Stuck Seeking asylum. Between Border Externalization and Sanitary Containment

Abstract

In the Mexico-United States region, policies to control and deter irregular migratory movements have also reached asylum seekers who in recent years have been living in a limbo of immobility and lack of protection, now aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This article analyzes the implications of the MPP program, the refugee system in Mexico and the health crisis on people with international protection needs. The results show how the restrictions and slowdown of the asylum and refugee processes have generated different entrapment conditions, while the pandemic accentuated the immigration securitization approach around a risk that must be contained.

Keywords
refuge; asylum; migration policies; border externalization; Covid-19