Central America & the Caribbean

The countries of Central America's Northern Triangle (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) have seen a significant number of their citizens migrate to the United States. Immigrants from the Caribbean represent half of all Black immigrants in the United States. As such, the ties between these countries and their diasporas have taken on new importance, as has the integration of these immigrants in their country of settlement. Research here explores the demographics, migration flows, human-capital development, interconnected policy realities, and outcomes for immigrants from Central America and the Caribbean. (For research specific to Mexico, see North America.)

A Haitian child looks over his mother's shoulder in Panama

Commentaries

Addressing the Next Displacement Crisis in the Making in the Americas

The next major displacement of people in the Americas is in the making, and it is going unnoticed. The response to the steady emigration from Haiti seen since a devastating 2010 earthquake has been largely haphazard and may not stand the test of new spikes as the country unravels further. This commentary suggests a way forward, based on a model used for the Venezuelan displacement crisis.

Migrants in the Darien Gap village of Canaan Membrillo, Panama.

Articles

How the Treacherous Darien Gap Became a Migration Crossroads of the Americas

Passage through the Darien Gap has transformed migration across the Americas. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken the incredibly perilous journey across the remote jungle between Colombia and Panama, risking exposure to hazardous terrain, criminal groups, and other dangers. As this article outlines, governments have struggled to respond to the growing movement, expected to top 500,000 crossings in 2023.

Two Haitian women stand in front of a mural in Mexico

Reports

Migration, Integration, and Diaspora Engagement in the Caribbean: A Policy Review

Although Caribbean migration is often discussed in terms of movement to North America and Europe, migration within the region has increased notably in recent years. With people on the move for work or study, to join family, and to seek safety from natural disasters or persecution, this mobility takes many forms. This report explores Caribbean migration trends and the policies and institutions put in place at national and regional levels to manage them.

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MPI en Español

MPI publishes its content most on point to migration policies, trends, and immigrant populations in Latin America and Spain in Spanish. You can access all of our Spanish-language content, including reports, commentaries, multimedia, and press releases, here, as well as sign up for updates when we publish Spanish-language content and learn more about our Latin America and Caribbean Migration Portal.

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Articles March 4, 2021 Violent Encounters and Social Status Shape the Conditions for Migrants Fleeing Civil War By Justin Schon	Multimedia March 2, 2021 Who Manages Climate Migration? Evolving Global Governance
Articles February 18, 2021 Climate Extremes, Food Insecurity, and Migration in Central America: A Complicated Nexus By Diego Pons	Multimedia February 5, 2021 The Many Possible Futures of Climate-Linked Migration
Policy Briefs February 2021 Rewiring Migrant Returns and Reintegration after the COVID-19 Shock By Camille Le Coz and Kathleen Newland	Reports December 2020 How Will International Migration Policy and Sustainable Development Affect Future Climate-Related Migration? By Robert McLeman
Reports December 2020 Construcción de un nuevo sistema migratorio regional: Redefiniendo la cooperación entre Estados Unidos con México y Centroamérica By Andrew Selee and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto	Reports November 2020 Building a New Regional Migration System: Redefining U.S. Cooperation with Mexico and Central America By Andrew Selee and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto

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Reports April 2012 A Demographic Profile of Black Caribbean Immigrants in the United States By Kevin J. A. Thomas	Books April 2012 Comment associer les diasporas au développement: Manuel a l’usage des decideurs et praticiens dans les pays d’origine et d’accueil By Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza and Kathleen Newland
Reports April 2012 Changing Demography and Circumstances for Young Black Children in African and Caribbean Immigrant Families By Donald J. Hernandez	Reports September 2011 Climate Change and Migration Dynamics By Kathleen Newland
Reports August 2011 U.S. Immigration Policy and Mexican/Central American Migration Flows: Then and Now By Marc R. Rosenblum and Kate Brick	Reports June 2011 Mexican and Central American Immigrants in the United States By Kate Brick, A.E. Challinor and Marc R. Rosenblum
Reports May 2011 Evolving Demographic and Human-Capital Trends in Mexico and Central America and Their Implications for Regional Migration By Aaron Terrazas, Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Marc R. Rosenblum	Reports November 2010 Voice After Exit: Diaspora Advocacy By Kathleen Newland

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Feature

August 16, 2016

Rebuilding Self and Country: Deportee Reintegration in Jamaica

More than 100 Jamaicans are deported on average each month from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, and are returned to a country grappling with high levels of crime and poverty. This article explores the constructive role that deported migrants, who are often socially stigmatized upon return, can play in rebuilding their lives while contributing to the larger project of national development in Jamaica.

