ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the main transformations in the border policies in Mexico over the past decade. Due to its geopolitical position as a gateway between the United States (US) and the rest of Latin America, the management of borders in Mexico has traditionally followed a twofold logic of reactions to the developments of the US border policies and disinterest to control of the southern border. While this differentiated attention devoted to northern and southern borders essentially remains as a defining feature of Mexican border policies, important events are occurring in the North and Central America around the management of borders. In the north, the full implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has produced a selective redefinition of the US–Mexico border by opening the free circulation of goods and keeping restrictions on movement of people. At the same time, the number of Mexicans migrating to the US has decreased while the number of actions and resources of the US border to control the southern border has increased. In the south, Mexican border controls face limits to deal with the multiple problems derived from the spread of power of organized crime in Mexico and Central America affecting transit migrants.
