Migration in the Southern Border of Mexico from the Ethics of Liberation – An Analysis

Abstract

Introduction: Mexico's southern border is the main gateway of Central American migrants bound for the United States, exposing themselves to risks that have created a humanitarian crisis. Aims: To carry out an analysis of the ethical foundations related to the migratory movements of the southern border of Mexico. Study Design:  An observational, retrospective, cross-sectional, analytical and documentary study of mixed qualitative type was carried out using the hermeneutic-interpretative approach. Methodology: The study was developed in two stages and four phases (analytical, comprehensive, reconstructive, critical). The documentary analysis was made using philosophical research techniques. The theoretical posture included the liberation ethics proposed by Enrique Dussel. The variables of the study were: border conceptualization, humanitarian crisis and praxical solidarity. Statistical information included the period 2002 to 2014 and was obtained from the migratory statistics bulletins and the Survey of Migration of the Southern Border of Mexico. The information was recorded on an ad hoc data collection sheet. All analyses were done in simple percentages. Results: The results show a cyclical tendency in the return of migrants to their country of origin. Those from Honduras report the highest perception of risk. Survival risks are the most common. Accidents and injuries decreased during the period 2011 to 2013. In 2013, 4.8% of migrants reported being extorted and 8.1% attacked. The conditions of the transmigrants were highlighted. From the standpoint of liberation ethics, solidarity is analyzed as the encounter with the constituent transmigrant of being-in-the-world that comes from the otherness in the recognition of oneself and the plurality of the other; where the horizon of meaning is delimited by friendship, love, care and hospitality. Conclusion: The praxical solidarity represents a hermeneutic nucleus in the historical praxis of the exclusion, marginalization and segregation of the migrant.