mexican territory has been configured as an extended and violent space of migratory containment. In the regional context of Mexico and the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic accentuated state processes of migratory control and criminalization that had been in place for years (such as zero tolerance policies and migrant protection protocols during the Trump administration). Unlike other countries on the American continent, this health emergency in Mexico did not imply the adoption of strict internal measures to limit mobility. Consequently, although the influx of global migrants in transit, mostly Northern Central Americans, slowed during the first months of the pandemic, it did not cease. In fact, since mid-2020, these transitions have multiplied. However, due to the health emergency, asylum seekers and other migrants could not cross the northern border of Mexico as a direct effect of the increase in controls and strict anti-immigrant policies implemented by the United States. The blockade of the northern border, together with the continued influx of even more global migrants (many from northern Central America), meant that Mexico, in a trend that had been going on for years, consolidated itself as a regional and global territory of spatial and temporal confinement (long waiting). Therefore, this article analyzes the geopolitical implications of these processes for Mexico in the midst of a triple health, political and social security crisis.

Entre la tradición y la actualidad: un análisis de la dinámica migratoria de Veracruz

In the population history of Veracruz, a state in southeastern Mexico and a maritime entry port to the country, the arrival of people to the region has been prevalent. However, in the 21st Century, Veracruz was incorporated into the international migration flows to the United States. In this context, the objective of this study is to analyze the recent flows of emigrants from Veracruz to the northern border of Mexico and the United States, as well as the dynamic of return migration and the immigration of foreigners. Taking a demographic and quantitative perspective, this research focuses on the decade from 2010 to 2020, with a specific emphasis on regional and municipal analysis. The results show that international emigration and immigration are phenomena that occur within specific regions and municipalities, and that, only in three out of ten regions do the departure and return of Veracruz residents and the arrival of foreigners to the state converge, particularly individuals from Central America and Venezuela.

Ritual Relationships with Copal Incense

Copal, an aromatic tree resin, has long been harvested and offered as incense in Indigenous communities of Mesoamerica. In contemporary academic contexts copal and other non-human materials and entities are often conceived of through objectifying ontologies. However, metaphysical frameworks grounded in life forces such as teotl (Nahuatl) and ch’ulel (various Mayan languages) offer alternative insights to human relationships with other-than-human worlds. Copal can be traced temporally and spatially, across thousands of miles and millennia. Specifically, we can follow copal from Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica across the northern border of Mexico into contemporary rituals in Denver, Colorado where copal continues to burn in Danza ceremonies. Beyond these ritual spaces, copal also moves in neoliberal and new age contexts as a market commodity and is stored in museum collections as ‘artifact’. Centering Mesoamerican metaphysics offers a counternarrative to these versions of settler-colonial objectification. Ultimately, precolonial and decolonial kinship practices can inform reinterpretations and reimagining of copal in the processes of museum and market appropriation.

MAQUILADORA INDUSTRY ON MEXICO'S NORTHERN BORDER

This paper analyzes the consolidation process of maquiladora industry in Mexico's northern border, based on the expansion context of Global Value Chains (GVC) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as forms of lowering production costs. Having arrangements like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as an institutional background, there is a growing presence of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) and the expansion of maquiladoras as a national export-led model, mainly composed by manufactures. Through socioeconomic data analysis, we demonstrate two aspects concerning the evolution of maquiladora industry in Mexico: Job creation is related to inferior wage levels with a low improvement throughout history, which may interfere on the social reproduction of labor force; It follows the rise in undocumented immigration to the United States, creating a tighter and onerous institutional response on border control as an attempt to contain the migratory flows. 

Modes of governance and the ethnography of activism at the Mexico-US border.

Inspired by political philosophy, critical studies of border regimes often reduce human rights and relief work to some accomplice role in migratory control and surveillance. Drawing on ethnographic research on pro-migrant activism in Tijuana, a large city on Mexico's northern border, I contrast such critical literature on border policies with an anthropological approach to the study of organizations and bureaucracies. In particular, drawing attention to activists as providers of goods and services enables us to deal with activism as an ensemble of concrete actors, institutions, and practices. The contradictory directives to which providers are subject, faced with inevitable conflicts, shifting alliances, and overlapping structures, are apparent in cases of co-production of services through complex forms of coordination between local authorities, civil associations, and international organizations. Revealing the political dimensions of service delivery-not reducible to domination-these assemblages of modes of governance are frequently oriented to cope with migrants' immobility in cities like Tijuana, turned into places of indefinite delay by policies that extend the spaces of interception and expulsion to neighboring "transfer" countries.

