By Amnesty International

This briefing presents Amnesty International’s findings and observations from a week-long research trip to Tijuana, Mexico, in February 2025, whose purpose was to document the human rights impacts of changes to US migration and asylum policies since President Trump took office on 20 January 2025.1 In particular, it focuses on the end of applying for asylum at the US-Mexico border and the situation of asylum seekers in Mexico. This briefing does not provide detailed information about mass immigration arrests and detentions in the United States, nor an analysis of the discriminatory impacts of these measures. The cumulative effects and harms of the Trump administration’s punitive and discriminatory immigration and asylum measures are the subject of Amnesty International’s ongoing monitoring and analysis of the situation in the United States. During the trip to Tijuana, Amnesty International interviewed people seeking safety, met with legal, humanitarian and social service providers, local and international organizations, and visited shelters and spaces where migrants and asylum seekers are staying. The organization spoke with two Mexican men who had recently been deported from the United States to Mexico, as well as with 35 people seeking safety (almost half of whom were women) from Belarus, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Russia and Venezuela. Amnesty International interviewed local and international organizations operating in Tijuana including Al Otro Lado (AOL), Asylum Access México and Haitian Bridge Alliance. The organization also visited and spoke with those running migrant shelters, including Borderline Crisis Center, Casa de los Migrantes, Casa de los Pobres, El Rubi, Jardin de las Mariposas and Villa Haitiana. The interviews with Spanish-language speakers were conducted in Spanish, while interviews with non-Spanish speakers were conducted in English with interpretation assistance from staff of local organizations and other people seeking safety. Amnesty International requested meetings with the San Diego offices of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE declined the meeting request and CBP did not respond. The organization’s request to visit the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego was denied. Various individuals and organizations spoke to Amnesty International on the condition of anonymity. Their names have not been included in this report.  

London: Amnesty International, 2025. 24p.

By Abdihakim Hussein, Emily Nye

Forced migration is an increasingly common feature in international relations, and the mass migration of Venezuelans to Colombia provides an opportunity to analyze how strategic narratives can support a welcoming migration and integration policy. Because Colombia is a country with no history of immigration and no established anti-immigrant group, its experience provides unique insight into the impact and limitations of positive migration narratives. While Colombia's migration policy and humanitarian narrative have garnered praise internationally, this praise has not been matched by a sense of urgency for action, attention, or funding. Domestically, the policy response to mass Venezuelan migration has met international standards. Moreover, the country has experienced relatively little unrest compared to other host countries in Latin America. There is, however, ample evidence that Colombian perceptions of increased Venezuelan migration are negative and that tension and scapegoating are on the rise. Given these contradictions, this article reviews and discusses how and why Colombia's positive, humanitarian narratives have succeeded, as well as these narratives' limitations and need for adjustments. Together, these insights can help other host nations craft more effective and truthful migration strategic narratives.

Global Policy. 2024;15(Suppl. 3):83–92

By Katerina Glyniadaki, Nora Ratzmann, Julia Stier

International organizations and foreign-funded NGOs run campaigns in Senegal to raise awareness of the perils of irregular migration. To increase their effectiveness, these organizations often enlist local migrant returnees to share their personal migration experiences and transmit an anti-irregular migration message to their compatriots. This article examines whether policymakers' assumptions regarding the representativeness of migrant returnees operating as (anti-)migration messengers in terms of shared identities corresponds to reality at the street level. It draws from theories of street-level bureaucracy and representative bureaucracy and is based on 31 qualitative interviews with migrant returnees and experts. The study shows that migrant returnees engaged in migration information campaigns are not as representative of the local population as envisaged by policymakers, potentially impacting policy outcomes. They stand out from their compatriots in terms of skillsets and social status – partly because of the selection mechanism employed by organizations and partly because of the training and capacity-building efforts directed at migrant returnees.

International Migration. 2025;63:e13382.

