In Mexico, effective access to labor protection for migrants, both foreign and returning, faces various structural challenges. These include a lack of inter-institutional coordination mechanisms, a lack of specialized legal regulations, and a lack of access to information and services for people on the move within the country. While legal frameworks exist that recognize labor rights for all workers, regardless of their nationality, immigration status, or gender, in practice, barriers to their effective enforcement and guarantee persist.

Likewise, based on the protection work carried out by the IOM, various recurring needs faced by migrants in the workplace have been identified, both in formal and informal settings. These include the occurrence of work-related accidents, the absence of comprehensive response and follow-up mechanisms, widespread ignorance of labor rights and employers’ obligations, as well as dismissals without legal guarantees and lack of effective access to labor justice, regardless of the workers’ immigration status.

Therefore, this consultancy aims to strengthen the governance of labor migration and the protection of migrants’ labor rights in Mexico through the mapping, design, and implementation of institutional referral channels that allow for the identification and referral of potential cases of abuse, discrimination, or labor rights violations. This is based on the conceptual and methodological elements developed in the “Guide to Essential Elements for the Creation of Policies for Access to Labor Justice for Migrants in Mexico,” prepared by IOM Mexico, and with the objective of generating a comprehensive analysis in the states of Chihuahua and Jalisco, both individually and comparatively, to determine the existing mechanisms and resources available to migrant workers.

Additionally, it is a priority to develop mechanisms and/or tools that enable capacity building among key actors in the public, private, and civil society sectors in adopting these pathways with a cross-cutting, intersectional, and gender-sensitive approach. 

In this regard, this consultancy focuses on a territorial approach in strategic states where a high number of migrant populations with specific needs in this area are identified. 

Chihuahua, as a border state in northern Mexico, is geographically strategic for both transit and temporary or long-term stays, as well as for returning migrants seeking employment opportunities, particularly in specific sectors (manufacturing, agricultural work, informal commerce). However, it has been observed that certain activities often take place in informal labor situations, with precarious conditions and, consequently, high levels of vulnerability to labor exploitation. 

For its part, Jalisco has established itself as a host state for national and foreign migrants due to its dynamic nature and diversity, in addition to being an important point of return for Mexicans repatriated from the United States. Thus, the state has a growing institutional infrastructure for serving migrants, but it has not been able to establish clear pathways for labor protection, and greater inter-institutional coordination on labor, immigration, and rights issues is lacking. 

Therefore, through this consultancy, we intend to carry out diagnostics in these states to identify the existing mechanisms and gaps in access to labor protection for migrants, for which it will be necessary to design inter-institutional channeling routes adapted to the context of each entity, seeking that it can be presented to generate strength for officials, key organizations and even the private sector, in the identification and support of cases that may be susceptible to labor rights violations, where a result of technical recommendations is generated to strengthen the route in terms of labor protection considering the current migration context.

Labor Migration and Inclusion Unit

• Deliverable 1 – Document that integrates the general Work Plan on the Protection of Labor Rights (Labor Protection) for the preparation of an analysis in the target states, in order to determine the existing mechanisms and resources available for access to labor protection. 

1. Design a work plan (objectives, methodology, expected results, mapping of key stakeholders, detailed activity schedule)
2. Present methodological tools for institutional analysis and interviews with key stakeholders (questionnaires to be conducted, interview guides). 

• Deliverable 2 – Preliminary mapping of public, private and civil society institutions to be involved as part of the institutional referral route for attention on labor protection issues for people in the states of Chihuahua and Jalisco . 

• Deliverable 3 – Initial proposal for a state diagnosis for the State of Chihuahua that specifies: 

1. Mapping of existing labor protection mechanisms for migrants (existing programs, referral routes (if any), institutions involved, access to services, applicable regulations) 
2. Identification of challenges, barriers and areas of opportunity to provide care and/or access to labor protection for migrant workers
3. Identification of relevant actors 
4. Priority labor sectors by region 
5. Recommendations for preliminary actions. 

• Deliverable 4 – Initial proposal for a state diagnosis for the State of Jalisco that specifies: 

1. Mapping of existing labor protection mechanisms for migrants (existing programs, referral routes (if any), institutions involved, access to services, applicable regulations) 
2. Identification of challenges, barriers and areas of opportunity to provide care and/or access to labor protection for migrant workers
3. Identification of relevant actors 
4. Priority labor sectors by region 
5. Recommendations for preliminary actions.

