Professor María López, Professor of Sociology in the School of Social Sciences and Professions, shares her views on the election’s potential impact on international relations
Date: 09 December 2024
Following Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election on 5 November, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum sent a reassuring message to her country that ‘there is nothing to worry about’. Sheinbaum sought to calm Mexicans' fears over Trump’s alarming campaign promises to increase punitive tariffs, use military force in Mexico to stem the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the US, and carry out the largest deportation of undocumented immigrants in US history, affecting some 11 million undocumented immigrants, around half of whom are believed to be Mexican. Detainees will be held in vast immigrant detention centres before being sent outside the US.
On the campaign trail, Trump also outlined plans to introduce a series of hardline security and trade measures, threatening to impose a 10% basic tariff on all imports and a 25% tariff on those from Mexico unless Sheinbaum’s government toughens measures to stop ‘the flood of criminals and drugs’. With Trump claiming that Mexico is invading the US, it is believed that once in power, he will resume efforts to build the border wall and force Mexico to renew the ‘Remain in Mexico’ programme, which obliges migrants seeking asylum in the US to spend the duration of the process south of the border, often at great risk.
Sheinbaum wants to preserve the close relationship between the US and Mexico at all costs, even if it means tightening immigration policies and further reducing the number of asylum seekers coming from Mexico.
The San Diego-Tijuana border crossing on the US-Mexico border is one of the busiest entry points for asylum seekers and undocumented migrants. Despite its reputation for insecurity and easy access to drugs and sex, thousands of asylum seekers from around the world come to Tijuana to meet with US authorities and cross the border using the CBP One App. The app was launched by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in 2020 for asylum seekers, but it is difficult to access and a source of misinformation and false expectations for asylum seekers. Many of those who never get an appointment will cross illegally; others will stay in the city indefinitely.
About the author
Professor María López, Professor of Sociology in the School of Social Sciences and Professions and Deputy Director of the Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre at London Metropolitan University.
In November, Professor María López led a team of five field researchers from the University of Baja California, Mexico, and the University of San Diego California, US. Following a busy schedule, they visited five migrant shelters and several government organisations on both sides of the border and heard from migrant women and advocates about migrant women's experiences and needs, and the challenges organisations face in supporting people.
Despite the challenges of fieldwork and exposure to highly sensitive information, the team gathered first-hand accounts of women's experiences of violence and fear, and how the lack of information and government resources, as well as changing bureaucracy on both sides of the border, created false expectations. Moreover, the team heard powerful stories of resilience and learned about the mechanisms women use to cope with adversity, protect themselves and continue their journey north. For many of our participants, the migration process is a transformative experience from which they emerge stronger.
This fieldwork is the third phase of the project Women on the run: Narrative of violence against women in transit through Mexico, led by Prof María López. The team is currently analysing the data and will soon present preliminary conclusions. Prof María López and her colleagues have published advances from this project in the Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies.
Professor María López, Professor of Sociology in the School of Social Sciences and Professions