Latin American Migrants Research Articles

When leaders disappoint: rejection and denial of leadership roles in international politics

International leadership failure by states is an underdeveloped concept in International Relations. Existing approaches commonly equate leadership with hegemony, arguing that leadership success and failure are contingent on primacy or shared material interests among states. In this article, we introduce a role theoretical approach, which defines international leadership as a social role that emerges from shared expectations among states pertaining to leadership purpose, group cohesion and time horizon. Accordingly, leadership failure occurs when role expectations between states diverge and states are unable to generate commensurate role-taking via alter-casting. Four leader-follower constellations can be distinguished: leadership enactment, denial, rejection and vacuum. The paper utilizes this theoretical heuristic to understand two cases of leadership failure. The first case involves Brazil’s attempted leadership role in response to the Latin American migration crisis following the political crisis in Venezuela. The second case examines Indonesia’s attempted leadership role in the South China Sea dispute. The empirical findings contribute to existing work on hegemony and leadership in international relations theory by showing that leadership failure comes in different variants and these variants are contingent on shared role expectations and alter-casting capacity of states involved.

Technologies in Migration Processes: Mediation in Communication and Social Capital

Aim. This article presents an ethnographic exploration of technology use among migrants. The main question explored is how migration processes are mediated by communication between migrants and their support network, considering the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).
 Methods. Multi-situated and virtual ethnography have allowed researchers to access and obtain relevant discourse on the experiences, perceptions, and strategies of migrants in a non-invasive way.
 Results. In pre-digital contexts, support networks of friends and family provided sources of information in the development of migration projects. With the spread of technology, Facebook’s virtual communities are a means of facilitating migration strategies. Likewise, ICTs bring migrants and their families closer to the “there”, bolstering their bonding social capital and therefore their emotional well-being. Despite the language barriers, and the stereotypes and prejudices held by native-born residents, virtual social networks allow migrants to strengthen their bridging social capital, facilitating the integration of different Latin American migrant groups in the destination society.
 Conclusion. Today, ICTs have transformed migration strategies and expanded bonding social capital, allowing migrants to share common interests with their family setting, despite the distance. Limited interaction between migrants and native-born residents restricts bridging social capital, but the virtual sphere allows the Latin American diaspora to pursue common interests and overcome cultural barriers.

Children Crossing Borders: Latin American Migrant Childhoods ed. by Alejandra J. Josiowicz and Irasema Coronado (review)

Children Crossing Borders: Latin American Migrant Childhoods ed. by Alejandra J. Josiowicz and Irasema Coronado (review)

Characterization of Latin American migrants at risk for Trypanosoma cruzi infection in a non-endemic setting. Insights into initial evaluation of cardiac and digestive involvement.

Trypanosoma cruzi causes Chagas disease (CD), a potentially fatal disease characterized by cardiac disorders and digestive, neurological or mixed alterations. T. cruzi is transmitted to humans by the bite of triatomine vectors; both the parasite and disease are endemic in Latin America and the United States. In the last decades, population migration has changed the classic epidemiology of T. cruzi, contributing to its global spread to traditionally non-endemic countries. Screening is recommended for Latin American populations residing in non-endemic countries. The present study analyzes the epidemiological characteristics of 2,820 Latin American individuals who attended the International Health Service (IHS) of the Hospital Clinic de Barcelona between 2002 and 2019. The initial assessment of organ damage among positive cases of T. cruzi infection was analyzed, including the results of electrocardiogram (ECG), echocardiogram, barium enema and esophagogram. Among all the screened individuals attending the clinic, 2,441 (86.6%) were born in Bolivia and 1,993 (70.7%) were female. Of individuals, 1,517 (81.5%) reported previous exposure to the vector, which is a strong risk factor associated with T. cruzi infection; 1,382 individuals were positive for T. cruzi infection. The first evaluation of individuals with confirmed T. cruzi infection, showed 148 (17.1%) individuals with Chagasic cardiomyopathy, the main diagnostic method being an ECG and the right bundle branch block (RBBB) for the most frequent disorder; 16 (10.8%) individuals had a normal ECG and were diagnosed of Chagasic cardiomyopathy by echocardiogram. We still observe many Latin American individuals who were at risk of T. cruzi infection in highly endemic areas in their countries of origin, and who have not been previously tested for T. cruzi infection. In fact, even in Spain, a country with one of the highest proportion of diagnosis of Latin American populations, T. cruzi infection remains underdiagnosed. The screening of Latin American populations presenting with a similar profile as reported here should be promoted. ECG is considered necessary to assess Chagasic cardiomyopathy in positive individuals, but echocardiograms should also be considered as a diagnostic approach given that it can detect cardiac abnormalities when the ECG is normal.

