Refugio o Rechazo? Mexican refugee claimants and ambiguities in Canadian Policy
Emily Shepard

Since 2005, Mexico has been the leading source of refugee claimants in Canada. The influx of Mexican claimants poses a significant challenge to the Canadian system; the nature of this migration exposes certain ambiguities in the refugee determination process. My research focuses on these ambiguities to illustrate how the determination process can discriminate against certain claimants based on nationality. While we assume that our policy is uniform, effective and apolitical, in reality it is subject to the pressures of individual biases and international relations. As a result, while it is easy for a Mexican to enter Canada because there is no visa requirement, it is difficult for a Mexican to obtain refugee status because of our one-sided image of the Mexican state and the Mexican migrant.

This analysis is rooted in three areas of original research: qualitative primary research based on interviews with refugee claimants and service providers in Toronto; surveys conducted at a Mexican university on students' perceptions of Canada and its migration policies; and quantitative statistical analysis of Mexican migration to Canada. I began this research in the May 2007, and it culminated with a presentation in June 2008 at the inaugural conference of the Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies at York University.
Dr. Judith Doyle of the Sociology Department supervised my research.