Serra Mingot, ‘Transforming Destinations’, 2025

E. Serra Mingot, ‘Transforming Destinations: The Impact of Integration Interventions on the Mobility Decisions of Displaced LGBTIQ+ Persons in Mexico’, Migraciones. Publicación Del Instituto Universitario De Estudios Sobre Migraciones, 67, 1-26

Abstract

This article explores the lived experiences of LGBTIQ+ forcibly displaced persons in (transit through) Mexico, examining how they decide whether to stay or move on, and how civil society organizations (CSOs) shape those decisions. Based on 15 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Mexico, this article analyzes three intertwined dimensions: the specific vulnerabilities shaping LGBTIQ+ migration; the role of CSOs in reshaping agency and future planning; and Mexico’s evolving role in the regional migration landscape. The article critiques deterrence-based migration governance and highlights the emotional and bureaucratic complexities LGBTIQ+ migrants face, caught between transnational border regimes and local systemic violence. Conceptually, it challenges traditional ideas of destination, intention, and agency in migration trajectories, framing Mexico as a site of “forced immobility,” where decisions emerge from structural coercion, not choice. The article challenges linear migration models and calls for inclusive, person-centered integration efforts rooted in resilience and belonging rather than deterrence.

Keywords: LGBTIQ+ displaced persons, transit migration, integration, Mexico, country of forced immobility