Note: Both proposals should consider the findings derived from the “Guide to Essential Elements for Creating Policies on Access to Labor Justice for Migrants in Mexico” in order to delve deeper into the identified good practices and recommendations derived from them.

• Deliverable 5 – Preliminary design of the Interinstitutional Referral Route for labor protection of migrants in the State of Chihuahua:

1. Proposed flowchart with actors and responsibilities
2. IOM’s intervention on the Route (defining the level of involvement, proposing support for training, etc.)
3. Procedures for case identification, accompaniment, referral and follow-up. 
4. Supporting documents for the proposal (secondary sources, statistical reports, state and municipal budget reports). 

• Deliverable 6 – Preliminary design of the Interinstitutional Referral Route for labor protection for migrants in the State of Jalisco:

1. Proposed flowchart with actors and responsibilities
2. IOM’s intervention on the Route (defining the level of involvement, proposing support for training, etc.)
3. Procedures for case identification, accompaniment, referral and follow-up. 
4. Supporting documents for the proposal (secondary sources, statistical reports, state and municipal budget reports).

Note: Both roadmaps should consider the findings derived from the “Guide to Essential Elements for Creating Policies on Access to Labor Justice for Migrants in Mexico” in order to delve deeper into the identified good practices and recommendations derived from them.

Delivery date: January 15, 2026.

Percentage: 16.66

• Deliverable 7 – Final diagnostic document on labor protection mechanisms by state (2) (Chihuahua and Jalisco), with a strategic comparison of implementation. Expected structure:

1. Description of local, state and national contexts 
2. Applied methodology 
3. Development of existing mechanisms and available resources for migrant workers to access labor protection
4. Inclusion of challenges, good practices, areas of opportunity and recommendations
5. Comparative analysis between both states, with technical recommendations scaled to the national level.
6. Systematization of comments/findings derived from interviews with key stakeholders. Implementation proposals for IOM.

• Deliverable 8 – Institutional strengthening proposal that presents technical and operational recommendations for the implementation of the routes in each state and the consolidation of guidelines for collaboration among the institutions involved in the model, as well as the areas of collaboration with programmatic scope.

Delivery date: February 15, 2026.

Percentage: 16.66

Deliverable 9 – Final version of institutional referral pathways by state for dissemination and presentation to key stakeholders involved in the implementation and replicability of the pathway. This should include a flowchart of the pathway with stakeholders and responsibilities. 

Deliverable 10 – Preparation of a policy brief for both the diagnostic document and the institutional route to share with decision-makers.

Delivery date: March 15, 2026.

Percentage: 16.66

Deliverable 11 – Development of training session content (1 per state) for the operationalization of the labor protection route, including:

• Training model that considers the monitoring, identification, accompaniment and channeling of potential victims of labor abuse;
• Presentation of the diagnostic analysis;
• Presentation of the referral pathway; training and capacity building tools on labor protection for migrants in both states, with presentation of the diagnostic report analysis and referral pathway (Chihuahua and Jalisco);
• Facilitate and accompany the training sessions provided.

Deliverable 12 – Final report with all the activities developed during the consultancy.

Delivery date: April 15, 2026.

Percentage: 16.66

• Design work plan (objectives, expected results, activity schedule).
• Develop a state diagnostic report on labor protection for migrants for the State of Chihuahua, Mexico. 
• Develop a state diagnostic report on labor protection for migrants for the State of Jalisco, Mexico.
• Presentation of scalable technical proposals that propose actions applicable by State. 
• Design of an Interinstitutional Route for Referral of Labor Protection in the State of Chihuahua. 
• Design of an Interinstitutional Route for Referral of Labor Protection in the State of Jalisco.
• Presentation of an institutional coordination analysis that includes a mapping of key intervention actors with validation contained in the diagnosis. 
• Institutional strengthening proposal for analysis with relevance of the achievements obtained with the inclusion of intersectoral and gender approaches. 
• Proposal for training content for route operationalization.
• Report your activities.
• All those activities that are necessary to achieve the general objective.