By Paul Clewett, Julia Litzkow, Jennifer Vallentine

This paper examines smuggling dynamics and the related protection risks faced by refugees and migrants in the Western Balkans in 2024. It provides an overview of EU migration policy developments in the Western Balkans, focusing on the implementation of anti-smuggling measures. It examines shifts in smuggling routes and operations, and the experiences of people on the move under stricter migration management. The report also considers the potential impact which the implementation of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum may have on smuggling dynamics and the protection risks facing refugees and migrants in the region.

The research is based on 17 interviews with refugees and migrants, 24 key informant interviews, and a review of secondary sources. It provides an overview of changes as of mid-2024, following the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC) June 2023 study Western Balkans: Mixed Migration Trends and Dynamics.

It aims to directly contribute to identifying solutions in the Western Balkans, in particular regarding the Danish Refugee Council’s (DRC) work in protecting refugees and migrants in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

London/Denmark: Mixed Migration Centre, 2024. 23p.

Edited by Jakub Bijak

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License. It is free to read, download and share on Elgaronline.com. This unique book provides a practical and interdisciplinary blueprint for determining quantitative scenarios of future international migration. Focusing on complexity and uncertainty as the defining challenges of migration, it explores how scenario building can be used to inform and underpin effective migration policy and practice.

Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK • Northampton, MA, USA, 2024, 185p.

By Melanie Gower

There is a long history of cooperation between the UK and France over immigration controls at their shared borders. This has been formalised through a series of bilateral agreements, including the Sangatte Protocol (1991) and the Treaty of Le Touquet (2003). The latter allowed for France and the UK to carry out immigration controls in each other’s territories at seaports. The Sandhurst Treaty (2018) provided a legal framework for broader cooperation on border and migration issues. Early agreements addressed security around the Channel Tunnel and ferry terminals and preventing people crossing the border by hiding in vehicles. Since 2019 cooperation has focused on small boat crossings. Small boats have been the predominant recorded method of irregular arrival in the UK since 2020. The Home Office says 82 organised criminal gangs responsible for people smuggling by small boats have been “dismantled” since a Joint Intelligence Cell with France was established in July 2020. UK funding commitments Many border control agreements since 2014 have had associated funding commitments. The UK will provide €541 million (around £476 million at the time of the agreement) between 2023/24 and 2025/26, under a three-year deal made in March 2023. France is due to make an unspecified “substantial and continuing” contribution. How is the effectiveness of UK spending assessed? There is limited official information published about how the funding attached to successive agreements is spent and monitored. The government says France and the UK jointly assess the impact of cooperation and funding through regular strategic reviews. The government doesn’t publish details of review outcomes. It says doing so could undermine border security controls and the UK-France relationship.

Recent statistics The UK–France Joint Leaders’ Declaration issued in March 2023 included an agreement to increase the interception rate of boats crossing the English Channel and to “drastically reduce the number of crossings year on year”. Fewer people and boats were detected arriving in the UK in 2023 compared with 2022. The number of people intercepted and returned to France was also lower. • 36% fewer people were detected arriving by small boats in 2023 than in 2022. The Home Office says this is largely explained by a 93% reduction in Albanian nationals arriving by small boats 2023, which it attributes to recent partnership work between the UK and Albania. Arrivals of other nationalities reduced by 14% overall. • 46% fewer boats were detected arriving in the UK without permission in 2023 than in 2022, although the average number of people in each boat increased from 41 to 49. • France prevented fewer crossing attempts in 2023 than in 2022. The Home Office says this reflects the decline in the overall number of crossing attempts in 2023. Data for the first nine months of 2024 shows the number of people arriving in small boats (25,244) was slightly more than for the same period in 2023 (24,830). This is despite fewer boats (479) arriving in the first nine months of 2024 than over the same period in 2023 (506). More recent provisional data shows significantly more people and boats arrived in October and November 2024 compared to in 2023. The Home Office has cited weather conditions as a relevant factor. Topical issues Some stakeholders, including Border Force unions, some MPs, and migrants’ rights advocates, have criticised agreements between the UK and France for falling short of what they think is needed to address unauthorised border crossings. Their alternative suggestions have included powers for French law enforcement to arrest and detain intercepted migrants; powers for UK counterparts in France; and enhanced safe and legal routes for asylum seekers wishing to come to the UK. There have been reports of French police intervening more to prevent small boat departures since the 2023 UK-France funding agreement. Some commentators have linked the increased funding with an increase in migrant fatalities in 2024. Recent UK governments have wanted formal agreements with European states to return unauthorised migrants who travel to the UK. So far, the Labour government has prioritised practical cooperation with neighbouring countries over pursuing a formal returns agreement with the EU.

