Civil society organizations in high-immigration borders. Between humanitarianism and the defense of rights

Abstract The purpose of this article is analyzing the role of Civil Society Organizations (CSO) in places of high-immigration borders, such as the Mexico-United States and the Morocco-Spain borders, two of the most important migration corridors in the world. In these places, and under an increasing surveillance and militarization, CSO have for some time been carrying out work that constantly faces constraints imposed by state immigration and border control policies. The article is based on the results of the field work undertaken at the border city of Tijuana (Mexico) and the Autonomous Cities of Ceuta and Melilla (Spain). Our researches show how the actions of CSO in relation to immigrants in transit, deportees and refugees oscillate between humanitarian help and the defense of rights, even when flow control policies increasingly limit the work of the organizations - especially those that have a more critical stance.