A multi-scalar critical analysis of return migration policies in Mexico

Services and resources for migrants returning to Mexico are necessary to ease their transition and “re-integration” into home communities. Policies that do not have a holistic approach can result in serious implications for the social, political, cultural, and health of returnees, receiving families, and communities. This research critically analyses return migration policies in Mexico drawing from the intersectionality-based policy analysis framework and a multi-scalar approach to critically study return migration policies in Mexico. We analysed 20 return migration policies using the principles of the intersectionality-based policy analysis framework. In 2021, we interviewed those impacted by return migration policies in Veracruz, Mexico to gain deeper insights into return migration policies. Women who stayed behind, return migrants, community leaders, and health-care providers were interviewed via phone or face-to-face in Spanish. Information was transcribed verbatim and analysed with the aid of computer-assisted data analysis software and quotes were translated into English. They shed light on two major inequities in policies: (1) the lack of acknowledgement of diversity or return migrants and (2) the exclusion of receiving families and communities from the “re-integration” process of return migrants. Based on the multi-scalar critical policy analysis, return migration policies in Mexico would benefit from a more comprehensive and inclusive approach where the needs of return migrants and community members are protected based on their diversity.     

International migration policies: conceptual problems

Kritz reviews national concepts and policies of migration. She examines how nation-states approach migration and how they define who is a migrant. Policies for permanent, temporary, and illegal migrants are examined for selected countries. While the traditional permanent immigration countries--Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the US--continue to admit large numbers of permanent migrants, they are also admitting growing numbers of temporary migrants. Other countries, in Europe and the developing world, have different migration histories and use other approaches to admit foreigners--migrants are generally admitted on a temporary basis for work or other purposes. Growing numbers of these temporary migrants, however, do become long-term or permanent settlers, and the distinction between permanent and temporary migration policies becomes a short-term legal one rather than a long-term sociological one. Governments have been seeking those policy instruments that would allow them to improve control over who enters and settles in their territories, and temporary migration policies are the measures to which they are turning. While increasing restriction characterizes the policy stance of most countries toward international migration, this does not necessarily mean that the number of migrants entering is declining. Kritz argues that the concepts employed by countries in their immigration policies frequently do not correspond to the reality, making it necessary to examine the actual context.     

Social effects of migration in receiving countries

This paper examines the impact of post-1945 migration into Western, Middle, and Northern Europe from Southern Europe, Turkey, and Northern Africa, and migration to the traditional immigration countries by Asian and Latin American immigrants, on the social structures of receiving countries. Between 1955 and 1974, 1) traditional migration to the US and Australia became less important for European countries while traditional receiving countries accepted many immigrants from developing countries; and 2) rapid economic revival in Western and Northern Europe caused a considerable labor shortage which was filled by migrant workers especially from Southern Europe, Turkey, and Northern Africa, who stayed only until they reached their economic goals. Since 1974, job vacancies have declined and unemployment has soared. This employment crisis caused some migrants 1) to return to their countries of origin, 2) to bring the rest of their families to the receiving country, or 3) to lengthen their stay considerably. The number of refugees has also significantly increased since the mid-970s, as has the number of illegal migrants. After the mid-1970s, Europe began to experience integration problems. The different aspects of the impact of migration on social structures include 1) improvement of the housing situation for foreigners, 2) teaching migrants the language of the receiving country, 3) solving the unemployment problem of unskilled migrants, 4) improvement of educational and vocational qualifications of 2nd generation migrants, 5) development of programs to help unemployed wives of migrants to learn the language and meet indigenous women, 6) encouraging migrants to maintain their cultural identity and assisting them with reintegration if they return to their original country, 7) coping with the problems of refugees, and 8) solving the problems of illegal migration. Almost all receiving countries now severely restrict further immigration. [Those policies should result in improved development of aid policies towards sending countries. Immigration from other countries to those of the European Economic community should be limited to that for humanitarian reasons.     

