Helping Families Thrive in Mexico

Local integration is an essential part of a refugee’s journey. It allows them to rebuild their lives in safety, become self-sufficient and actively contribute with their host communities.

In 2019, USA for UNHCR supported the expansion of a local integration program in Mexico to relocate increasing numbers of refugees and asylum seekers from Central America and Venezuela who had arrived to the country’s southern states, where employment opportunities are scarce.

Over 50 private companies in Mexico joined the program, which resulted in the relocation and integration of more than 2,322 displaced families to dynamic cities in the north of the country, such as Saltillo, Guadalajara, Aguas Calientes, Tijuana, Queretaro and Monterrey. As part of the program, displaced families received vocational training, job and housing placement services, psychosocial and legal support, financial assistance and school enrollment for their children. This support, in turn, also had a positive impact in the local economy as displaced families raised more than $1M in taxes and fiscal contributions.