By Francisco Peyret
Given the increase in migratory flows in the world in 2000, the UN General Assembly proclaimed December 18 as International Migrants Day to promote the exchange of experiences and opportunities for collaboration among countries and regions in the face of the difficulties of international migration. This event aims to highlight the challenges, problems, and adversities faced by migrants worldwide and call on the world’s nations to contribute to making migration a safe, regular, and dignified process.
In the context of this commemoration and the importance of the migration issue for the State of Guanajuato, we talked to Susana Guerra, whose career in the migration issue dates back to 2000, when she was General Director of the Migration Office of the Government of the State of Guanajuato. She currently serves as Undersecretary of Hospitality and Interculturality under the newly created Secretariat of Migration and International Liaison, born as an initiative of Governor Diego Sinhue Rodríguez Vallejo. We addressed this issue not only because of the migratory population of the state’s original inhabitants but also because of the national and international migration to consider from different dimensions and considerations.
Undersecretary Guerra tells us that different types of migration in Guanajuato converge in origin, transit, destination, and return. Increasingly, the state has become one of the natural routes for migrants in their transit to the U.S. Central American people move across our state, mainly seeking to reach the North. These are agricultural laborers from different states of the country, mainly from Guerrero and Chiapas, who come to work in the Guanajuato countryside (about 5,000 people). Most of them are from a monolingual indigenous population, highly complex, and vulnerable regarding education and health. Finally, within the migrant population, we also count refugees or asylum seekers who are cared for and protected by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office.
Regarding migration of origin, Susana Guerra comments that our community has had a constant migration with the American Union for 100 years. Today, approximately 1-1/2 million people reside in and contribute significantly to their community of origin and destination. As a reference, the population of Guanajuato has about 6 million inhabitants.
The state government policies and programs have worked with the municipal governments, but mainly with national and international civil organizations, in managing the actions and resources to support the families that suffer from this migration phenomenon. Also included are situations in which women have a fundamental role. They are the ones who have reinvented themselves to play various parts within the family as providers, educators, and community leaders. In many cases, migrants form another family abroad and stop sending money back. That is where the social fabric begins to break down.
From the concurrence of economic, material, and human resources, the government and society build programs to address problems in communities in different sectors: health, education, public works, and the economy, among others. In addition to attending to Guanajuato communities, other projects also relate to community building abroad. Many organizations work to build social fabric in the country of destination and, from there, support their communities of origin.
In the conversation, we agreed with Susana Guerra that the issue of migratory mobility is constantly changing, and another critical phenomenon exists. Many foreigners, mostly Americans and Canadians, are coming to live in Mexico. It is no longer just ex-pats or business people working in industrial corridors. There are young families, with school-age children and digital nomads who find endless opportunities in our country and share a taste for our country and its culture.
Susana Guerra also adds that there are currently more than 20 international communities in Guanajuato, such as the Japanese, Germans, Ukrainians, Venezuelans, Colombians, Spaniards, Argentines, Salvadorans, etc., and the most numerous, the American community. Among other reasons and as a response to these new migratory phenomena, the state government proposed to transform the State Institute of Attention to the Guanajuato Migrants and their Families into the Secretariat of Migration and International Liaison to address the different types of migrants in Guanajuato. «It is the agency in charge of designing, proposing, coordinating, implementing, promoting, disseminating, and evaluating public policies on hospitality, interculturality, international liaison, and comprehensive care and respect for the rights of migrants, their families and their communities of origin, with the collaboration of the different actors in the process of social, economic, cultural, and political development of the State of Guanajuato,» commented Guerra.
To conclude, Undersecretary Guerra invited us to be attentive to the events to be organized starting December 15 to commemorate International Migrants Day with the celebration on December 16 Migrant Forum in the facilities of the Ex Congress in Guanajuato Capital. Academics, civil organizations, and social leaders will participate, reflecting on the subject and offering testimonies of groups and people who have had relevant experiences. Secondly, some 500 families will make up a caravan from Laredo, where social organizations and government agencies will participate to ensure a safe journey.
If you are a migrant in any modalities, there is contact information for the official to attend to your requests: Subida de San José 16, Mellado, 36249 Guanajuato, Gto. Telephone: 473 1027361, 473 459 9794. Toll-free in Mexico 01 800 215 4441. Toll-free from the U.S.: 1 888 597 2811.
