Transit strategies of independent Central American adolescents migrants: coping with Vertical Border in Mexico

Abstract How do independent Central American adolescents migrants face transit through Mexico? How do they experience the Mexican vertical border context? In this paper the concept of vertical border tries to gather a double empirical expression: the Mexican State one, which refers to the immigration enforcement system spread throughout the country, and an unofficial vertical boundary, characterized by a set of risks and abuses committed against immigrants by different actors. From the perspective of Agency, and based on case studies of Guatemalans and Salvadorans adolescents, this article reveals the transit strategies of this immigrants in their attempt to overcome the obstacles enhanced by such boundary expressions.