Central American Migrant Caravans: A Case Study of US-Mexican Relations

Abstract: This essay is a study of the Central American migrant caravans that travelled through Mexico from 2018 to 2019 in order to reach the US. It aims to explain how the US influenced Mexico’s handling of the caravans and further explores how the people of the caravan were affected by Mexico’s migration policies. The essay uses Immanuel Wallerstein’s world-systems analysis to explain the unequal relationship between the US and their southern neighbor, Mexico. The method used was the case study methodology and newspapers, peer-reviewed academic articles and reports conducted by international agencies were analyzed using content analysis in order to reach reliable conclusions. The findings of this essay where that the US was able to use economic pressure to influence Mexico’s handling of the migrant caravans and that the resulting harsh deterrence policies implemented by Mexico, despite disbanding the caravans in the short term, will in fact exacerbate migration in the long term.