London: UK House of Commons Library, 2024. 31p.

By Jasmijn Slootjes and Ravenna Sohst

Across Europe, concerns about irregular migration have dominated media headlines and shaped recent elections. Discussions of and policymaking related to irregular migration are often a numbers game, fueled by the latest estimates of changing migration trends and migrant populations. Data on irregular migration also influence decision-making, advocacy, and strategic and operational planning of a wide range of governmental and nongovernmental actors.

But despite playing such important roles, data on irregular migration are often inadequate—either lacking altogether, uneven, or difficult to access. This has consequences for policymakers, service providers, and other stakeholders that would benefit from better access to reliable data.

This MPI Europe policy brief explores obstacles that hinder the effective collection and use of irregular migration data, how this affects policymakers and other actors, and potential avenues for strengthening the evidence base. This study, which is part of the Measuring Irregular Migration and Related Policies (MIrreM) project, draws on insights shared in workshops and interviews by policymakers, subject matter experts, NGO representatives, and other stakeholders.

Brussels: Migration Policy Institute - Europe, 2024. 18p.

By Margaret Monyani

North Africa is a focal point for global migration flows, making effective and humane management approaches vital.

North Africa’s role in global migration needs effective, humane management. This report examines Libya, Tunisia and Egypt’s migration policies, highlighting their impact on stability and migrant safety. It emphasises the need for stable governance, socio-economic development and international cooperation. The report offers recommendations for balanced approaches that address security as well as humanitarian needs.

Key findings Socio-economic instability is still a key driver of migration in North Africa. High unemployment pushes people to look for opportunities abroad, exacerbating migration flows. Regional migration dynamics are complicated by external influences. Policies in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt focus on restricting migration to Europe rather than supporting the African Union’s (AU) Free Movement Protocol, which limits opportunities for regional integration and economic development. Recommendations Libya should: Advocate for a shift in international initiatives from a focus on migration control to one that emphasises human rights, dignity and the protection of migrants, particularly within EU-funded programmes Adopt non-detention approaches for migrants, such as community-based care, regularisation pathways and access to legal support, to prioritise their rights and well-being Tunisia should: Develop a comprehensive national asylum policy that aligns with international standards to better protect asylum seekers and refugees Revisit bilateral agreements with European nations to align them with regional African migration aims, supporting the AU’s Free Movement Protocol Bolster legal and operational capacities to disrupt smuggling networks through investment in resources and law enforcement training Ongoing conflict in Libya has created a vacuum where militias and smuggling networks control migration routes, leading to severe human rights abuses in unofficial detention centres. Human rights violations against migrants are widespread in Libya, while Tunisia and Egypt face challenges in providing legal protection and basic services to migrants. Egypt should: Implement policy reforms that focus on enhancing economic opportunities to address the root causes of migration, particularly through job creation and economic stability Revise visa restrictions to reduce irregular migration and encourage safer migration pathways Strengthen legal frameworks to combat human trafficking and foster deeper regional cooperation The AU should: Accelerate the ratification of the Free Movement Protocol by addressing specific political and logistical barriers in North Africa, promoting intraregional mobility Develop a platform for real-time information exchange on migration trends, human trafficking and smuggling networks, enhancing evidencebased decision making and rapid responses Strengthen cooperation with the EU to ensure migration policies prioritise both security concerns and migrants’ rights

Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2024. 24p.

By Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas, Luis Argueta and Randy Capps

As U.S. deportations to Mexico continue at substantial levels and the numbers returned by both the U.S. and Mexican governments to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras are increasing, it has become more urgent for countries in the region to develop successful reception and reintegration programs that meet the diverse needs of returning migrants.

Between fiscal years 2012-18, the United States carried out approximately 1.8 million repatriations of Mexican migrants, and the United States and Mexico together accomplished 1.4 million returns of migrants from the three Northern Triangle countries.

Drawing on fieldwork and interviews with government officials, researchers, representatives of civil-society and international organizations, as well as returning migrants, this report highlights promising reintegration strategies and pressing challenges. Mexico and the three Northern Triangle countries exhibit different levels of capacity and degrees of implementation in their reception and reintegration programs. While most deported migrants now receive basic reception services, their access to reintegration services is somewhat more mixed. Among the challenges: Difficulty obtaining the official ID that allows returning migrants to access these services, limited awareness and geographic distribution of services, difficulty matching returning migrants’ skills with labor-market needs, and barriers to reintegration posed by social stigmatization and employment discrimination.

The report offers a range of recommendations to governments and others, including: Prepare migrants for reintegration prior to their return, even before deportation; issue primary ID documents from abroad or upon reception; and ensure reintegration services tap into returning migrants' cultural roots. Improving reception and reintegration services represents a long-term investment for both destination and origin countries, the authors conclude, holding the potential to reduce re-migration while enabling countries of origin to benefit from the skills and assets migrants have acquired abroad.

Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute, 2019. 43p.

By Andrew Selee, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Andrea Tanco, Luis Argueta and Jessica Bolter

The region that stretches from Panama northward to the United States is a major corridor for unauthorized migration. In recent years, most people on the move have come from Guatemala, Honduras, and, to a lesser extent, El Salvador. But there has also been an increasing number of migrants from outside the region who pass through Central America on their way to the U.S.-Mexico border. Amid these changing migration patterns, countries in this region have an unprecedented opportunity to work together to lay the foundation for a regional migration system that privileges safe, orderly, and legal movement.A critical first step to capitalizing on this opportunity is understanding these countries’ institutional capacities, legal frameworks, and migration and asylum policies. This report takes stock of these elements of migration-management systems in Mexico and Central America, drawing insights in part from interviews with more than 75 policymakers, civil-society leaders, and other stakeholders.

In recent years, the analysis finds, Mexico and Costa Rica have taken steps to leverage their existing migration institutions to improve operational capacity, though notable challenges remain. Meanwhile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama are at earlier stages in this process. Across the region, international organizations play an important role in supporting these efforts, while civil society is vital to expanding migrants’ access to protection mechanisms and reintegration supports. Among the major areas the report identifies as important for capacity-building efforts are: developing clear migration policymaking processes; professionalizing border and immigration enforcement efforts, with an emphasis on transparency and sensitivity to the circumstances of families, children, and other vulnerable migrants; and investing in asylum systems, protection mechanisms for people displaced within countries, and reintegration programs for returning migrants. Such efforts, the authors note, would not only help governments in the region more effectively address current migration issues, they also promise to better equip them to proactively respond to future challenges.

Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute, 2021. 65p.

Edited by Christian Larsen

This timely book explores how Northern European countries have sought to balance their welfare states with increased levels of migration from low-income countries outside the EU. Using case studies of the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden, leading scholars analyse the varying approaches to this so-called ‘progressive dilemma’.

Cheltenham, UK: Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2022. 228p.

By Alia Fakhry

Since 2015, European partners have funded interventions in the Sahel to help countries like Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali increase their capacity to regulate and control migration. Through these interventions, the European Union has set precedents and encouraged securitised policies that reinforce the security interests of governments in the Sahel, and undermine the capacity of regional and continental organisations to establish comprehensive migration frameworks.

Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies, 2023. 24p.

