Considerations for a New Research Agenda on Migration and Refugee Studies: Lessons from Studying Migration and Foreign Policies in Mexico

Abstract

Since 2000, Mexico has faced challenges in developing migration policies as it transformed from an emigration country into a country of return, transit, immigration, and forced internal displacement. With limited institutional capacities to address this complexity, Mexican policymakers transferred key policymaking powers to the foreign policy apparatus to bend to the Trump administration’s coercive demands that Mexico contain and deter migration. Based on an interdisciplinary study, we delineate a new research agenda relevant for migration and refugee studies, especially for cases in which the overlap between foreign and migration policy grows as countries deal with complex migration dynamics.