This study identified risk factors for health and access to healthcare services of migrants during their journey across Mexico to the United States. Data were collected in shelters located in Monterrey, the largest city of northeastern Mexico, through a basic clinical examination and a survey completed by 75 migrants; 92% of them were undocumented Central Americans. During their transit, they are at a high risk of contracting, developing, and transmitting diseases. The need of working to survive affects health-seeking behavior and a constant fear of being traced keeps migrants away from public health services, which delays diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Negligent lifestyles, such as smoking, drinking (31.8% of men and 11.1% of women), and drug abuse (13% of men and 11% of women), were found. Regarding tuberculosis (TB), undocumented migrants are usually not screened, even though they come from countries with a high TB burden. Besides, they might be overexposed to TB because of their living conditions in overcrowded places with deficient hygiene, protection, and malnutrition (54.7% of the sample). Possible comorbidities like acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS; 4%) and diabetes (2.7%, but probably under-diagnosed) were referred. Migrants have little TB knowledge, which is independent of their level of education or a previous experience of deportation. About one-third of the migrants were totally unfamiliar with TB-related symptoms, while 36% had correct knowledge of basic TB symptoms. We conclude that a shortage of information on the highly vulnerable migratory population combined with a lack of social support and health education among migrants may play a significant role in the spread of communicable diseases. We recommend that health authorities address this urgent, binational, public health concern, in order to prevent outbreaks of emerging infections.

Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) affects nearly a quarter of the global population. Public health interventions aimed at interrupting tuberculosis transmission do not routinely include systematic screening of migrant populations for LTBI in Mexico, nor other high-income countries. However, early detection and treatment of LTBI in immigrant populations from high-burden countries are recommended by the World Health Organization. The objective of this study was to determine the proportion of migrants with LTBI in shelters in northeastern Mexico. In this cross-sectional study, blood samples were obtained from 455 migrants living in shelters in northeastern Mexico during January 2017 to October 2019. LTBI was diagnosed using the QuantiFERON®-TB Gold Plus test. Most of the migrants evaluated in this study were from Honduras; ∼86% were male; the average age was 29 ± 10 years. LTBI was identified in 18.4% of those from Central America. Migrants from El Salvador and Nicaragua were more likely to have LTBI than those from Honduras or Guatemala. Overweight or obese persons and older persons had a higher prevalence of LTBI. We detected no significant differences with respect to LTBI when the results were compared based on gender, education, or marital status. The LTBI rates amongst migrants from Central America recently screened in shelters in northeastern Mexico appears to be relatively low given recent estimates of LTBI prevalence in Mexico.

How do advocacy organizations from the San Diego—Tijuana area contest and resist Trump’s immigration policies? What resources and tactics do they use to externalize their demands at the local and international levels? Based on semi-structured interviews with eight advocacy organizations—with a local, binational, and international presence—that have mobilized to externalize their demands on different local and international arenas, this research aims to answer these questions by applying the transnational advocacy networks literature to the mentioned case study. Our main findings show that transnational relations between advocacy organizations represent a counterbalance to Trump’s immigration policies. Some organizations have adapted to react to a set of new policies implemented by the administration, and, at the same time, they have diffused information, values, and ideas as part of their resistance tactics. Through transnational advocacy networks, local organizations have accomplished international relevance, turning into key players of advocacy in the region. These networks demonstrate that, despite Trump’s restricting immigration policies, transnational channels between these actors remain open for collective action.

This article explores the social construction of international migrants as a threat to public health and public safety in Mexico, specifically in the case of the Metropolitan Area of Monterrey, since relations within this new sense of “otherness” in this city cause issues for public health and citizen security as traditionally conceived. An in‐depth review of the secondary literature on citizen security and health security related to migration and of the Mexican legal framework was conducted, and public information requests were made to Mexican public agencies. If citizen and health security are complementary paradigms, migrants seem excluded from their application. Far from being considered holders of rights, they are primarily restricted in their exercise of rights because they are not “citizens.” These “newcomers” are perceived as “pathogenic agents” and “criminal illegal immigrants” rather than as deserving of these rights by the authorities, the media, and the majority population of Monterrey. These dynamics are likely to keep them not only on the fringes of “the city” but also in a very vulnerable position to fall victim to of all kinds of exploitation, resulting in a form of “management” of human mobility based on exclusion.

This article deals with cultural stereotypes toward Central American migrants in the Mexican healthcare system, which lead to the naturalization of the supposed cultural characteristics of these new users. Based on 21 interviews of health and administrative staff in the state of Nuevo Leon (northeastern Mexico), it shows the first recourse to culturalist explanations to describe any phenomenon related to migrants' health. According to this perspective, the health of migrants, their relation to illness, and their patterns of seeking healthcare would be mainly determined by characteristic cultural traits, which justify their penurious attendance at health centers, and their low adherence to treatments. The culturalist explanation of migrants' health behaviors may influence the care they receive, as well as their adherence to treatment, which ultimately reinforces the health inequalities initially highlighted. This culturalist excess is partly explained by the incorrect understanding of the directives of health authorities in favor of the integration of an intercultural perspective in healthcare. Despite some ongoing training in this area, it does not seem sufficient to correct this situation effectively.

Le Mexique est un point de passage obligé pour les migrants centraméricains en situation irrégulière qui tentent d’atteindre les États-Unis. En intégrant des contributions de la psychologie sociale et de la sociologie, notre étude exploratoire se concentre sur un sous-groupe extrêmement vulnérable de cette population. Nous avons mené dix entretiens en profondeur avec des migrants qui ont vécu le deuil d’un être cher du premier cercle familial pendant leur transit au Mexique. Après avoir analysé leurs stratégies d’adaptation au deuil et l’importance des réseaux de soutien social, nous avons observé une association entre le capital social des migrants et leur capacité de résilience. Ce travail fournit des informations qui peuvent servir de base pour de plus amples recherches liées au thème de la mort en contexte de mobilité.