Internal migration of the foreign-born in Canada

"This article uses the Public Use Sample file of the 1986 Canadian census to characterize and explain the interprovincial migration patterns of the foreign-born in Canada. Simple overall in- and outmigration rates are calculated for the foreign-born and compared to the interprovincial migration rates for Canadian-born migrants, specifically primary, return and onward migrants. A two-level nested logit model is then applied for foreign-born migrants age 20-64 to study the effects of personal factors and provincial attributes on their interprovincial migration patterns. The foreign-born have higher in- and outmigration rates than primary migrants, with Ontario having a strong ability to attract and retain the foreign-born. Despite these differences, the foreign-born respond to economic variables in a rational way and relatively little of the migration decision process can be explained by place-of-birth effects. Selectivity with respect to personal factors (i.e., education, age, sex, family type) is similar to the Canadian-born."     

Return migration: changing roles of men and women

The study concerns Greek returnees from the Federal Republic of Germany and explores changes in task sharing behaviour and gender role attitudes resulting from changes in cultural environments.
A group of return migrants was compared with a group of non-migrants, both living in villages in the District of Drama, Greece. Groups were interviewed to investigate the extent to which each spouse shared house tasks as well as their attitudes towards gender roles in the family.
The data were factor analysed and a t-test was used to determine any differences between the groups. In addition to demographic variables, those concerning the "time lived abroad" and the "number of years in Greece" after return were inserted into a series of regression analyses for the purpose of explaining task sharing and gender role attitudes.
The results showed that: (a) task sharing of return migrants differs from on-migrants with respect to tasks which are peripheral to house organization. It seems that migrants' task sharing behaviour changes to a certain degree as a result of their changing socio-cultural environments. Results also suggest that migrant husbands and wives either take on new patterns of behaviour or maintain traditional ones only when these are congruent with the financial aims of the family or can be integrated into living conditions in Greece upon return. (b) Lack of differences between groups in an Attitude Questionnaire suggest that gender role attitudes have changed for both migrants and non-migrants over the last 15 to 20 years, although for different reasons and the different conditions under which these groups had lived.     

Cohort size effects and migration

"This article explores whether changes in the size of [U.S.] cohorts entering the labor force affect the propensity to migrate and the socioeconomic circumstances of migrants at destination. The flow of young in-migrants to large SMSAs declined during the 1965-76 period, but the relative socioeconomic standing of migrants at destination was unaffected by either cohort size or regional differentials in economic growth. It is suggested that a significant reduction in the volume of migration among members of the baby boom cohort was the primary adjustment mechanism, hence reducing the need for degrading the opportunities available to migrants."     

Relative labour deprivation and urban migration in Turkey

The paper develops a concept, a measure and an index of relative labour deprivation and applies these tools to measure deprivation in urban areas of South-East Turkey. It is shown how a Yitzhaki-type of relative deprivation index can be applied to the labor domain and be extended to take into account the notion of reference group derived from modern theories of social justice. In the absence of panel or longitudinal data, such measure results particularly useful to derive policy recommendations for areas characterized by heterogeneous communities. Contrary to what conventional statistics and wisdom would suggest, we find migrants from Eastern Turkey to be less relatively labour deprived than other groups of migrants.     

The rural exodus in Mexico and Mexican migration to the United States

"During the 1950s, labor conditions in the United States attracted Mexican migrants, mostly from rural areas, in sharply fluctuating patterns of active recruitment, laissez-faire or repatriation. Because [the rural exodus and migration to the United States] have varied simultaneously and because they are interrelated, it has been assumed that the rural exodus in Mexico generally explains the flow of migrants across the border to the United States. This article argues that they must be analyzed instead as two distinct movements. Data presented show that most of the migrants created by the prevailing conditions in Mexican rural villages settle within Mexico and that only specific types of migrants are attracted over the border."     

Puerto Rican migration and occupational selectivity, 1982-1988

"This study examines whether or not the likelihood of Puerto Rican workers choosing to migrate to the United States depends on their occupations or skills. The study determined that the occupational composition among those migrating from the island to the United States generally corresponds to the occupational distribution in Puerto Rico. The exception is that, after controlling for labor market conditions in Puerto Rico and in the United States and for other characteristics of the migrants, farm workers, laborers, and craft and kindred workers are overrepresented in the flow of migrants. The two most important factors contributing to the occupational distribution of migrants are whether or not they already have job offers in the United States and whether they are currently employed in Puerto Rico."     