Governed bodies, discarded bodies: Notes for an analysis of contemporary migrations during Covid-19

This article presents the results of an ethnographic research conducted in the northern border of Mexico from 2019 to 2021, specifically in the city of Tijuana. The objective of this article is to analyse the role of bodies in border and migration management with special emphasis on the time of the Covid-19 pandemic. To do so, I focus on three situations. First is the case of migrants whose bodies are exploited in the precarious work opportunities they find along Mexico’s northern border. Second, I look at migrants who experience detention and confinement in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detention centres in the United States. And third, I analyse the situation of missing migrants whose bodies are sought by family members and numerous collectives in Mexico. Through the analysis of these situations, the article demonstrates that by using ‘bodies’ as a productive category for analysing migration and the containment of migratory movements, we can understand both the resulting negative effects on migrants’ subjectivity and bodies and how migrants respond to and challenge the global migration system.

Unauthorized Mexican-Born Immigrants, Occupational Injuries, and the use of Medical Services in the United States

This article examines how unauthorized immigrant status is associated with the risk of suffering a work-related accident or illness and with the use of medical services after experiencing an injury among Mexican immigrants in the United States. Using individual-level data on 81,004 Mexican immigrants who previously worked in the United States and were interviewed when they returned to Mexico in the Survey of Migration in the Northern Border of Mexico from 2010 to 2018, we estimate a series of probit models and nonlinear decompositions to analyze legal status differences in the incidence of occupational injuries among immigrant workers. The results show that among Mexican immigrants in the United States unauthorized status was associated with a greater probability of experiencing an occupational injury. The higher injury rate among unauthorized immigrants was partly driven by the fact that they worked more hours per day, more days per week, and were employed in riskier occupations than authorized immigrants. If unauthorized immigrants were older and had higher levels of English-language ability, the injury gap would have been even larger. Unauthorized status was also associated with a lower likelihood of using medical services after suffering an occupational injury because unauthorized workers had less access to medical care. The findings show that the right to legal work has important implications for the health of immigrants by setting a higher risk level for injury on the job and limiting access to health care following such an injury.

The epidemiological follow-up process for suspected and confirmed cases of COVID-19 in migrant shelters on the northern border of Mexico from July to December 2020: Between contagion underestimation and containment.

Elements associated with an increased risk factor for the contagion of COVID-19 in shelters include the turnover and overcrowding of people, time spent in communal areas, daily supply needs, water availability, and sanitation levels. The "Report on the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Migrants and Refugees," shows that factors such as the shortage of food, supplies, water, sanitizing materials, spaces for healthy distancing, financial resources for rent and essential services, and the lack of medical or psychological care complicated providing care for migrants and applicants seeking international protection. We describe shelter operations regarding the detection and follow-up of suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases showing mild symptoms among the migrant population housed in the border cities under study. We conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with study subjects (people in charge, managers, coordinators, shelter directors) from 22 migrant shelters, and 30 with key informants. We studied the cities of Tijuana (Baja California), Nogales (Sonora), Ciudad Juárez (Chihuahua), Piedras Negras (Coahuila), and Heroica Matamoros (Tamaulipas). The research was based on a qualitative methodological design with an ethnographic approach. The information collected was transcribed and systematized into two tables or analytical templates, one for interviews with study subjects, and another for interviews with key actors. Overall, seventy-eight registered shelters provided accommodation services for migrants in the five cities the study focused on: thirty-seven in Tijuana, five in Nogales, twenty-two in Ciudad Juárez, eight in Piedras Negras, and five plus a camp (six in total) in Matamoros. The major concentration of shelters was in Tijuana (47.4%) and Ciudad Juárez (28.2%). At the beginning of the pandemic, only a few shelter facilities met quarantine and isolation guidelines, such as having separate bathrooms and sufficient space to isolate the "asymptomatic" and "confirmed" from close "contacts". The lack of isolation space and the inability to support the monitoring of patients with COVID-19 posed a challenge for those housed in shelters, forcing many shelters to close or continue operating behind closed doors to avoid becoming a source of infection during the pandemic. Contrary to speculation, during the onset of the pandemic northern border migrant shelters did not become sources of COVID-19 infection. According to the data analyzed from 78 shelters only seven had confirmed cases, and the classification of "outbreak" was applied only in two facilities. Contagion control or containment was successful as the result of following a preventive containment logic, including the isolation of all suspected but unconfirmed cases, without a clear understanding of the human and financial resources required to maintain isolation areas. However, shelters in the study implemented protocols for epidemiological surveillance, control, and prevention with elements that interfered with monitoring spaces, and processes that caused oversights that resulted in underestimating the number of cases. Due to travel restrictions imposed to prevent and contain coronavirus infections it was impossible to stay on-site in the cities studied, except for Tijuana, or carry-out recordings of migrants' views in shelters.

