When Internal Migration Fails: A Case Study of Central American Youth Who Relocate Internally Before Leaving Their Countries

Abstract

Executive Summary This paper examines the experiences of Central American youth who have attempted internal relocation before migrating internationally. Based on interviews and participant observation with Guatemalan, Honduran, and Salvadoran youth migrating through Mexico, this paper shows how youth from the Northern Countries of Central America turn to their domestic networks to escape labor exploitation and gang violence before undertaking international journeys. The paper further demonstrates how those domestic networks lead youth into contexts of poverty and violence similar to those they seek to escape, making their internal relocation a disappointment. The failure of their internal relocation attempts makes them turn to international migrant networks as their next option. This paper sheds light on the underexplored issue of internal migration among Central American youth and that migration's synergy with Central American youths’ migration to the United States. The paper finds that internal relocation is unsuccessful when the internal destination fails to resolve the issues from which youth are attempting to escape. This failure ultimately triggers their departure from their home country.

Trajectories of Forced Migration: Central American Migrants on Their Way Toward the USA

“…Recent ethnographic studies of transit migration in Mexico have also explored gendered violence (Mancillas López 2015), and distrust, violence, and insecurity on the migrant trail (Díaz de León 2021, 2023). Escamilla García (2021) visited 21 migrant shelters and interviewed 86 young Central Americans (between 11 and 21 years). He found that they primarily try to relocate within the borders of their country of origin before attempting the dangerous journey to the United States.…”