Return migration to Jamaica and its development potential

Return migration to Jamaica is associated closely with the existence and nature of the transnational linkages established between migrants and their home country, especially at the level of the household and family. Remittances invariably precede, accompany and follow the actual return of migrants and comprise money as well as a range of consumer goods.
Data on the number of returning migrants to Jamaica have been collected officially only since 1992; other information is derived from field studies. The figures show that the US is the source of most return migrants to Jamaica, with the United Kingdom second.
Likewise, there are few official statistics on remittances, especially of those entering the country through informal channels. Nevertheless, data on the receipt of money through the Bank of Jamaica, indicate that during the 1990s remittances as a percentage of GDP exceeded that of the traditional foreign currency earners of bauxite and sugar.
Growing awareness of the potential of the Jamaican overseas community has led the Government of Jamaica to establish programmes, including The Return of Talent programme, supported by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), to encourage the return of nationals.
Different types of return migrants have the potential to make different kinds of contributions to national development – some through their skills, educational and professional experience, others through the financial capital which they transfer for investment or as retirement income. However, the most significant development potential of return lies in the social and economic conditions in Jamaica itself. If confidence levels are high, there will be little difficulty in attracting persons to return and financial transfers and investments will increase. Furthermore, the social and economic environment largely conditions the extent to which skills and talent as well as the financial capital are effectively utilized.     

Motivation for migration and economic success

"Motives for migration should play a major role in the development of achievement motivation of migrants, which, in turn, should influence economic success. For a sample of guest-workers in Austria it is shown that the simple distinction of economic and non-economic, i.e. family or political motives, does not yield convincing results for the explanation of wages. Economic motivation has to be further differentiated into ?search for success' and ?fear of failure' types. Immigrants with optimistic economic motivation are able to command wages more than 10% higher than individuals migrating for political reasons."     

Undocumented migration to Venezuela

"In 1980 Venezuela took...steps to regularize the undocumented migrant population. While the number responding to the amnesty was small relative to expectations, the majority of illegals appeared to have regularized their status. For the first time it was possible to assess objectively the characteristics of the undocumented population. Moreover, the problem of illegal migrants seems to have been temporarily solved, a result of both the amnesty and the country's declining economic activity." Topics covered in the present article include the nationality, geographic distribution, sex and age distribution, educational status, and occupations of undocumented migrants.     

How migration information campaigns shape local perceptions and discourses of migration in Harar city,Ethiopia

Migration-information campaigns informing potential migrants about the risks of the journey and the harsh life conditions in the destination countries have emerged as prominent tools of migration management in the last decades. Despite their growing importance, little is known about their local implementation in countries of transit and origin as well as their influence on potential migrants' perceptions and experiences. The central objective of this paper is to understand how migration-information campaigns are implemented on a local scale and how they shape the perception and discourses of migration in the region. We pursue a multi-scalar analysis of international migration management policies and their outcomes in a specific place and link them with local migration aspirations. The paper is based on qualitative empirical research carried out in Harar, a medium-sized city in the Harari regional state of Ethiopia. Drawing on interviews with government officials, NGOs, city dwellers, and return migrants, as well as the analysis of policy documents and scientific literature, we show how the local implementation of migration-information campaigns shapes the local perceptions and discourses on migration within which migration aspirations are embedded. We found that information campaigns did not take into account the complexity and multifaceted nature of local socioeconomic and political conditions which reflects the discrepancy between policy discourses at large and people's perceptions.     

Homeward bound: the circular migration of entertainers between Japan and the Philippines

One feature of globalization is the growing number of temporary labour migrants, but their experience of settlement does not always fit the dominant perspective of transnational migration. Unlike transnational migrants, circular migrants tend not to be equally entrenched in home and host societies, but instead hold feelings of greater affinity for the home society. They engage in repeated short periods of work abroad, an example being migrant Filipina entertainers in Tokyo, Japan. This article describes the settlement of these circular migrants and demonstrates how it is a process of returning to the home society that entails limited integration in the host society; they are routinely segregated in time and space. Migrant Filipina entertainers start thinking about their departure almost as soon as they arrive, and their departure is marked by a carefully‐planned ceremony, or sayonara party. Questioning the assumption in the literature that circular migrants will eventually become permanent residents, in this article I call for the formulation of new theoretical frameworks that better capture the qualitatively distinct experiences of circular migrants.     

