Over the past two decades, Mexico has undergone a profound transformation from a country of emigration to one increasingly central in hemispheric migration governance, acting simultaneously as a transit and destination state. This paper examines the effectiveness of Mexico’s migration policy between 2000 and 2024 in reducing unauthorized transit migration while upholding humanitarian protection, with a particular focus on the political and diplomatic logics that have shaped its evolution. Drawing on a longitudinal framework and triangulating legal, institutional, and statistical data, the study identifies three key policy phases: weak institutional management (2000-2010), reformist duality under external pressure (2011-2018), and securitized crisis response (2019-2024). The findings suggest that while Mexico has expanded its enforcement capacities - driven largely by U.S. externalization strategies and domestic security imperatives - its humanitarian infrastructure remains structurally deficient and chronically under-resourced. The study reveals a persistent disjuncture between Mexico’s progressive legal framework and its coercive implementation practices, raising critical questions about the sovereignty, autonomy, and normative coherence of transit migration governance. The paper concludes by advocating for a shift from bilateral securitization to regional multilateral cooperation in order to reconcile migration control with human rights obligations.

Jiale Liu. Mexico’s Migration Policy (2000-2024): Balancing Enforcement and Humanitarian Protection in Transit Migration Governance. Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences (2025), Vol. 8, Issue 12: 1-7. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJHSS.2025.081201.

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