Coyotes, Caravans, and Connectivity: Digital Practices among Honduran Irregular Migrants

As with irregular migrants elsewhere, Hondurans seeking to cross the border into the United States use digital technologies, particularly mobile phones. Based on participant observation and semi-structured interviews in Honduras with 26 irregular migrants, we explore how they relate to digital devices at the onset of their journey and throughout. Contrary to studies on migrants’ experiences at or near their desired destination, we find that participants strongly prefer to use mobile phones to the extent allowed by their modes of migration – specifically, travel with human smugglers called coyotes, with caravans, or on their own. Irregular migrants encounter dangerous threats along their path, which they fear could be heightened by mobile phones. Nevertheless, despite their concerns, we find that their adaptive strategies are irrelevant or ineffective in preventing deportation and extortion. These findings lead to recommendations that consider a broader digital ecology beyond personal devices to support migrants’ needs and dispel misinformation about the dangers of device access.