Some Migrants Are Swapping Their American Dream for a Mexican One Laura Gottesdiener and Daina Beth Solomon - Reuters
go to original December 7, 2023

Walter Banegas, 28, originally from Honduras, works at the Pace Industries aluminum injection molding plant, his formal job after settling in Mexico as a refugee, in Saltillo, Mexico. (Daniel Becerril Acquire/Reuters)

Long known as a country of emigration and transit, Mexico in the last five years has become a destination for a small but growing number of refugees, attracted by a less restrictive asylum system than in the U.S. as well as plentiful jobs due to the country's labor shortage.

A decade ago, a few hundred people annually received asylum in Mexico. By 2021, the number rose to 27,000, according to Mexico's refugee agency. Mexico is on track this year to approve at least 20,000 asylum cases, with most of the arrivals from Honduras, Haiti, Venezuela, El Salvador and Cuba.

The vast majority of migrants who enter Mexico continue north toward the U.S., posing challenges for the Biden administration. The U.S. logged more than 700,000 individual asylum claims last year.

But the head of the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) in Mexico, Giovanni Lepri, said Mexico is becoming a "very solid option" for refugees, in part because of its high labor needs.

Mexico has more than one million job openings nationwide, according to business association Coparmex, and employers in the tourism, agricultural, transportation, and manufacturing industries often struggle to find workers.

Mexico is working with Guatemala's government to bring up to 20,000 workers to Mexico annually, with an aim of eventually expanding the program to Honduras and El Salvador.

Read the rest at Reuters

Related: As Mexico Receives a Record Number of Asylum Requests, IRC Warns That Food, Shelter and Protection Mechanisms Remain Critical Needs (International Rescue Committee)

Related: Groups of Migrants Steadily Gathering at the U.S.-Mexico Border (KTSM)

Related: Whistleblower Alleges Failures in Medical Care at U.S. Border Facilities (Washington Post)

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