Abstract
In the last quarter of a century, in Mexico, immigration control and verification measures have notably increased, framed in arguments related to sovereignty and national security. Restrictive migration policies derived from this type of concerns have focused on the management of migratory flows, which has had different consequences, not only in the production of migratory irregularity but also in the obstacles that exist for migrants to document themselves in a safe way. In this context, in combination with poor infrastructure and inefficient bureaucracy, the documents that the Mexican Ministry of the Interior authorizes many migrants limit their access to work or mobility within the country. Likewise, the temporary immigration regularization programs that the Mexican government has offered do not produce more than precarious forms of legality that do not eliminate illegality, but rather blur the distinction between the two. Those who cannot achieve legal status through official channels have resorted to more "creative" solutions to be "legalized", what we call "illegal legality" in this article. We emphasize that being in this situation makes migrants more vulnerable. Based on the review of Mexican provisions related to immigration policy and the stories of Central American migrants who are established in Mexico, we focus on the analysis of the fuzzy boundary between legality and "illegality" of migration in Mexico and its consequences. in the living and working conditions of these migrants.
Keywords
illegality; precariousness; regularization; Mexico