Desert, Detention, and Deportation: Mexican Women's Descriptions of Migration Stressors and Sources of Strength

I analyzed interviews (n = 10) of women recently deported from the United States of America to Mexico, exploring what women experienced immediately after deportation. The women who were residing in a short-term shelter in Nogales, Mexico, described their greatest stressors and sources of strength. Women identified the border crossing experience, apprehension, detention, and family separation due to deportation as stressors. Sources of strength included God and family. Irregular migration is not unique between the United States and Mexico. Women migrate in search of work, education, and safety. I offer these women's stories as exemplars and this study as one to be replicated with women in other contexts across the globe.