E.g., 06/07/2026
E.g., 06/07/2026
Latin America and Caribbean Initiative

Latin America and Caribbean Initiative

MPI’s Latin America and Caribbean Initiative acts as a policy laboratory to develop evidence-based research and innovative, effective policy solutions for the migration challenges facing Latin America and the Caribbean.
A map showing Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean highlighted in teal
Once thought of primarily as a region of emigration, countries across Latin America and the Caribbean are confronting new and increasingly complex migration and humanitarian pressures, including the integration of millions of Venezuelan migrants and asylum seekers who have fled their country since 2014 and the management of regional migration flows across Central and North America.

The Initiative produces research, trends and policy analysis, and policy design; provides technical assistance; and organizes private convenings and public events to inform the decisions of policymakers, the private sector, civil society, and other stakeholders as they respond to evolving trends and policy developments.

Current focus areas include legal pathways, immigrant integration, migration and development, and regional cooperation on migration management.

Para leer las investigaciones de la Iniciativa en español, haga clic aquí.

Venezuelan migrants in Guayaquil, Ecuador

Featured

Facing a post-Maduro future for Venezuela, most of the nearly 8 million Venezuelans abroad are cautiously waiting, and many are likely to keep building lives in their host country. In this uncertain context, governments should prioritize sustained regularization and integration over returns, genuine regional coordination, and renewed financing, this short read argues.

Venezuelan migrants wait for processing in Brazil.
Articles

Rising Migration in Latin America and the Caribbean Has Ushered in a Volatile New Era

Amid unprecedented migration that began in 2010, Latin America and the Caribbean have entered a new era best defined by volatility. The success of initial policy responses to the displacement of millions of Venezuelans and other migration patterns has dimmed, given incomplete integration outcomes and other pressures. This article details these dynamics across the Caribbean and Central and South America.

Image of woman hugging young boy

Featured

Countries across the Americas are grappling with how to effectively manage migration. The aim is to facilitate movement in a way that benefits receiving societies, migrants, and their origin countries, while discouraging irregular arrivals. But creating legal pathways that represent real alternatives to irregular migration remains a challenge and will require concerted effort, as this report explores.

Recent Activity

Cover image for Key Considerations for Future Temporary Protection and Regularization Programs...
Reports
June 2025
Key Considerations for Future Temporary Protection and Regularization Programs in Latin America
By  Diego Chaves-González, María Jesús Mora, Ana Alanis and Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan
Cover image for Facing New Migration Realities...
Policy Briefs
May 2025
Facing New Migration Realities: U.S.-Mexico Relations and Shared Interests
By  Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Doris Meissner and Andrew Selee
Cover image for U.S. Legal Pathways for Mexican and Central American Immigrants
Fact Sheets
August 2024
U.S. Legal Pathways for Mexican and Central American Immigrants, by the Numbers
By  Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and Andrew Selee
Cover image for Building on Regular Pathways to Address Migration Pressures in the Americas
Reports
June 2024
Building on Regular Pathways to Address Migration Pressures in the Americas
By  María Jesús Mora, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and Andrew Selee
Cover image for Converging Crises
Reports
March 2024
Converging Crises: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in South America
By  Luisa Feline Freier, Andrea Kvietok and Leon Lucar Oba
Cover image for A Winding Path to Integration...
Reports
October 2023
A Winding Path to Integration: Venezuelan Migrants’ Regularization and Labor Market Prospects
By  Diego Chaves-González and Natalia Delgado
Cover image for Migration Narratives in Northern Central America
Reports
June 2023
Migration Narratives in Northern Central America: How Competing Stories Shape Policy and Public Opinion in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador
By  Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, Aaron Clark-Ginsberg, Alejandra Lopez and Alejandro Vélez Salas
Cover image for Betting on Legality
Reports
May 2023
Betting on Legality: Latin American and Caribbean Responses to the Venezuelan Displacement Crisis
By  Luciana Gandini and Andrew Selee
More
The Little Havana neighborhood of Miami.
Spotlight
November 12, 2025
Caribbean Immigrants in the United States

The United States is by far the top destination for international migrants from the Caribbean. Roughly one in ten U.S. immigrants was born in the Caribbean, coming chiefly from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, or Haiti. Compared to other foreign-born groups, these individuals are more likely to be naturalized U.S. citizens and to have arrived since 2010, as this article details.

Venezuelan migrants wait for processing in Brazil.
Feature
October 2, 2025
Rising Migration in Latin America and the Caribbean Has Ushered in a Volatile New Era

Amid unprecedented migration that began in 2010, Latin America and the Caribbean have entered a new era best defined by volatility. The success of initial policy responses to the displacement of millions of Venezuelans and other migration patterns has dimmed, given incomplete integration outcomes and other pressures. This article details these dynamics across the Caribbean and Central and South America.

Venezuelans crossing into Colombia.
Feature
April 30, 2025
Why Colombians’ Unease about Venezuelan Immigration Has Not Led to New Restrictions

While most Colombians say the influx of migrants from Venezuela over the past decade harms their country, this opinion does not necessarily lead to support for more immigration restrictions. As this article shows, attitudes are more nuanced, and many Colombians blame the government and employers for perceived harms resulting from immigration, rather than immigrants themselves.

President Joe Biden in Mexico City.
Policy Beat
March 27, 2024
The Limits of the Go-It-Alone Approach: U.S. Migration Management Increasingly Requires Other Countries’ Cooperation

The U.S. immigration enforcement system increasingly depends on other countries to help halt irregular movements through the Americas and accept the return of unauthorized migrants. Foreign governments play a crucial and yet underappreciated role in migration management, and can either aid or frustrate U.S. border-control aims, as this article explores.