Latin American migrants under the US New Political Economy: Public raids cost vs private sanctuary revival

This is a case study on migration management in the United States of America, according to the New Political Economy approach. Attention is paid to how Latin American immigrants are treated, given the change in public policies and their economic perception. There has been a shift from open-door immigration policies to raids and massive deportations, violating the founding principles of the United States and the key to its growth and development, since immigrants are not only a greater productive factor of work, but also bring knowledge, technologies and institutions that improve the competitiveness. Faced with this change in public powers, civil society has reacted, with a revitalization of the Sanctuary Movement. This study uses an explanatory methodology on the evolution of the academic disciplines and approaches dedicated to the research on religion-economics-migration relations, to focus its attention on the case study of the Sanctuary Movement.

Migration in Antofagasta: Living on a porous border as a strategy of resistance

Over the last 20 years, the constant increase in the influx of Latin American migrants to Antofagasta has entailed occupying the marginal spaces of the city. In view of this, this article looks at the spaces that they mainly inhabit, asking how they have managed to remain and live in these marginal spaces. The methodological approach is comparative and is structured from the narrative of the migrants themselves, analyzing urban configurations and territorial occupation processes. The main findings indicate that their living transforms marginal spaces into migrant places since, on one hand, they form boundaries between the divergent practices of the State and migrant living and, on the other, they define a condition of porosity, understood as a process of articulation, identity recovery, and demand for the right to inhabit the city. Consequently, living on a porous border is transformed into a strategy of resistance.

Laboratory diagnosis of Trypanosoma cruzi infection: a narrative review

Trypanosoma cruzi infection, currently endemic in 21 countries, is a public health problem not only in the Americas but also in countries with Latin American migrants. However, it is estimated that two-thirds of people with Chagas disease currently live in urban areas and that only 10% of them are aware of it. This review summarizes the most important aspects of the diagnosis of human T. cruzi infection by describing the following aspects of clinical laboratory diagnosis: the most widely used tests available in Latin America and those expected to improve access to diagnosis of the affected population with their implementation; the advantages, disadvantages, and sensitivity of the tests in the different phases of infection; and their usefulness in the acute or chronic phases of infection and in the context of immunosuppression. In this way, we hope to contribute to broadening the knowledge about this prevalent infection in the Americas.

Across the Pacific Divide: Latin American Experiences of Integration and Well-Being in Canada and Australia

ABSTRACT There has been a paucity of comparative research regarding social inclusion for the Latin American diaspora worldwide, and this is particularly the case for scholarly work that connects countries in the Americas with nations across the Pacific. Rather than recognise the growing number of Latin Americans who travel throughout the regions of the Pacific Rim, scholarship has remained heavily dominated by works relating to the Latin American population in the United States of America and Europe. In this paper, we shift the attention to Canada and Australia, where both countries increasingly interrogate what have historically been comparable models of multiculturalism and interculturalism. Drawing on data from more a survey of 1600 respondents, we argue that personal and social ties are key to cultivating positive post-migration subjective well-being. In so doing, we highlight the effects of subjective well-being and barriers to integration and belonging. We further illustrate the implications of the intersections of gender, class, and ethnicity in relation to migrants’ well-being and inclusion. Such research demonstrates the need for a better contextualised understanding of migrant inclusion, and for detailed analysis of the situated relationships that constitute Latin American migrant identities across the Pacific Rim.

Children Crossing Borders: Latin American Migrant Children. Edited by Alejandra J. Josiowicz and Irasema Coronado

