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.)

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.

Foto de personas que vuelven a entrar a México después de la expulsión de EE. UU.

Commentaries

El número récord de encuentros con migrantes en la frontera México-Estados Unidos encubre la historia más importante

Los titulares enfocados en la cifra récord de 2,4 millones de migrantes encontrados en la frontera México-Estados Unidos durante el año fiscal 2022 encubren la historia más importante: Los flujos migratorios se han diversificado rápidamente más allá de México y el norte Centroamérica, y como resultado, las políticas de control migratorio son incongruentes con la realidad de hoy. Esto demuestra la evidente necesitad de nuevos enfoques regionales, argumenta este comentario.

Image of marchers at Dominican Day parade in New York City

Articles

Caribbean Immigrants in the United States

Immigrants from the Caribbean living in the United States come from a diverse set of countries and territories, with Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago the top origins. This article offers a sociodemographic profile of Caribbean immigrants, who represent 10 percent of the U.S. foreign-born population and nearly half of all Black immigrants in the United States.

Two farmers working in a field of maize and avocados in Mexico.

Reports

Temporary Worker Programs in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica: Promising Pathways for Managing Central American Migration?

Irregular migration from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras has become a dominant feature of the migration landscape in Central and North America, yet few legal pathways exist for Central Americans facing pressure to emigrate. This report explores how Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica could use existing temporary worker programs to expand legal migration options while also helping fill their labor shortages.

Recent Activity

Multimedia March 2, 2021 Changing Climate, Changing Migration: 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 Changing Climate, Changing Migration: 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	Multimedia October 27, 2020 Un Diálogo con Miembros de Coalición por Venezuela

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Fact Sheets February 2013 Resumen del Sector: Manufactura, Implicaciones para el Capital Humano y la Migración By Peter A. Creticos and Eleanor Sohnen	Fact Sheets February 2013 Resumen del Sector: Sistema de Salud, Implicaciones para el Capital Humano y la Migración By Allison Squires and Hiram Beltrán-Sánchez
Reports January 2013 In the Lurch between Government and Chaos: Unconsolidated Democracy in Mexico By Luis Rubio	Reports January 2013 Crime and Violence in Mexico and Central America: An Evolving but Incomplete U.S. Policy Response By Andrew Selee, Cynthia J. Arnson and Eric L. Olson
Reports January 2013 Manufacturing in the United States, Mexico, and Central America: Implications for Competitiveness and Migration By Peter A. Creticos and Eleanor Sohnen	Reports December 2012 Paying for Crime: A Review of the Relationships between Insecurity and Development in Mexico and Central America By Eleanor Sohnen
Books December 2012 Young Children of Black Immigrants in America: Changing Flows, Changing Faces	Reports November 2012 Transnational Crime in Mexico and Central America: Its Evolution and Role in International Migration By Steven Dudley

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Top Ten

December 8, 2016

Migrants and Smugglers Get Creative to Circumvent Immigration Enforcement

Smugglers and migrants adapted their paths in light of changing conditions in 2016, including the construction of walls and closure of borders. Cuban and Haitian migrants increasingly chose to make their way to the United States through South and Central America rather than by sea. Meanwhile, migrant flows to Europe have splintered into a wider range of routes, seeking new openings through the Western Balkans.

Policy Beat

October 26, 2016

United States Abandons its Harder Line on Haitian Migrants in the Face of Latest Natural Disaster

In the wake of a hurricane that has once again devastated Haiti, the United States quickly reversed its toughened policy toward the thousands of Haitian nationals arriving at the California-Mexico border without prior authorization. This Policy Beat examines the shifts in U.S. admission and deportation policy toward Haitian migrants since the 2010 earthquake, and other national and state developments on immigration.

Spotlight

September 14, 2016

Caribbean Immigrants in the United States

Approximately 4 million immigrants from the Caribbean resided in the United States in 2014, representing 9 percent of the country's total immigrant population. While 90 percent of Caribbean immigrants come from five countries, this population overall is very diverse in its skill levels, racial composition, language background, and immigration pathways. This Spotlight article provides information on the Caribbean immigrant population in the United States, focusing on its size, geographic distribution, and socioeconomic characteristics.