Integral state on the Northern Border of Mexico: administration and surveillance of subaltern groups in Tijuana, Baja California

Integral state on the Northern Border of Mexico: administration and surveillance of subaltern groups in Tijuana, Baja California

The Mexican war against drug cartels, traffickers’ collateral incentive to commit crimes against undocumented immigrants

This article aims to demonstrate that Mexico's 2006 war on drugs exacerbated violence against undocumented immigrants its territory. It compares drug-related violence and homicides from 2006 to 2013 and analyzes the fact that many Central American migrants never made it to Mexico's northern border, but were not detained or deported by Mexican authorities either. In order to conduct this research, information was obtained from government, autonomous and civilian agencies as well as the United Nations regional commissions. A formal data analysis was performed using the spss method. This manuscript shows that US immigrant detentions decreased in this period and increased again in the following presidential administration. Simultaneously, hundreds of migrants disappeared in Mexico, although exact data is not available due to the secrecy surrounding this type of criminality. Migrants were seen as targets against whom extortion or human trafficking could be committed. Despite this, Central Americans continue to immigrate in mass flows.

Victimization and Polyvictimization in Children and Adolescents in a Violent City at Northern Border of Mexico

ABSTRACT The study of violence toward minors from the perspective of polyvictimization is essential because of the established cumulative effect of violence in its various forms. The general objective of this study is to present data on child and adolescent polyvictimization in a sample of adolescents in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. In this quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive study conducted between March 2019 and February 2020, the sample consisted of 874 secondary and high school students aged 12–17 years (406 boys, 465 girls) from three public schools. A Spanish version of the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire was used to assess victimization and polyvictimization. Of the participants, 88.3% had experienced some form of victimization over their lifetime and 67.5% had had such experiences during the last year. The most frequent form of victimization was through conventional crimes, reported by 78.6% over the lifetime and 50.6% in the last year. Among victims, 32.4% and 18.4% had experienced polyvictimization over their lifetime and in the previous year, respectively. The most severely polyvictimized participants had experienced 14+ victimizations over the lifetime and 10+ in the last year. Polyvictims were at a higher risk than those who had not experienced polyvictimization with regard to all forms of victimization. These results could serve as a basis for intervention programs in public and private institutions that serve Mexican children and adolescents.

The Guard's Dilemma: Social Roles and Therapeutic Experience for Inpatient‐Guards in Tijuana's Community‐Based Addiction Treatment

AbstractOver the past 30 years, Tijuana has witnessed a proliferation of non‐biomedical, community‐based drug treatment centers. Research on this industry focuses primarily on documenting their spread and describing institutional practices, particularly human rights abuses. However, ethnography attuned to inpatient perspectives shows academic responses (op‐eds, articles, policy briefs, etc.) that generalize compulsory, community‐based addiction treatment as completely unproductive often obscure inpatients’ complicated experiences. I examine daily life and social roles in one all‐female 12 Step center along Mexico's northern border to explore the claim by center administrators that inpatients benefit therapeutically from acting simultaneously as guards (inpatient‐guards). This ethnography of practice complicates academic discussions of compulsory addiction treatment by examining the labor the inpatient‐guards provide and the meanings they ascribe to it, revealing the complexity of therapeutic experience and a path for global mental health to better understand community care.