By United States Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations - Minority Report

INTRODUCTION The illegal migration crisis at the U.S. southern border presents a grave security threat to the United States and a humanitarian catastrophe for the vulnerable people involved. Illegal migration to the United States has reached astronomical levels since the Biden Administration entered office in January 2021.1 The sheer number of illegal migrants, combined with the evolving tactics that transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) employ to smuggle and traffic individuals, presents an untenable security and humanitarian situation. Weak U.S. border security and enforcement of immigration laws undermines U.S. efforts to improve the rule of law and humanitarian conditions in the region, takes a mental and physical toll on U.S. law enforcement personnel, and challenges their ability to defend our nation’s borders. The prevailing conditions benefit dangerous criminals and expose vulnerable populations to unspeakable dangers and abuse. The Biden Administration’s failure to secure our nation’s borders is worsening this crisis. Further, it undermines efforts to address inadequate law enforcement as well as asylum processing policies and capabilities in Mexico and the northern Central American countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. This report puts forward concrete ideas to: • Establish effective migration controls in the United States; • Strengthen border security and migration management capacities in the region; and • Target TCOs smuggling and trafficking migrants.

Washington, DC: The Committee, 2023. 56p.

By the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General

The report contains five recommendations aimed at improving management of, and conditions in, CBP short-term holding facilities in the El Paso area of western Texas and New Mexico. Your office concurred with all five recommendations. Based on information provided in your response to the draft report, we consider these recommendations open and resolved. Once your office has fully implemented the recommendations, please submit a formal closeout letter to us within 30 days so that we may close the recommendations. The memorandum should be accompanied by evidence of completion of agreed upon corrective actions and of the disposition of any monetary amounts.

Washington DC: DHS, 2023. 40p.

By John Ketcham and Daniel Di Martino

Since the summer of 2022, more than 70,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York City, stretching public resources to their limit. The massive influx has been particularly challenging given the city’s “right to shelter,” the result of a 1979 lawsuit, Callahan v. Carey, and corresponding consent decree, which required the city to provide immediate shelter to those who request it, regardless of the number of applicants or the availability of resources. In order to comply with this requirement, the city has housed some 40,000 migrants in shelters—which has led to an approximately 70% spike in the shelter population in a single year. NYC is currently supporting more than 170 emergency shelters and 10 additional large-scale humanitarian relief centers. Shelters and relief centers simply cannot house all the newly arrived migrants, which has forced the city to procure approximately 4,500 hotel rooms in unionized facilities, often through expensive contracts …

New York: Manhattan Institute, 2023. 19p.

By René Leyva-Flores , Cesar Infante , Juan Pablo Gutierrez , Frida Quintino-Perez , MariaJose Gómez-Saldivar , Cristian Torres-Robles

Objectives: The objectives of the study are to 1) estimate the burden of physical, sexual, and psychological violence among migrants in transit through Mexico to the US; and 2) examine the associations between experiencing violence and sociodemographic characteristics, migratory background, and health status in this vulnerable population.

Results: The overall prevalence of suffering from any form of violence was 29.4%. Nearly 24% reported physical violence, 19.5% experienced psychological violence, and approximately 2% reported sexual violence. TTTs experienced a significantly greater burden of violence compared to men and women. Violence occurred more frequently among migrants from Central America (30.6%) and other countries (40.0%) than it did among Mexican migrants (20.5%). Experiences involving sexual, physical and psychological violence as well as theft and even kidnapping were described by interviewees. Migrants mistrust the police, migration authorities, and armed forces, and therefore commonly refrain from revealing their experiences.

Conclusion: Migrants are subjected to a high level of violence while in transit to the US. Those traveling under irregular migratory conditions are targets of even greater violence, a condition exacerbated by gender inequality. Migrants transiting through Mexico from Central American and other countries undergo violence more frequently than do Mexican migrants. Protective measures are urgently needed to ensure the human rights of these populations.

PLoS One. . 2019 Aug 21;14(8):e0220775.

