Analysis
Browse publications from our programs and news from our distinguished scholars
Asylum Processing at the U.S.-Mexico Border: May 2023
This May 2023 report provides an asylum processing update along the U.S.-Mexico border and focuses on the CBP One appointment process, asylum processing at ports of entry, waiting asylum seekers, and migrant shelters. Overall, asylum seekers continue to face unstable living conditions and security risks in Mexican border cities. Many shelters are full, a number…
Clandestine Migration and Migrant Smuggling in South Texas
The Strauss Center’s Central America and Mexico Policy Initiative (CAMPI) Director Stephanie Leutert, with Maureen Rendón, a 2022-23 Strauss Brumley Next Generation Fellow, have published a report on migration and migrant smuggling in South Texas. This report focuses on the time period from 2014 to 2022 and attempts to answer two broad questions. The first…
Asylum Processing at the U.S.-Mexico Border: February 2023
This February 2023 report provides an update to asylum processing along the U.S.-Mexico border by focusing on the CBP One appointment process, waiting asylum seekers, and migrant shelters. Overall, asylum seekers continue to face unstable living conditions and security risks in Mexican border cities. Many shelters are full, and along the border, a number of…
Asylum Processing at the U.S.-Mexico Border: November 2022
This November 2022 update includes numbers from both original asylum waitlists and Title 42 exception waitlists. In many cities, Title 42 exception waitlists have replaced the asylum waitlists that were closed or dissolved in March 2020, when Title 42 began. By including these Title 42 exception lists, this report aims to provide a more accurate…
Metering Update: August 2022
This report by the Strauss Center’s Central America and Mexico Policy Initiative provides an update on waitlists, asylum seekers, and migrant shelters along the U.S.-Mexico border. In a shift from past metering reports, this August 2022 update also includes numbers from Title 42 exception waitlists. In many cities, Title 42 exception waitlists have replaced the…
Metering Update: May 2022
This report by the Strauss Center’s Central America and Mexico Policy Initiative provides an update on waitlists, asylum seekers, and migrant shelters along the U.S.-Mexico border. It documents 27,135 individuals on waitlists in eight Mexican border cities. This is an approximately 6 percent decrease from February 2022, when there were 28,995 asylum seekers on the…
Lateral Expulsion Flights Along the Border
This Strauss Center and Kino Border Initiative report on lateral flights is the first publication tofocus exclusively on the population that was transferred out of South Texas. The report describes the Border Patrol’s lateral flights and bussing, highlights the transferred population’s demographics, and describes these individuals’ experiences during the expulsion process. It relies heavily on…
Metering Update: February 2022
This report provides an update on asylum waitlists, asylum seekers, and migrant shelters along the U.S.-Mexico border amid the suspension of CBP’s asylum processing since June 2018 and the Title 42 exemption processes that ended in August 2021. It documents approximately 28,995 asylum seekers on waitlists in eight Mexican border cities. This is an approximately…
Migrant Kidnappings in Nuevo Laredo: December 2021
This report by the Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas at Austin and Vecina focuses on migrant kidnappings in Nuevo Laredo due to the crime’s high frequency and its systematic nature. Migrant kidnappings are largely concentrated in a few sites around the city, and kidnappings follow a similar…