Fifteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

As expressed lately by media in the West, and by other communication outlets all around the world, the number of migrants under the status of refugees, mostly arriving from Central America to Mexico on their way to the US, is steady and staggeringly high. Recent U.S. foreign policies in reference to immigration defy already established ruling by the international Human Rights Commission about the protection of refugees. The U.S. clearly exclusionary stance has impacted the acceptance and approval of those who seek a permanent status in the U.S. As exclusionary measures are enforced in the U.S, and its political pressure on the Mexican Government intensifies, the number of Central American detainees in Mexico also increases. At various centers of detention, conveniently named “albergues” in Spanish, some of these refugees have taken upon themselves the task of not only expressing their specific cultural baggage but to enhance and beautify the public and community physical space adjacent to the location where they are “on hold.” In this paper I explore first, the participation the refugees have on the community as they interact with it outside of the “albergue,” and what it seems to be shared. Second, I will also contemplate the possible impact of such interaction on those in detention as national exclusionary rulings seem to be the one common denominator.