Percepción de riesgo para VIH y sexo seguro en migrantes de la frontera norte de México

IntroductionIn 2019, 9,828 new cases of HIV and 5,825 of AIDS were detected in Mexico, the migrant population is considered highly vulnerable, which is presumed to be due to unfavorable conditions in their transit through the country, an important variable in the context of sexual health is the perception that they may have about being or not at risk. A study of perception of contracting HIV can have important implications for health. ObjectiveTo determine the association between the perception of risk for HIV and safe sex in migrants from the northern border of Mexico. MethodsThe design was predictive correlational and cross-sectional, sample of 302 migrants from two border cities of Tamaulipas, systematic random probability sampling. ResultsIt was found that about 90% were men with a mean age of (M = 33,25, SD = 9,62) years, in general, migrants have a low perception of risk for HIV and this was correlated with safe sex (rs = -,134, p =,020), furthermore, a regression analysis showed that the perception of risk for HIV has a predictive effect on safe sex (β = -, 143, F = 6,27 [gl=1,300], p = 0,013), ConclusionMigrants are a group that requires interest in the field of research related to sexuality, despite being a vulnerable group and identified as at risk, their perception of acquiring HIV is low, this variable should be considered of importance in future research in the sexual field of migrants, because it can be used in conjunction with others as a model or as a mediator.

Micro-level Interactions and Health Stratification: Abuses Committed against Deported Mexican Immigrants

Although immigration enforcement has been linked to poor health outcomes among Latinx populations in the United States, little is known about how interpersonal interactions between immigrants and immigration enforcement agents potentially influence Latinx immigrant health. The author estimated heterogeneity in health outcomes among deported Mexican immigrants by experiences of immigration enforcement abuse using data from respondents to the Survey of Migration in the Northern Border of Mexico ( n = 28,853). Experiences of abuse were significantly associated with worse self-rated health and various health symptoms, with particularly large disparities for mental health symptomology. Given the magnitude of the deportation regime enacted against Mexican immigrants in the United States, thousands of immigrants may return to Mexico at an elevated risk for relatively poorer health. These results emphasize the importance of considering micro-level interactions as a mechanism of health stratification within the larger system of immigration enforcement in the United States.

Sodium chloride injection to treat opioid overdose; Does it work? A preclinical study

Opioid overdoses (ODs) are increasing in Mexico's northern border. Because naloxone is usually not available, witnesses inject common salt (NaCl) into a vein of OD victims in an attempt to help them regain consciousness. Despite this widespread practice, no preclinical studies have addressed the efficacy of NaCl as an opioid antidote. Here we tested saline solutions at different concentrations. Because the highest (31.6 %) caused tail necrosis, we selected 17.7 % as a hypertonic saline solution (HSS) to determine if it could prevent the lethal effect of morphine (Mor), fentanyl (Fen), or Mor + Fen in adult Wistar male rats. We also evaluated if NaCl could modify the opioid antagonist effect of naloxone. Our results show that HSS: a) sensitizes animals to thermal but not mechanical stimuli; b) does not prevent mortality caused by high morphine or fentanyl doses; c) decreases the latency to recovery from the sedative effects caused by low doses of morphine or fentanyl; and d) increases naloxone's efficacy to prevent the lethality produced by Mor or Fen, but not by Mor + Fen. These results suggest that HSS is marginally effective in shortening the recovery time from nonfatal opioid ODs and increases naloxone's efficacy to counteract opioid-induced ODs.

Family Separation and Remigration Intentions to the USA among Mexican Deportees

AbstractIncreasingly stringent immigration enforcement in the US interior has led to the deportation of large numbers of long‐term Mexican immigrants with families in the USA. We analyse the statistical association between the intent to return to the USA and leaving minor children with spouses or other people in the USA among Mexican immigrants deported from the US interior in 2014–2018, and explore if this association varies by sex and year of deportation. We employ the deportees’ section of the Survey on Migration on Mexico's Northern Border. The results indicate that having left children in the USA considerably increases the likelihood of a plan to return to the USA, especially in the short term and when deportees left minor children with a spouse. Remigration plans were higher among women and slightly decreased over time among parents, suggesting a continued failure of policy to account for the family circumstances of immigrants.

