abstract

• 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 com-missions. 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 avail-able due to the secrecy surrounding this type of criminality. Migrants were seen as targets against whom extortion or human trafficking could be com-mitted. Despite this, Central Americans continue to immigrate in mass flows. © 2022, Universidad Autonoma de Baja California. All rights reserved.

publication date

• 2022-01-01

published in

• Estudios Fronterizos  Journal

keywords

• Central American migrants; drug cartels; Mexican drug war; migrant disappearances; victims of violence

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.21670/ref.2205089

PubMed ID

start page

end page

volume

• 23

issue