Children Crossing Borders: Latin American Migrant Children is an important and welcomed contribution to the expanding studies of child migration. Through conscientious fieldwork and content analysis, the authors present ten chapters that center migration and borders and how these two concepts destabilize the lives of migrant and refugee children. The chapters discuss the social and cultural borders and disruptions experienced by migrant and refugee children as well as the lack of policies and solutions on the part of federal and state agencies and administrators. In their conclusions, the authors offer unique strategies of resilience and adaptability that work to mitigate the displacement and trauma experienced by the children. The book weaves together interdisciplinary, intersectional, and transnational approaches and provides an important contribution to Migration, Border and Borderland Studies. Throughout the book, borders are approached as dynamic concepts, as central sites of political, social, and cultural power struggles (p. 11). Part I focuses on the educational experiences of both migrant children who are U.S. citizens repatriated to their parent’s home countries and children from Latin America now living in the United States. For many of these children, educational experiences are defined by linguistic borders that lead to social, cultural, and educational disruptions and which force the children to reimagine their identities along transnational lines. Part II focuses on how literature, art, and culture can be used to present and explain borders as physical and symbolic spaces that destabilize the lives of migrant and refugee children. Until recently, these children were invisible or erased by racist, xenophobic, or imperialistic stereotypes. Through resilient forms of children’s and young adult literature, art projects that center walls as obstacles to mobility, and teaching approaches using testimonials, the authors address ways to combat racism and xenophobia while helping the children confront and challenge the very borders they are crossing. Part III deals with the best interests of migrant and refugee children, or lack thereof, and provides analysis of legislation, policies, and the global labor markets that never consider the best interest of the child. The chapters describe the structural traumas inflicted on the children when their best interests are excluded. Subsequently, the authors provide policy recommendations that aim to correct these omissions.

‘Memories I want to remember, memories I want to forget’: Desire-centred Memory Work with Latin American Migrants in Australia

ABSTRACT Latin American migration to Australia spans over five decades. Despite growing Latin American diasporas in Australia, little is known in public imaginaries about the difficult histories, desires and struggles that have shaped those who fled their countries due to conflict and dictatorships. This article draws from fifteen in-depth interviews with Spanish-speaking migrants from post-conflict and dictatorial Latin America living in Australia. Engaging with decolonial knowledge and scholarship in Latin American memory studies, the article argues for desire-centred memory work in which trauma, damage and deficit narratives are decentred. Through theorising with ambiguity and participants’ voices, I reveal the potential of taking seriously everyday memories of joy, care, and desire to unsettle and nuance normative understandings of difficult histories, including Latin American migration to Australia. In doing so, I also emphasise the importance of engaging with people as epistemic subjects who are doing the difficult memory work by choosing how, when, and where to narrate and share their stories. Ultimately, this article contributes to decolonial, feminist and Southern epistemologies and understandings of memory in the wake of violence that are desire-based (Tuck, E., 2009. Suspending Damage: A Letter to Communities. Harvard Educational Review, 79 (3), 409–427) and transformative.

“A Mass Exodus in Rebellion” – The Migrant Caravans: A View from the Eyes of Honduran Journalist Inmer Gerardo Chévez

This article analyzes the migrant caravans as a strategy of resistance to the war against migrants in transit to the United States, exacerbated during the pandemic. This is the edited transcript of an interview conducted with Honduran journalist Inmer Gerardo Chevez, correspondent of Radio Progreso. Having travelled the Central American and Mexican routes accompanying on foot the transit of thousands of migrants since 2018, Chevez is a notable eyewitness and expert in situ of the Caravans. The interview confirms that the caravan has become one of the premier forms in which Latin American migrants, including agricultural workers, struggle and their spatial dispute with the heterogeneous border control regime of the Americas are materialized. The text also reflects on the role that photography and critical journalism can play in the face of the contemporary anti-migrant policy turn. We conclude with an interpretation of the effects that the militarized violence against Latin American migrants in transit to the United States is having across the region.

CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 Genes Associated with Tricontinental and Latin American Ancestry of Pe-ruvians.

Precision medicine seeks to individualize the dose from the beginning of phar-macological therapy based on the characteristics of each patient, genes involved in the metabolic phenotype, ethnicity or miscegenation, with the purpose to minimize adverse effects and optimize drug efficacy. The objective was to re-view studies that describe the association of the CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 genes with the tricontinental and Latin American ancestry of Peruvians. A biblio-graphic search was carried out in PubMed/Medline and SciELO, with various descriptors in Spanish and English. The results of this review confirm that the ethnic origin of Peruvians is triconti-nental due to European (mainly Spanish), African and Asian migration, in addi-tion to Latin American migration, being 60.2% mixed, 25.8% Amerindian, 5.9% white, 3.6% African descent, 1.2% Chinese and Japanese descent, and 3.3% unspecified. Studies on CYP2C19*3, CYP2D6*2, *3 and *6 have been reported in Peruvians, and the frequency is similar to that studied in Ecuadori-ans and Colombians. The CYP2C19*3, CYP2D6*3, and CYP2D6*6 alleles found in Peruvians are common in Europeans, Africans, and Asians; while CYP2D6*4 in Africans and CYP2D6*2 related to Asians. In some studies, the ethnic/gene association has not been demonstrated; while others have shown a significant association, which is why further investigation is warranted. It is concluded that the studies on CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 genes associated with the tricontinental and Latin American ancestry of Peruvians are little, and ac-cording to what has been investigated, the CYP2C19*3, CYP2D6*2, *3, *4 and *6 alleles have more related to their ancestry.

