Sob a redoma da necropolítica e crimigração: uma perspectiva internacional e antropológica sobre a vida suspensa de imigrantes nas fronteiras mexicanas

Abstract

The figure of the immigrant is marked by stigmas that position them as the “Other”: someone perceived as different and foreign, and often deemed unworthy of a full life and fundamental rights. The profile of the Latin American immigrant—particularly those departing from the Mexican borders toward the United States, which is the focus of this study—highlights phenomena of control and domination that shape their journey through the borderlands. Immigrants are often cast as criminals and subjected to extreme violence, reinforcing their dehumanization. With this in mind, the present study proposes a theoretical and methodological analysis of the Mexico–U.S. immigration flow, based on the intersection of necropolitics—as a conceptual lens for understanding how the state exercises power over life and death by rendering certain bodies “disposable,” drawing a clear line between lives deemed valuable and those devalued by immigration and security policies—and crimmigration, a phenomenon proposed by Juliet Stumpf (2006). Crimmigration stems from the framing of the immigrant as a criminal, a subject to be detained at borders and deported, often with no regard for the ethics or dignity of human life. To exemplify the focus on Mexican border immigration, this study adopts the San Fernando massacre as a case study—an emblematic episode in Mexico that reveals how necropolitics and crimmigration can operate through brutality and the management of death. Thus, the analytical strategy of this study combines an international perspective on Mexico–U.S. immigration, emphasizing power dynamics and the migration and security policies that affect immigrants. Furthermore, it contributes to the socio-anthropological debate by examining social dynamics—such as mourning at the margins—and the perception of immigrants within processes of dehumanization. The methodology was developed through a literature review of academic articles and books, reports from international organizations, and news media that address the phenomena of necropolitics and crimmigration in relation to immigrants at the Mexican border