Practical Steps Towards Ending Child Immigration Detention in Mexico

In Mexico, all children who enter or remain in the country as irregular migrants are at risk of being deprived of their liberty and held in immigration detention centers ( esta­ciones migratorias).

The provision in the 2011 Migration Law to refer unaccompanied migrant children to the State child welfare in­stitution has proved complex in its imple­mentation. So much so that in 2015, 35,704 children and adolescents were detained for migration purposes.

However, that same year, in light of new leg­islation on the rights of all children, Mexican immigration authorities, the International De­tention Coalition, SOS Children’s Villages Mexico, and Covenant House Mexico formed a working group to jointly explore al­ternatives for unaccompanied migrant children.

This brochure details the outcomes of the pilot project.