Self-selection,earnings and Chicano migration: differences between return and onward migrants

"The purpose of this article is to extend the empirical literature on Chicano return migration by examining earnings differentials between return and onward Chicano migrants. Our approach reflects the complexity of estimating such effects in terms of selectivity biases and the interaction between individual and locational attributes. We use data derived from the public use microdata sample (PUMS) of the 1990 U.S. census. After controlling for migration and labor force self-selection, results indicate that Chicano return migrants are not negatively self-selected. Chicano return migrants have smaller earnings profiles largely due to the negative effects of living in areas with higher concentrations of co-ethnics. Apparently, return migrants, at least in the short run, are willing to accept lower earnings for the nonpecuniary benefits of living in the Southwest."     

Labor migration as a prelude to World War I

"At the same time as the political tensions increased in Europe around 1900, an international labor market was developing. More and more proletarians from different parts of the continent searched for labor opportunities in the center of the agrarian and industrial capitalism. In several countries, including Russia, capitalists more and more actively recruited labor migrants for seasonal work. The labor migrants became a political issue as a part of the trade negotiations between Germany and Russia. Also, the Austrian colonization and political expansion in the Balkans can be looked upon in a perspective of (labor) migration. Class and ethnic conflicts coincided and escalated into an international conflict."     

Reframing sociologies of ethnicity and migration in encounters with Chinese London

In this paper I argue that the intersecting sociologies of ethnicity and migration work from a series of interconnected blind spots hindering effective analysis of the current UK situation. Both operate analytically within the limitations of an ‘immigrant problem’ framework; are overinvested in state agendas; privilege a nation state analysis; are narrowly focused on distributions of migrant bodies, and on receiving, at the expense of sending, contexts. Exploring these limitations with data derived from a modest small‐scale qualitative study of young Chinese migrants in London, I argue for a reframing along four dimensions. Firstly, in an era of elite migration, sociology could reach beyond its immigrant problem framework and open up to a broader range of UK migrant ethnicities and circumstances. Secondly, a stronger focus on cities as the scale on which lives are lived, and through which diverse streams of translocal activity are routed, would open new avenues of sociological exploration. Thirdly, including translocal activities connected with distributions of ethnic migrant bodies, such as capital transfers, would broaden its focus, taking migration and ethnicity more centrally into the analysis of globalization as one of its constituting practices. Finally, paying attention to sending, as well as arrival cities, reveals migrants’ thinking and shapes the ways in which they live, as my data shows. The Chinese are both one of the UK's neglected minorities, and one of its fastest growing populations. They are a good example of new UK migrants and they bring globalization's realignment with the rising significance of China to the UK.     

Japan and international migration: situation and issues

The author discusses issues concerning labor migraton to Japan. Topics covered include the current debate in Japan over the role of labor migrants in supporting a population undergoing demographic aging, attitudes toward foreigners in Japan, and the economic benefits and costs of training migrants.     

The nature and scope of international migration data in Nigeria

Nigeria, the largest country in Western Africa, has been attracting migrants from neighboring countries for the past decade or so. Although most of the movement of African migrants has occurred outside the regulatory framework set up to control migration, it is important to know the main elements of the latter to understand the likely limitations of the data collection systems currently in operation. Sources of data on international migration include censuses, arrival and departure statistics, work and resident permits, and sample surveys. The author concludes that, with the exception of information on residence and work permits, the relationship between Nigeria's data sources and the laws regulating migration is weak. Arrival and departure statistics, in particular, are not designed to distinguish migrants from all other international travellers. Lacking the political will to modify the system in accordance with internationally accepted recommendations, the prospects for increasing the usefulness of available data are grim.