The Christian Science Monitor

The face of migration via Mexico

A man is detained by Border Patrol officials after breaching border fencing separating San Diego from Tijuana, Mexico, Sept. 26 in San Diego. The man, who said he was from Chiapas, Mexico, was detained by agents as they prepared for a news conference to announce that contractors have begun building eight prototypes of President Trump's proposed border wall with Mexico.

Individuals migrating from Central America and Mexico to the United States without legal documentation are nothing new, but in recent years the context around these journeys north has changed dramatically.

Q: Who is trying to make the journey to the US these days?

Mexican net migration has been falling for the past 15 years, and in 2015 hit the lowest levels in more than five decades. That’s due, in part, to slower population growth and an improved Mexican economy. But hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants and asylum-seekers still try to make their way to the US southern border in search of safety or opportunity each year.

Migrants and refugees fromlesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender migrants fleeing threats or persecution at home.

Q: What role is Mexico playing in halting migration north?Q: Are there destinations for Central American migrants other than the US? Q: What happened this summer, when 10 migrants died in a tractor-trailer incident? Q: Why are people migrating to the US in the first place?

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