Date of Award

Spring 5-16-2026

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Advisor(s)

Dr. Carey Kasten

Second Advisor

Sarah P. Lockhart, Ph.D.

Abstract

This thesis examines migrant mobility across northeastern Mexico as a process shaped by organized crime and necropolitical violence, with a focus on the evolution of Los Zetas and their successor, Cartel del Noreste [CDN]. Based on Achille Mbembe's concept of necropolitics, along with Sayak Valencia's theory of gore capitalism and Melissa W. Wright's notion of disposable bodies, this paper identifies cartel-controlled border regions as necropolitical spaces where migrants are exposed to death and exploitation. Using a qualitative, testimony-based methodology, this paper incorporates three first-person family narratives of border crossing alongside documented cases of mass violence in Tamaulipas and Coahuila, including San Fernando, Allende, and Camargo. These cases are examined in relation to structural organizational changes following the arrests of Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales ("Z-40") and Omar Treviño Morales ("Z-42"). This paper contends that violence against migrants is not incidental; it is structured, and it is an intentional mechanism of economic extraction, territorial regulation, and governance. This thesis signals the border as a death-world where mobility is regulated under constant threat, challenging existing narratives that define migration as linear by placing migrant testimonies within larger systems of cartel power.

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