Undergraduate Research & Scholarships

Sarai Castaneda Alvizar Social Science

Between Borders: U.S. immigration policies' impact on Tapachula's Haitian communities

Scholars Journal

Sarai’s research aims to explore how the United States’ immigration policies have contributed to the formation of Haitian immigrant communities in Tapachula, Mexico, and how this presence reshapes cultural and racial dynamics in the Mexico-Central America borderlands. The project focuses on examining how Tapachula functions as a temporary site of settlement through a transit city framework where migrants form communities, given the extended periods of time. It examines how Haitian migrants, as a predominantly Black population whose cultural practices and languages, such as Creole and French, challenge perceptions of Mexico as culturally homogeneous. By highlighting how Black diasporic cultures emerge in migration spaces, this research sheds light on the broader implications of U.S. policies beyond its border and how it reveals the racial geography of migration.