Edited by  Christiana Gregoriou

This open access edited collection examines representations of human trafficking in media ranging from British and Serbian newspapers, British and Scandinavian crime novels, and a documentary series, and questions the extent to which these portrayals reflect the realities of trafficking. It tackles the problematic tendency to under-report particular types of victim and forms of trafficking, and seeks to explore both dominant and marginalised points of view. The authors take a cross-disciplinary approach, utilising analytical tools from across the humanities and social sciences, including linguistics, literary and media studies, and cultural criminology. It will appeal to students, academics and policy-makers with an interest in human trafficking and its depiction in the modern day.

Cham:  Springer Nature, 2018. 160p.

Edited by Christine M. Jacobsen, Marry-Anne Karlsen and Shahram Khosravi  

"This edited volume approaches waiting both as a social phenomenon that proliferates in irregularised forms of migration and as an analytical perspective on migration processes and practices. Waiting as an analytical perspective offers new insights into the complex and shifting nature of processes of bordering, belonging, state power, exclusion and inclusion, and social relations in irregular migration. The chapters in this book address legal, bureaucratic, ethical, gendered, and affective dimensions of time and migration. A key concern is to develop more theoretically robust approaches to waiting in migration as constituted in and through multiple and relational temporalities. The chapters highlight how waiting is configured in specific legal, material, and socio-cultural situations, as well as how migrants encounter, incorporate, and resist temporal structures. This collection includes ethnographic and other empirically based material, as well as theorizing that cross-cut disciplinary boundaries. It will be relevant to scholars from anthropology and sociology, and others interested in temporalities, migration, borders, and power. 

New York: London: Routledge, 2021. 229p.

By Kevin Fredy Hinterberge

‘Combatting’ irregular migration is one of the key challenges to migration management at EU level. The present book addresses one of the most pressing structural problems regarding the EU’s return policy: the low return rate of irregularly staying migrants. In this regard the EU Return Directive obliges Member States to issue a return decision, yet only 40% of such decisions are enforced annually. Moreover, despite the political and legal efforts, the EU is not making any significant progress in enforcing the rules it has laid down in the Return Directive. The legislation of EU Member States may, however, serve as a source for possible solutions to ‘combat’ the problem of irregularly staying migrants. This is why the book compares the system of regularisations in Austria, Germany and Spain. Regularisations constitute an effective alternative to returns because they terminate the irregular residence of migrants, not through deportation, but rather by granting a right of residence. Regularisation is therefore understood as each legal decision that awards legal residency to irregularly staying migrants. As is shown by the examination and comparison of regularisations in Austria, Germany and Spain, differentiated systems of regularisation exist at national level. However, EU regularisations supplementing the present return policy would be more effective at ‘combatting’ irregular migration at EU level.

 Baden-Baden: Nomos; Hart Publishing, 2023. 398p.

By John Ketchamand Daniel Di Martino   
SSince the summer of 2022, more than 70,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York City, stretching public resources to their limit. The massive influx has been particularly challenging given the city’s “right to shelter,” the result of a 1979 lawsuit, Callahan v. Carey, and corresponding consent decree, which required the city to provide immediate shelter to those who request it, regardless of the number of applicants or the availability of resources. In order to comply with this requirement, the city has housed some 40,000 migrants in shelters—which has led to an approximately 70% spike in the shelter population in a single year. NYC is currently supporting more than 170 emergency shelters and 10 additional large-scale humanitarian relief centers.

Shelters and relief centers simply cannot house all the newly arrived migrants, which has forced the city to procure approximately 4,500 hotel rooms in unionized facilities,[1] often through expensive contracts that provide bonanzas to owners and the city’s hotel-worker unions. Most notably, on May 13, Mayor Eric Adams announced that the historic 1,025-room Roosevelt Hotel, located in the heart of Midtown East, would become New York City’s central migrant intake center,[2] at a reported cost of $225 million.[3] In addition to hosting hundreds of families and individuals on-site, the location will process all arriving asylum seekers and provide them with a range of city services, including government-issued ID cards, public-school and health-insurance enrollment, mental-health counseling, and more.

New York: Manhattan Institute, 2023. 19p.