Shelter on the Journey: Humanitarianism, Human Rights, and Migration [Hardcover]

Migration journeys are arduous, with migrants tormented by risk, abuse, threats, and xenophobia. Shelters, staffed by humanitarian workers and volunteers, provide safe spaces for those in transit.Shelter on the Journeyexamines how these sites, often faith-based civil society associations, create solidarity and help politicize migrants, giving them a sense of themselves as an empowered, rights-holding people.

Solano, who volunteered at shelters in Mexico, chronicles the activity in three of the nearly 100 shelters along a unique humanitarian trail that many Central Americans take to reach the United States. She outlines the constraints faced by these sites and their potential to create social transformation and considers how and why migration security is currently framed and managed as both a criminal and humanitarian issue.

Shelter on the Journeyexplores the politics of the shelters, their social world, and the dynamics of charity and solidarity, as well as the need for humanitarian assistance and advocacy for dignified and free transit migration.

Shelter on the Journeyexpands our understanding of the critical role that humanitarian actors play in shaping irregular migration through Mexico. The book contributes a rich examination of how efforts to 'dignify transit' work within but also subvert Western humanitarianism and state border securitization efforts. Law & Society Review

[A] valuable account of the shelter system that provides migrants who are in transit in Mexico with a place to sleep, a hot meal, and an oasis of care during otherwise challenging journeys.... [B]ased on impressive and challenging research....Shelter on the Journeyis valuable reading. Racial and Ethnic Studies

"Solano argues that the work of shelters in addressing the basic needs of migrants can imply support for their flight from economic precarity and personal danger; some l#§