Haitian Family Patterns of Migration to South Florida

Abstract

This paper analyzes Haitian families migrating to South Florida and demonstrates how the microsystem of the Haitian extended survives and reproduces itself within the problematic political-economic macrosystems into which it moves. The article traces the historic flow of Haitian migration from before Francois Duvalier came to power in 1958 when much of the migration was to northern cities such as New York Montreal and Chicago up to the most recent wave of immigration dating to Jean-Claude Duvaliers installation as President-For-Life in the early 1970s which was directed mostly toward South Florida. The Haitian is well-suited to move family fragments to new places. The study examines 7 histories. The authors stress 4 aspects for understanding the study: 1) Haitian movement may cover a lot of territory 2) the data bears witness to a process of movement 3) Haitian kinship is broadly based and 4) the study is restricted to the domestic household. The histories show that the Haitian extended is not a bounded household and can function as an extended network often extending over many locations and different countries. Nodes in the network can be single males or females or groups of people connected through affinal consanguineal or fictive ties. The network provides the setting in which Haitian beliefs about reciprocity and hard work for survival and betterment of oneself and ones work out in the daily life routines of survival in a new land. This paper demonstrates that the organization of the Haitian extended has made it possible for the people to survive and sometimes even prosper under harsh circumstances. Future studies and policy decision analyses on migration must not forget the micro-level of the family; policy makers concentrating solely on macro issues often forget human costs.