Blogs


An Unprecedented Migration Crisis: Characterizing and Analyzing its Depth

Manuel Orozco, Patrick Springer ˙ ˙ Voces

Photo of migrants in Panama Servicio Nacional de Migración de Panamá / Twitter
This piece offers a look at the current migration trends and points to large differences that characterize this situation as a crisis: the scale, composition, nature, and management of migration is outside conventional or historical patterns. Aspects of this unprecedented migration pattern are not within the control of government authorities and policy makers. The recent migration wave to the US border has been referred to as a crisis. Media references point to the drama of people arriving and passing through the Darien, Central America, and Mexico to characterize the problem. Others have pointed out the increasing arrivals into US cities in numbers that are hard to manage by local communities.Read more +

Sustained Remittance Growth in 2022

Manuel Orozco, Asha Richards ˙ ˙ Migration, Remittances & Development

A man counts Somali shilling notes having just exchanged US Dollars with a money changer on the streets of the Somali capital Mogadishu. Stuart Price/ Flickr / CC0 1.0
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, remittances have become a much more important source of income for many people in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is projected that the growth rate will reach 14 percent in 2022 to nearly US$150 billion, equivalent to 5 percent of the gross domestic product in Latin American and the Caribbean countries...Read more +

Opportunities for Development in Guatemala: A study on the nostalgic trade

Manuel Orozco, Laura Porras, Julia Yansura ˙ ˙ Opportunities for My Community

Inter-American Dialogue
Migrants often purchase products from their country of origin such as food, clothing or handicrafts, a practice which is known as the “nostalgic trade.”  To better understand this practice, the project surveyed 380 Guatemalans in the United States and visited more than 40 stores that offer Guatemalan nostalgic products. The…Read more +

Thinking Differently About Nicaragua’s Development Challenges

Manuel Orozco, Gloriana Sojo ˙ ˙ Voces

Bosque de pinos de las Crucetas da la leña. El manejo sostenible de los bosques,y la formacion de cooperativas indigenas forestales, permitira la conservacion de las áreas de boscosas en La comunidad de Layasiksa,y Las Crucetas. foto.LA PRENSA.Manuel Esquivel
While its GDP growth has generally been higher than that of its neighbors, it is not enough to get the country out of poverty. Nicaragua needs to leverage its human capital to the fullest.Read more +

Returning Home: Deportations & Return Migration

Manuel Orozco, Julia Yansura ˙ ˙ Voces

10/20/08 FOR MHL BY CARL JUSTE/MIAMI HERALD STAFF, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - - ICE's Removal Management Division transported 100 Honduran nationals (16 females, 94 males) aboard a 727 for a two hour and forty-eight minutes flight back to Tegucigalpa, Honduras as part of its detention removal operation. The agency stages nine to eleven flights per day and is coordinated by its operation center in Kansas City, MO. CARL JUSTE/MIAMI HERALD STAFF10/20/08 FOR MHL BY CARL JUSTE/MIAMI HERALD STAFF, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - - ICE's Removal Management Division transported 100 Honduran nationals (16 females, 94 males) aboard a 727 for a two hour and forty-eight minutes flight back to Tegucigalpa, Honduras as part of its detention removal operation. The agency stages nine to eleven flights per day and is coordinated by its operation center in Kansas City, MO. In a early morning operation, Honduran nationals are moved off of detention center buses and searched prior to boarding a chartered flight for Tegucigalpa, Honduras. ICE takes custody of the migrants by conducting searches of their person and belongings during the transferring custody operation on the tarmac of San Antonio International Airport. CARL JUSTE/MIAMI HERALD STAFF10/20/08 FOR MHL BY CARL JUSTE/MIAMI HERALD STAFF, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - - ICE's Removal Management Division transported 100 Honduran nationals (16 females, 94 males) aboard a 727 for a two hour and forty-eight minutes flight back to Tegucigalpa, Honduras as part of its detention removal operation. The agency stages nine to eleven flights per day and is coordinated by its operation center in Kansas City, MO. In a early morning operation, Honduran nationals are moved off of detention center buses and searched prior to boarding a chartered flight for Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The undocumented Hondurans fill the seats of a Boeing 727. Many try to come to terms of being returned back to Honduras. CARL JUSTE/MIAMI HERALD STAFF
While the number of people leaving Central America is well documented, less is known on how many return home, either voluntarily or involuntarily.Read more +

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