Migration Enforcement & access to asylum at Mexico’s southern border

This memo summarizes the recent situation of migration enforcement and access to asylum at Mexico’s southern border, including existing national-level policies and their impact on migrants and asylum seekers, and concludes with recommendations for U.S. policymakers. This report is based on first-hand information gathered from a civil society observation mission at the end of May 2019, in which participating organizations held meetings with governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders in the city of Tapachula along Mexico’s southern border, as well as updated research and reports shared by migrant rights organizations based in this region since then. The conditions outlined in this memo, including the severely limited capacity of Mexico’s national refugee agency (COMAR) to process and decide asylum claims and the dangerous conditions and lack of access to shelter and basic services at Mexico’s southern border, demonstrate the inability of Mexico to serve as a “Safe Third Country” where refugees can access safety and due process in their asylum claims.

Year: 2019

Author: Latin America Working Group Education Fund, KIND