In their report, Migrant Kidnapping in Mexico: Regional Differences, Stephanie Leutert, Director of the Mexico Security Initiative, and Caitlyn Yates, research coordinator at IBI Consultants and the National Defense University, present data they collected on migrant kidnappings in Mexico. They cover 388 cases that include 8000 victims and 451 individual kidnappers. The authors separate the data set into four different regions: the southern border, northeastern border, northwestern border, and the Yucatan peninsula.

Leutert and Yates present three policy recommendations based on their findings. The first is that the new Secretary of Public Security should create a public data repository of migrant crimes. Second, the federal police should launch a targeted awareness campaign on migrant kidnappings in border cities in Mexico’s northwestern region. Lastly, Mexico should focus law enforcement operations on migrant kidnapping hotspots and create inter-agency task forces in these areas.