MPI’s Online Journal Launches New Series Examining Migration Trends, Policies in Central America, Mexico & U.S.

Special Issue Traces Region’s Interconnections; New Article Addresses Guatemala’s Immigration Challenges

WASHINGTON – The relationship between the United States, Mexico and Central America is shaped and defined in key ways by issues of migration. Thus, understanding migration and the deeper trends that fuel it is important to a more complete view of this increasingly interconnected region.

In a new, month-long special series, the Migration Policy Institute’s online journal, the Migration Information Source, is examining the migration histories of Mexico, the United States and the Northern Triangle region of Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras).

The special series, Regional Migration Perspectives: Trends, Patterns, and Policies in Central America, Mexico, and the U.S., is comprised of eight articles written by leading experts in the migration field. The articles cover the following topics: Country migration profiles of the United States, Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras; the role of the diaspora in El Salvador; health outcomes for Mexican immigrant women in the United States; and characteristics of Mexican and Central American immigrants in the United States.

In the newest article in the series released today, Guatemalan Migration in Times of Civil War and Post-War Challenges, researcher Susanne Jonas traces the development of large-scale Guatemalan migration to the United States during and after the country’s 36-year civil war. The article focuses on migration drivers and impacts on Guatemalan society, as well as regional migration dynamics. Jonas addresses the large-scale international migration that began during the civil war period and continues today as a response to Guatemala’s continued economic and social challenges.

Other articles in the special issue include:

• Mexican Immigrants in the United States: Over the past five decades, Mexicans have constituted the single largest group of immigrants to the United States. The most recent data show that the 1 1.7 million Mexican immigrants living in the United States in 2011 represent 29 percent of the overall immigrant population and close to 4 percent of total US population.
• Central American Immigrants in the United States: Since 1990, this immigrant group has nearly tripled, and was the fastest growing region-of-origin population from Latin America from 2000 to 2010.
• Beyond Remittances: Reframing Diaspora-Driven Development in El Salvador : Hometown associations — diaspora organizations that contribute to the development needs of their members’ hometowns — represent a modern-day venue for civil society participation. With a lengthy civil war having crushed opportunities for political or civic engagement, El Salvador relies on diaspora contributions to development in more ways than remittances and projects, by also transforming the governance landscape.

The special series will run through April, coinciding with the release of the final report of the Regional Migration Study Group, a high-level panel convened by the Migration Policy Institute and the Latin American Program/Mexico Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars that is co-chaired by former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez and former Guatemalan Vice President Eduardo Stein. The Study Group, which consists of two dozen former officials, civil society leaders, policy intellectuals and specialists in the United States, Mexico and the Northern Triangle, is studying how migration impacts the region’s long-term stability, prosperity and competitiveness.

A primary goal of the Study Group is to develop and promote a longer-term vision of how to build a stronger economic and social foundation for the countries in the region by enhancing their human-capital infrastructure through education and workforce development reforms, creating an engine for growth in each country and strengthening regional competitiveness.

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The Migration InformationSource (www.migrationinformation.org) provides fresh thought and authoritative data and global analysis of international migration and refugee trends. Subscribe to the Source’s free, bimonthly e-newsletter to receive new articles, subscriber-exclusive content and more.

he Migration Policy Institute (MPI) is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank in Washington, DC dedicated to analysis of the movement of people worldwide. MPI provides analysis, development and evaluation of migration and refugee policies at the local, national and international levels. For more on MPI, please visit www.migrationpolicy.org.