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.

Recent Activity

Expert Q&A, Audio

March 2, 2021

Changing Climate, Changing Migration: Who Manages Climate Migration? Evolving Global Governance

Climate change and international migration both are global issues with aspects that countries try to manage through treaties, pacts, and other types of agreements. But most of the global governance frameworks that exist for climate-induced migration require only voluntary commitments by states. This episode features a discussion with political scientist Nick Micinski, author of the forthcoming books, UN Global Compacts: Governing Migrants and Refugees and Delegating Responsibility: International Cooperation on Migration in the European Union.

Articles

February 18, 2021

Climate Extremes, Food Insecurity, and Migration in Central America: A Complicated Nexus

Climate change has had a devastating impact on many poor Central American farmers, which can contribute to food insecurity and may be prompting migration from the region's Dry Corridor. But the process is not straightforward. As this article explains, most poor farmers rely on a combination of buying, cultivating, and foraging for their food, which makes it difficult to predict how people will react to individual climate events.

Expert Q&A, Audio

February 5, 2021

Changing Climate, Changing Migration: The Many Possible Futures of Climate-Linked Migration

Climate change is already affecting how, whether, and where people migrate. But environmental change is likely to become more extreme in the coming decades, unless the world takes serious action now. How might changes made now impact what future migration looks like? This episode features a conversation with Robert McLeman, a geographer and environmental studies expert at Canada’s Wilfrid Laurier University, about the possible scenarios that lie ahead for the relationship between climate change and migration, depending on how countries act in the next few decades.

Policy Briefs

February 2021

Rewiring Migrant Returns and Reintegration after the COVID-19 Shock

Migrant returns and reintegration have been the subject of intense international debate in recent years, and the COVID-19 pandemic has added an extra layer of complexity as millions of migrants have been expelled or returned voluntarily. This policy brief explores the effects of the pandemic on migrant returns, reception, and reintegration, and how countries of origin and destination can improve their policies and partnerships going forward, with a focus on sustainable reintegration.

Reports

December 2020

How Will International Migration Policy and Sustainable Development Affect Future Climate-Related Migration?

Climate change is likely to increase the intensity of extreme-weather events already shaping human mobility and displacement. The nature, scale, and direction of future climate-related migration will depend on many factors. This report takes stock of the influence that different combinations of migration, development, and climate policies could have on migration in regions around the world for the 2020-2050 and 2050-2100 periods, using a first-of-its-kind systematic exercise.

Reports

December 2020

Construcción de un nuevo sistema migratorio regional: Redefiniendo la cooperación entre Estados Unidos con México y Centroamérica

Un desafío y una oportunidad clave que enfrentará la administración de Joe Biden será cómo abordar la cooperación regional en relación a la migración. Este informe explora la evolución de la movilidad entre los Estados Unidos, México y Centroamérica y presenta una estrategia para ampliar las oportunidades en cuanto a la migración legal, abordar necesidades humanitarias, fortalecer la aplicación de la ley y mitigar algunas de las fuerzas que provocan la emigración.

Reports

November 2020

Building a New Regional Migration System: Redefining U.S. Cooperation with Mexico and Central America

Addressing regional cooperation around migration will be among the immigration challenges and opportunities facing the incoming Biden administration. This report examines how movement between the United States, Mexico, and Central America has evolved in recent decades, and lays out a four-part strategy to expand opportunities for legal migration, address humanitarian protection needs, improve enforcement, and mitigate some of the forces driving people to emigrate.

Audio, Webinars

October 27, 2020

Un Diálogo con Miembros de Coalición por Venezuela

En dicho diálogo, algunos de los representantes de las organizaciones que conforman la red en Norteamérica, Centroamérica, Sudamérica y el Caribe, comparten la manera como se coordinan, las acciones que se llevan a cabo y las dificultades, retos y desafíos que atraviesan.

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