Managing Migration through Foreign Aid in Mexico and Central America: The Role of U.S. Negative Conditionality on Mexico’s Migration Policies

The externalization of migration control to third countries through funding, particularly foreign aid, is a phenomenon that is not unique to the European Union. The United States has employed similar intervention logics in its provision of foreign aid to Mexico and Central America since at least the 1980s with domestic ramifications for receiving countries. This paper uses a historical analysis of policy documents and governmental reports to evaluate the impact of U.S. foreign aid from the 1980s until today on Mexico’s migration policy trajectory. First, it explores the transition from aid and technical assistance linked to geopolitical issues like countering narcotics and communism — with the secondary objective of deterring migration — to the more recent development aid approach that more explicitly attempts to address the "root causes" of migration. Then, it focuses on how U.S. negative conditionality - pioneered under the Clinton administration in 1995 - has shifted migration and asylum policies in Mexico, which, due to the country’s geographical position, has faced the greatest U.S. external pressure to keep migrants from crossing the U.S. Southern border. Ultimately, this paper explores how the U.S.’s use of negative conditionality and its linking of foreign aid to migration prevention in Mexico and Central America has contributed to a more securitized approach to migration in Mexico, with deleterious effects for migrants themselves.