Abstract

MENDEZ-FIERROS, Hugo. Forced mobility and waiting territories. Stories of Haitian immigrants on the Mexico-United States border. Rev. Guillermo Ockham [online]. 2022, vol.20, n.1, pp.51-63.  Epub Apr 06, 2022. ISSN 1794-192X.  https://doi.org/10.21500/22563202.5614.

The objective of this work is to identify and interpret the elements that characterize the forced migration experienced by Haitians who arrived between 2016 and 2017 at the border between Mexico and the United States, as well as to review the most relevant opportunities and challenges presented during the waiting process and the appropriation of the new space. Based on twenty semi-structured interviews, life stories were analyzed around: 1) mobility and uprooting and 2) waiting and appropriation of the new space. The following were identified as causes of the Haitian forced mobility processes of the last decade: political instability and ungovernability, violence by the State and criminal gangs, extreme poverty, and natural disasters. Likewise, the experiences of forced mobility triggered emotional states such as fear, nostalgia, pride, and humiliation. The wait has given meaning not only to the space, but also to these people and to the ascription groups that find themselves in this situation, in which time has been suspended, for which the resignification of the border as a waiting territory has emerged. The appropriation of the border as a new temporary living space has had important implications for the identities of Haitian immigrants.

Keywords : forced mobility; waiting territory; identities; social emotions; appropriation of space; Haitian immigrants; border; life stories.

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