In-Transit Migrants And Asylum Seekers: Inclusion Gaps In Mexico's COVID-19 Health Policy Response.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, as immigration and asylum processes were delayed or interrupted, migrants and asylum seekers were stranded at Mexico's northern border. In-transit migrants and asylum seekers are an underserved population, and pandemic preparedness has seldom taken their needs into account. In this article we analyze public health policies developed in Mexico in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and describe how these policies have largely overlooked the needs of vulnerable mobile populations. We reviewed eighty publicly available documents issued by federal, state, and municipal authorities in Mexico between January and September 2020. Only seven policy documents explicitly considered in-transit migrants and asylum seekers and their health care needs. In addition, we identified six major gaps in these policies that, if addressed, would promote greater inclusion of persons in mobility in future pandemic response plans, to protect the health of migrant populations.

Public policies against criminal assets in mexico: challenges and opportunities from the north border states

Given its vast border with the United States, Mexico is a strategic trade and economic development region, which creates significant challenges in combating crime and violence. In recent years, Mexico´s federal and state governments have focused their efforts on the development of strategies to combat and weaken the criminal structures operating in the country by using legal instruments such as seizure, abandonment, and extinction of domain. This study seeks to identify the challenges faced by the states of Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Sonora, and Tamaulipas in their efforts to combat crime through the collection of primary and secondary data and interviews with key actors. Mexico faces major challenges in the development of public policies to fortify the legal precepts of extinction of domain, in addition to fostering institutional links with the Financial and Patrimonial Intelligence Units of Mexico's northern Border States. There are few studies about subnational efforts for asset forfeiture as a policy instrument against criminal elements in developing countries. The Mexican case presents important subnational efforts to improve security strategies that may provide guidance for other subnational governments or regions that may be facing similar challenges or are pursuing parallel initiatives.

Traffic Noise Annoyance in the Population of North Mexico: Case Study on the Daytime Period in the City of Matamoros.

Aim: The presence of noise in urban environments is rarely considered a factor that causes damage to the environment. The primary generating source is transportation means, with vehicles being the ones that affect cities the most. Traffic noise has a particular influence on the quality of life of those who are exposed to it and can cause health alterations ranging from annoyance to cardiovascular diseases. This study aims to describe the relationship between the traffic noise level and the perceived annoyance in the inhabitants of a city on the Northern Border of Mexico. The work carried out in a city represents the vulnerability characteristics: economic, social, and migratory of its sizable portion of the inhabitants. Due to that, it is impossible to identify precisely the number of residents as the number of vehicles in circulation.Methods: The streets and avenues with an annual average daily traffic of more than 1,000 vehicles were considered for the measurement of traffic noise. The equipment used was a vehicle gauge with non-invasive speed radar; type I integrating sound level meters, with their respective gauges and tripods. A questionnaire was applied to people living within 250 m of the streets and avenues in which the noise was measured.Results: The noise measurement found a parameter of LAeq estimated for 12 h during the day, exceeding 70 dBA. The data received from the questionnaire were statistically tested by using Pearson's correlation tests. A total number of 2,350 people were participated, of whom 1,378 were women (58.6%) and 972 were men (41.4%). The age of participants is ranged from 18 to 75 years. The overall perception of traffic noise annoyance identified that 1,131 participants (48.1%) responded “Yes” as they considered the noise annoying. Participants who responded “No” as well as those who responded “Do not know” resulted in a total of 1,219 people (51.9%).Conclusion: The results show that the population is desensitized to traffic noise and does not perceive it as an annoyance. The flow of vehicles and the type of vehicles are the significant factors for the propagation and increase in the traffic noise levels. Women present a considerable appreciation of traffic noise perception instead of younger people who demonstrate a higher tolerance to high-level exposure. This reflects the lack of information of the population around the noise problem and its effects.