Hanging on to hope in a Mexican migrant shelter: the empowering potential of Albergue Tochán

ABSTRACT This paper offers a case study of how staying in one Mexico City migrant shelter (albergue) helps refugee claimants from the northern countries of Central America to revise their plans and aspirations in light of the changing reality that has made it more difficult for them to reach the United States. Specifically, we investigate whether Albergue Tochán contains elements of an empowering setting in which claimants can gain some control over their lives as they wait for permission to stay in Mexico. The paper is based on interviews, participant observation and follow-up conversations with ten men, who, at the time of research in 2018–2019, were staying at Albergue Tochán (an all-men’s shelter) while awaiting decisions on their asylum cases. All of the men had intended to migrate to the United States, but, for a variety of reasons, ended their journeys in Mexico City. The paper demonstrates how the stay at Albergue Tochán stabilized the conditions of life for these men, at least temporarily. Through acquiring meaningful roles and relationships during their stay at the shelter, the men were empowered to the extent that they built agency, trust, skills, identity and hope.