Immobilised flight in Tijuana: Mexican women forcibly displaced to the United States

Abstract

This article analyses living conditions in the border city of Tijuana (Mexico) for Mexican women forcibly displaced from their places of residence due to family violence and organised crime who intend to request asylum in the United States. The US manages asylum applications with a system of daily quotas that are too small to meet the demand. Hence, all asylum seekers are contained on the Mexican side of the border as they wait to submit their application, which can take over a year. For displaced Mexican women this hiatus in their escape leaves them in a liminal state at the border in terms of subsistence, security and mental health, and exposes them to re-victimisation. Since March 2020, this has been exacerbated by measures to combat COVID-19.

Keywords

• forced internal displacement
• borders
• violence against women
• immobility
• mexico
• tijuana