E.g., 04/16/2024
E.g., 04/16/2024
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.

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.

A Venezuelan man holds a passport in front of a sign for Ecuador's regularization process

Featured

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.

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.

Recent Activity

coverthumb RMSG NursingQualifications
Reports
March 2015
Building Skills in North and Central America: Barriers and Policy Options toward Harmonizing Qualifications in Nursing
By  Victoria Rietig and Allison Squires
Cover Top10 8Mexico
Articles
December 10, 2014
Changing Landscape Prompts Mexico's Emergence as a Migration Manager
By Victoria Rietig and Rodrigo Dominguez Villegas
pozo cancilleria del ecuador_dia del migrante
Articles
November 24, 2014
Ecuador: From Mass Emigration to Return Migration?
By Brad D. Jokisch
FE LaBestia 2014
Articles
September 10, 2014
Central American Migrants and “La Bestia”: The Route, Dangers, and Government Responses
By Rodrigo Dominguez Villegas
EventPH 2014.03.20 Children on the Run An Analysis of First Hand Accounts from Children Fleeing Central America
Multimedia
March 12, 2014
Children on the Run: An Analysis of First-Hand Accounts from Children Fleeing Central America
EventPH 2014.2.14 Managing Borders in North America Charting the Future
Multimedia
February 7, 2014
Managing Borders in North America: Charting the Future
EVENT PH 2014.02.05 Thinking Regionally to Compete Globally A presentation in Guatemala on the Regional Migration Study Group
Multimedia
February 5, 2014
Thinking Regionally to Compete Globally- A presentation in Guatemala on the Regional Migration Study Group
MI_ThinkingRegionally_5613
Multimedia
May 6, 2013
Thinking Regionally to Compete Globally: A New View on Migration and Human Capital for the United States, Mexico, and Central America

Pages

The search yielded 0 results

Pages

Feature
April 1, 2006
Central Americans and Asylum Policy in the Reagan Era

Not long after the United States passed the 1980 Refugee Act, thousands of people began fleeing civil war in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Their treatment in the United States, linked to U.S. foreign policy, spurred the Sanctuary Movement and efforts to grant them refugee status, as Susan Gzesh of the University of Chicago explains.

Profile
February 1, 2006
Argentina: A New Era of Migration and Migration Policy

Despite skilled emigration outflows, Argentina consistently attracts new economic migrants from its neighbors in the southern cone of Latin America. Maia Jachimowicz of Princeton University reports.

co map2
Profile
November 1, 2005
Colombia: In the Crossfire

Colombia's ongoing armed conflict has caused millions to leave the country, both as economic migrants and as refugees; millions more have been internally displaced. While the government struggles with these issues, it is also courting Colombians abroad. Myriam Bérubé reports.

br map
Profile
June 1, 2005
Shaping Brazil: The Role of International Migration

South America's largest country has experienced waves of immigration and, more recently, emigration. But Brazil has not proactively addressed new migration patterns, including increases in illegal immigrants. Ernesto Friedrich Amaral of the University of Texas at Austin and Wilson Fusco of Universidade Estadual de Campinas report.

March 1, 2004
Mexico-United States Migration: A Long Way To Go

Mexican negotiators seek shared responsibility over U.S.-Mexico migration issues, according to Gustavo Mohar, former chief negotiator for migration affairs at the Mexican Embassy in the U.S..

Pages

archive >

Recent Activity

Reports
March 2015

Building Skills in North and Central America: Barriers and Policy Options toward Harmonizing Qualifications in Nursing

Amid aging populations and the growth of chronic diseases, the demand for skilled health-care professionals is on the rise in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. This report explores the policy implications, benefits, and challenges of harmonizing nursing qualifications in the region, suggesting that a more collaborative approach could result in greater supply and quality of nurses.

Articles
December 10, 2014

Changing Landscape Prompts Mexico's Emergence as a Migration Manager

In recent years emigration from Mexico has declined, the country's stable economy has drawn an increasing number of international migrants, and the pace of transmigration to the United States has quickened. Amid these changing realities, punctuated by a spike in migration of unaccompanied minors from Central America in 2014, Mexico is confronting a new role as migration manager: balancing increasing enforcement and protection of migrants' rights.

Articles
November 24, 2014

Ecuador: From Mass Emigration to Return Migration?

This country profile analyzes Ecuador's migration trends and examines how remittances and return migration have become an important policy focus for a country with an estimated 1.5 million to 2 million nationals living abroad, chiefly in the United States, Spain, and Italy. As waves of emigration occurred, the country also has experienced significant inflows of refugees and economic and lifestyle migrants.

Articles
September 10, 2014

Central American Migrants and “La Bestia”: The Route, Dangers, and Government Responses

Central American migrants have long hopped freight trains known as "La Bestia," or the beast, to get through Mexico en route to the United States. While Mexico has been accused of turning a blind eye to this traffic, U.S. outcry over the surge of unaccompanied child migrants has drawn new attention to the use of the trains. This article highlights the journey aboard the trains, the dangers faced by migrants, and responses by the Mexican government and others.

Video, Audio
March 12, 2014

Children on the Run: An Analysis of First-Hand Accounts from Children Fleeing Central America

This event with UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres features findings from UNHCR’s report, Children on the Run, which examines the increasing numbers of children from Central America and Mexico who head off alone to find refuge in the United States, fleeing violence, insecurity, and abuse. The discussion provides analysis on the reasons behind the growing migration of this vulnerable population and offers recommendations. Read the report here.

Video, Audio
February 7, 2014

Managing Borders in North America: Charting the Future

This panel discussion offers perspectives on border policy management from leading officials in the Canadian, Mexican, and U.S. governments, and showcases the MPI book, "Managing Borders in an Increasingly Borderless World."

Video
February 5, 2014

Thinking Regionally to Compete Globally- A presentation in Guatemala on the Regional Migration Study Group

During this public briefing in Guatemala City (conducted in both English and Spanish), the Co-Directors of the Migration Policy Institute-convened Regional Migration Study Group, MPI President Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Senior Fellow Doris Meissner, presented the Study Group’s final report, Thinking Regionally to Compete Globally: Leveraging Migration and Human Capital in the U.S., Mexico, and Central America.

Video, Audio
May 6, 2013

Thinking Regionally to Compete Globally: A New View on Migration and Human Capital for the United States, Mexico, and Central America

A panel discussion on the release of the Regional Migration Study Group's final report, Thinking Regionally to Compete Globally: Leveraging Migration & Human Capital in the U.S., Mexico, and Central America, outlining its findings and offering recommendations to policymakers in the region.

Pages