Migrants as subject-citizens: Identity affirmation and domestic concealment among Venezuelans living in Santiago, Chile

Over the past decade, Chile has become an important destination for Latin American and Caribbean migrants. In 2022, more than 8% of the population residing in the country were of foreign origin. Since 2018, Venezuelans have been the largest immigrant group, making up 30% of all international migrants living in Chile. This article explores how Venezuelan migrants become citizen-subjects through their residential practices, that is, through actions that symbolically construct their inhabited spaces (neighborhood and housing). Understanding citizenship as a process that implies the ethical formation of the self as a construction of new forms of belonging and political membership, we show how the daily life of these migrants is traversed by tensions surrounding their identity: while in public space they openly affirm their identity as diasporic Venezuelans, in the domestic sphere they hide said identity to accommodate an ideal of citizenship inspired by notions of civility, compliance, and moderation.

A narration of x‐o.global: First steps towards the perversion of GPS in the tropical cartographies of Latin American migration

AbstractOver the last ten years, the democratization of smartphones has become a vital factor in closing the ties between mobile technologies and migratory flows that entail cultural integration processes. Official reports published by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) demonstrate how, for people in a context of mobility, smartphones represent not only an essential navigation tool, but also an almost sacred artifact providing emotional resilience to complete arduous journeys of forced displacement. x‐o.global recognizes and addresses this situation by proposing an alternative usage of smartphones and the Global Positioning System (GPS) through a geolocative platform that enables interactive spaces for auditory stimulation. By inserting GPS‐sensitive sound maps into sites offering humanitarian support across the Latin American migratory pathways, x‐o.global enables interactive experiences connecting virtuality with reality. As a project uprooting from the grounds of socially engaged and cross‐platform art‐making, x‐o.global's framework looks forward to instigating tropicalized processes capable of reprogramming global networks of technological control—such GPS—to overhaul the migratory crisis in The Americas.

Onward migration and onward precarity of Latin American labour migrants in postcrisis contexts in Europe

ABSTRACT The main aim of this paper is to shed light on the link between ‘onward migration’ and ‘onward precarity’ as an experience of continuous precariousness by paying attention to crisis/post-crisis contexts and how these contexts have led to precarity becoming structurally embedded in migrant labour markets in Europe. Onward migration studies have centrally focused on crisis contexts, but very little attention has been paid to post-crisis contexts. Thus, this article contributes to complementing the previous research on onward migration and onward precarity. The paper follows a qualitative and multi-sited approach based on in-depth interviews and discussion groups with Latin American migrants living in Madrid, Lisbon, and London. Our empirical analysis elucidates that labour mobility and onward migration are embedded in intersectional dynamics of exclusion which entail a continuous experience of multifaceted precarity.

Heterogeneity or consistency across life domains? An analysis of disparities between second-generation migrants and the Swedish majority population

Migrant integration is theoretically conceived as a multidimensional process where integration in one life domain does not necessarily imply integration in another domain. An expanding literature analyses several aspects of the lives of migrants and their children. However, to date research has mainly assessed how attainment in one life domain influences attainment in another domain. This study analyses the extent to which attainment across multiple life domains–socioeconomic, social and residential–coincides among second-generation migrants. Using Swedish register data, we compare 10,450 children of migrants from six regions of origin, who were aged 30-40 in 2015, to individuals born in Sweden with two Swedish-born parents. Multigenerational linkages moreover allow us to control for parental socioeconomic status as well as residential characteristics when growing up. Our analyses reveal considerable disparities in social and residential outcomes between second-generation migrants and the Swedish majority group, as well as across origin groups. Differences in socioeconomic attainment are comparatively small once we account for parental characteristics and residential background. Second-generation Turkish and Middle Eastern migrants differ in terms of their social and residential outcomes when compared to the Swedish majority group, but have commensurate socioeconomic attainment. In contrast, we find overall consistency across domains for Polish, ex-Yugoslav and Latin American second-generation migrants. Our findings underline the importance of studying outcomes in multiple domains in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the life situation of second-generation migrants. • We find asymmetries across life domains for some second-generation migrant groups. • Social and residential outcomes are lower among Turkish and Middle Eastern migrants. • Socioeconomic outcomes are lower among Latin American and Finnish migrants. • We find overall consistency across domains among Polish and ex-Yugoslav migrants. • We also find evidence of heterogeneity across outcomes within single life domains.

