The (Im)Possibilities Of The Politics Of Solidarity: Human Rights Defenders Discourse, Humanitarian Aid Dynamics and Transmigrants Experiences In Mexico's Transit Assistance-Based Places

Mexico has the most transited migratory corridor in the world. The complex migratory flows transiting the country—mainly Mexican, Central and South American—have historically been perceived as economic and male. Scholars have noted as problematic the categorisation of the ‘labour migrant’ as being exclusively voluntary. It has been demonstrated that framing agency through simplified understandings of ‘voluntary’ and ‘involuntary’ movement cannot easily capture the realities of movements along the Mexican corridor. Identification using legal categories such as “illegal” migrant end up demarcating and ‘invisiblising’ individuals eligible for protection. The securitisation of borders and criminalisation of migration throughout the 20^th century, led by the global north, has intensified and has added further fuel to the fire. Protection has still not been clearly delineated for the undocumented and seems to be eclipsed through the criminalisation of migration. Incidents such as death, rape, kidnappings and other types of abuse faced by transit migrants have opened up the debate among key human rights stakeholders on solidarity and protection. Human rights defenders have established shelters, humanitarian aid, led manifestations, caravans and campaigns ‘in solidarity’ with the migrant among other activities and services. These forms of solidarity have been predominately presented by human rights actors to the Mexican government through human rights and humanitarian visa appeals for migrants to transit the country. These appeals and other forms of emerging humanitarian aid dynamics are occurring outside the refugee protection regime. Also the majority of human rights defenders are non-state actors—albeit there is reliance on states for the implementation of human rights. The purpose of this paper—based on extensive qualitative research in transit-assistance based places—is to explore what kind of contribution the politics of solidarity has in (re)shaping the transmigrant subject; focusing on key human rights defenders discourse, humanitarian aid dynamics and transmigrants experiences.