A man with potatoes in Ecuador
Profile
October 18, 2023
Ecuador Juggles Rising Emigration and Challenges Accommodating Venezuelan Arrivals

Ecuador has emerged as a significant destination for Venezuelan migrants, and is also a sizable origin for people heading to the United States and Spain. The Andean nation has found itself enmeshed in the Americas' evolving mobility trends and has responded with a mix of policies that have produced some unforeseen outcomes. This country profile evaluates recent trends and puts them in historical context.

More
Graphic representation of law enforcement personnel taking individuals into custody
Explainers
February 2025

Explainer: ICE Arrests and Deportations from the U.S. Interior

Immigration enforcement takes place both at U.S. borders and in the nation’s interior. This explainer answers common questions about how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement works within the U.S. interior, identifying people for arrest, detention, and removal through the criminal justice pipeline as well as through operations at worksites and within U.S. communities.

Expert Q&A, Audio
May 18, 2026

America’s Closing Door: Where Do Cuban Migrants Go Now?

Cuba's collapsing economy and shrinking immigration pathways to the United States are redirecting Cuban migration flows across the Americas, as this World of Migration episode explores with María José Espinosa Carrillo, Executive Director of the Center for Engagement and Advocacy in the Americas (CEDA).

Book-On the Move: Rapidly Evolving Migration Trends and Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean
Video
September 8, 2025

En movimiento: Realidades migratorias en rápida transformación en América Latina y el Caribe

Esta conversación oportuna y provocadora sobre la migración en las Américas presenta los principales hallazgos de los autores, patrones sorprendentes y las urgentes preguntas de política pública que enfrenta hoy América Latina y el Caribe.  

Book-On the Move: Rapidly Evolving Migration Trends and Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean
Video, Audio
September 8, 2025

On the Move: Rapidly Evolving Migration Trends and Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean

This timely and thought-provoking conversation on migration in the Americas features discussion of the new book On the Move: Migration Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean, surprising patterns, and the urgent policy questions facing Latin America and the Caribbean today.

Small Islands, Big Challenges: Climate Change and Migration in the Caribbean
Expert Q&A, Audio
June 26, 2025

Small Islands, Big Challenges: Climate Change and Migration in the Caribbean

The small islands of the Caribbean are incredibly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Is that prompting greater migration and displacement? This episode of Changing Climate, Changing Migration speaks about these issues with migration expert Natalie Dietrich Jones.

Expert Q&A, Audio
June 27, 2023

A Mixed Welcome: Haitian Migration within the Caribbean

MPI Senior Policy Analyst Valerie Lacarte speaks with experts Bridget Wooding and Louby George about migration of Haitians to the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.

Pages

Recent Activity

Expert Q&A, Audio
May 18, 2026

America’s Closing Door: Where Do Cuban Migrants Go Now?

Cuba's collapsing economy and shrinking immigration pathways to the United States are redirecting Cuban migration flows across the Americas, as this World of Migration episode explores with María José Espinosa Carrillo, Executive Director of the Center for Engagement and Advocacy in the Americas (CEDA).

Short Reads
February 2026

Post-Maduro, a Measured Approach to Venezuelan Migration Is More Essential than Ever

Facing a post-Maduro future for Venezuela, most of the nearly 8 million Venezuelans abroad are cautiously waiting, and many are likely to keep building lives in their host country. In this uncertain context, governments should prioritize sustained regularization and integration over returns, genuine regional coordination, and renewed financing, this short read argues.

Short Reads
November 2025

Security Reforms in Ecuador Should Not Be the Last Word

Ecuador's reform of its law on human mobility imposes stricter immigration controls and speeds deportations, linking migration of Venezuelans to spiraling crime rates. Yet this linkage is not supported by the facts, and Ecuador should now move to a phase two in its policymaking: one focused on immigrant integration and development, this short read argues.  

Articles
November 12, 2025

Caribbean Immigrants in the United States

The United States is by far the top destination for international migrants from the Caribbean. Roughly one in ten U.S. immigrants was born in the Caribbean, coming chiefly from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, or Haiti. Compared to other foreign-born groups, these individuals are more likely to be naturalized U.S. citizens and to have arrived since 2010, as this article details.

Articles
October 2, 2025

Rising Migration in Latin America and the Caribbean Has Ushered in a Volatile New Era

Amid unprecedented migration that began in 2010, Latin America and the Caribbean have entered a new era best defined by volatility. The success of initial policy responses to the displacement of millions of Venezuelans and other migration patterns has dimmed, given incomplete integration outcomes and other pressures. This article details these dynamics across the Caribbean and Central and South America.

Video, Webinars
September 8, 2025

En movimiento: Realidades migratorias en rápida transformación en América Latina y el Caribe

Esta conversación oportuna y provocadora sobre la migración en las Américas presenta los principales hallazgos de los autores, patrones sorprendentes y las urgentes preguntas de política pública que enfrenta hoy América Latina y el Caribe.  

Video, Audio, Webinars
September 8, 2025

On the Move: Rapidly Evolving Migration Trends and Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean

This timely and thought-provoking conversation on migration in the Americas features discussion of the new book On the Move: Migration Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean, surprising patterns, and the urgent policy questions facing Latin America and the Caribbean today.

Expert Q&A, Audio
June 26, 2025

Small Islands, Big Challenges: Climate Change and Migration in the Caribbean

The small islands of the Caribbean are incredibly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Is that prompting greater migration and displacement? This episode of Changing Climate, Changing Migration speaks about these issues with migration expert Natalie Dietrich Jones.

More