US Immigration from Latin America in Historical Perspective

The share of US residents who were born in Latin America and the Caribbean plateaued recently, after a half century of rapid growth. Our review of the evidence on the US immigration wave from the region suggests that it bears many similarities to the major immigration waves of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, that the demographic and economic forces behind Latin American migrant inflows appear to have weakened across most sending countries, and that a continued slowdown of immigration from Latin America post-pandemic has the potential to disrupt labor-intensive sectors in many US regional labor markets.

Knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and serological status related to Chagas disease among Latin American migrants in Germany: A cross-sectional study in six German cities.

Little is known about knowledge, attitudes and behaviors concerning Chagas disease (CD) among Latin American migrants in Germany to inform public health decision making. A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted between March 2014 and October 2019 among Latin American migrants in six cities in Germany to obtain information on migration history, socioeconomic and insurance status, knowledge about CD, potential risk factors for Trypanosoma cruzi infection, and willingness to donate blood ororgans. 168 participants completed the questionnaire. The four countries with the highest proportion of participants contributing to the study population were Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Ecuador. Before migrating to Europe, the majority of the study population resided in an urban setting in houses made of stone or concrete, had higher academic education and was integrated into the German healthcare and healthcare insurance system. The majority of all study participants were also willing to donate blood and organs and a quarter of them had donated blood previously. However, many participants lacked basic knowledge about symptoms and modes of transmission of Chagas disease. One out of 56 serologic tests (1.8%) performed was positive. The seropositive female participant born in Argentina had a negative PCR test and no signs of cardiac or other organ involvement. The study population does not reflect the population structure at risk for T. cruzi infection in endemic countries. Most participants had a low risk profile for infection with T. cruzi. Although the sample size was small and sampling was not representative of all persons at risk in Germany, the seroprevalence found was similar to studies previously conducted in Europe. As no systematic screening for T. cruzi in Latin American blood and organ donors as well as in women of child-bearing age of Latin American origin is implemented in Germany, a risk of occasional transmission of T. cruzi remains.

Social cohesion and attitudinal changes toward migration: A longitudinal perspective amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted social interactions and coexistence around the globe in dimensions that go far beyond health issues. In the case of the Global South, the pandemic has developed along with growing South-South migratory movements, becoming another key factor that might reinforce social conflict in increasingly multicultural areas as migrants have historically served as "scapegoats" for unexpected crises as a way to control and manage diversity. Chile is one of the main destination countries for migrants from the Latin American and Caribbean region, and COVID-19 outbreaks in migrant housing have intensified discrimination. In such a context, there is a need for understanding how the pandemic has potentially changed the way non-migrants perceive and interact with migrant neighbors. Drawing on the national social cohesion panel survey study ELSOC (2016-2021, N = 2,927) the aim is to analyze the changes in non-migrants' attitudes toward migrants-related to dimensions of social cohesion-over the last years and their relation with individual status and territorial factors. We argue that social cohesion in increasingly multicultural societies is partially threatened in times of crisis. The results indicate that after the pandemic, convivial attitudes toward Latin American migrants decreased. Chileans started perceiving them more negatively, particularly those respondents with lower educational levels and who live in increasingly multicultural neighborhoods with higher rates of migrant residents.

The divergent adolescent and adult transitions of Latin American undocumented minors

AbstractUndocumented immigrants arriving in the United States as minors navigate tremendous constraints as they transition into adolescence and adulthood. Exclusionary immigration laws profoundly shape and complicate the attainment of important milestones and the decisions undocumented minors make about their adult futures. A significant body of research, largely focused on children who arrive when they are 12 years old and younger, has examined the impact of legal exclusion on the coming‐of‐age experiences of undocumented minors. However, we know less about the experiences of teenage arrivals. In this article, we focus on young Latin American migrants and provide an overview of how legal exclusion contours undocumented minors' adolescent and adult transitions; we also call attention to the divergent experiences of youth who arrive during childhood and youth who arrive during adolescence. Throughout the article, we emphasize how the timing of immigration—the developmental stage when a young person migrates—creates meaningful differences in the barriers undocumented minors confront.