Feature

July 7, 2016

When Outbreaks Go Global: Migration and Public Health in a Time of Zika

News of the Zika virus outbreak in Latin America has raised alarm bells, resulting in scattered calls for tighter restrictions on international entries to the United States. Evidence shows, however, that closing borders and restrictions on international travel tend to have little impact on the spread of infectious diseases. This feature article explores the linkages between public health and migration in the Americas.

Policy Beat

February 18, 2016

Increased Central American Migration to the United States May Prove an Enduring Phenomenon

The complex push and pull factors driving child and family migration from Central America to the United States have changed little since the 2014 crisis. Despite some fluctuation in arrival numbers, recent trends suggest the characteristics of an enduring phenomenon. This Policy Beat explores the latest developments in U.S. policy responses, including enforcement operations, development assistance, and family detention.

stjc nt ColombiaTumacoDisplacedCommunity Flickr

Feature

January 14, 2016

Protecting the Forcibly Displaced: Latin America’s Evolving Refugee and Asylum Framework

Signed more than 30 years ago, the Cartagena Declaration sought to address rising flows of refugees and establish regional solidarity in refugee protection in Latin America. This article explores the evolution of refugee and asylum policies in Latin America amid the long-running Colombian civil war, as well as the region's response to the current global refugee crisis.

Top Ten

December 14, 2015

Governments Increasingly Restrict Citizenship

Citizenship came under fire in new ways around the world in 2015, with attempts to both restrict who is eligible to become a citizen and who can be deprived of citizenship. Driven by fears of international terrorism, a number of countries proposed or passed legislation making it easier to narrow citizenship and broadening the range of offenses for which individuals can be stripped of their citizenship.

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Articles

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.

Reports

January 2024

Expanding Protection Options? Flexible Approaches to Status for Displaced Syrians, Venezuelans, and Ukrainians

The massive and rapid displacement of Syrians, Venezuelans, and Ukrainians presented neighboring countries with an impossible task: providing legal status and assistance, even though their asylum systems lacked the capacity to handle such a large influx. This report examines the costs and benefits of the flexible approaches taken to providing status in these three cases, identifying lessons for future crises.

Articles

November 16, 2023

Climate Migration 101: An Explainer

Is climate change a major driver of migration and displacement? From where are people leaving, and where are they going? This informative primer, a Climate Migration 101 of sorts, provides answers to basic questions about climate change and migration, starting with how and where climate change triggers human movement.

Articles

November 8, 2023

Haitian Immigrants in the United States

The United States is the world’s top destination for Haitian migrants, who in recent years have fled an array of disasters and crises. Compared to other immigrant groups in the United States, the nearly 731,000 Haitians are more likely to be naturalized citizens, arrive through family-based pathways, and work in the service industry, as this data-rich article details.

Articles

October 25, 2023

Can the Biden Immigration Playbook Be Effective for Managing Arrivals via Sea?

Amid the highest Caribbean maritime migration levels in a generation, the Biden administration is relying on a carrot-and-stick strategy it honed amid record unauthorized migration at the U.S.-Mexico border. The approach, combining limits on asylum, expanded legal pathways, and international enforcement partnerships, could be increasingly important if maritime migration rises, as this article explains.

Commentaries

October 2023

Addressing the Next Displacement Crisis in the Making in the Americas

Reports

October 2023

Un camino sinuoso hacia la integración: Regularización de migrantes venezolanos y perspectivas del mercado laboral

El desplazamiento de venezolanos ha llevado a países de toda América Latina y el Caribe a poner en marcha políticas y programas para registrar, regularizar y apoyar la integración de los venezolanos. Sin embargo, la medida en que la regularización ha ayudado a los venezolanos a encontrar trabajo ha variado de un país a otro, como se analiza en este informe.

Reports

October 2023

A Winding Path to Integration: Venezuelan Migrants’ Regularization and Labor Market Prospects

Venezuelan displacement has prompted countries across Latin America and the Caribbean to launch policies and programs to register, regularize, and support the integration of arriving Venezuelans. However, the extent to which regular status has helped Venezuelans find work has varied from country to country, as this report discusses.

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Central America & the Caribbean

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