African Migrants and the American Dream: So close and yet so far
HTML
PDF
XML
Visor

Keywords

asylum
Africa
migration
Mexico
refugees
border

How to Cite

Mercadal, T. . (2021). African Migrants and the American Dream: So close and yet so far. Revista nuestrAmérica, 9(17), e5715622. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5715622

Abstract

The numbers of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa crossing in Latin America on their way to the U.S. are unprecedented, yet the issue is largely absent from U.S. and Mexican immigration public discourse. From 2015 to 2019, thousands of African migrants trekked through several Latin American countries on their way north, aiming to enter the United States through its southern border. Some settled in one of the countries they crossed while others reached the U.S. border to request asylum. When U.S.-Latin American migration relations changed under the Trump administration, many migrants and refugees got stuck in Mexico. This article examines the dynamics of irregular migration through the context of African migration in Latin America and how some migrants cope when faced with unexpected global and migration policy changes far from their control.

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5715622
HTML
PDF
XML
Visor

References

Álvarez, Juan. 2019. “Migrantes africanos en Chiapas reciben tarjetas de residencia permanente.” Televisanews.com, November 8. Accessed May 7, 2020. https://noticieros.televisa.com/ultimas-noticias/migrantes-africanos-chiapas-tarjetas-residencia-permanente-inm/

Blanco, Cristina. 1990. La integración social de los inmigrantes en Bilbao. Edit. Area de Cultura y Turismo Bilboko Udala, Kultura eta Turismo Saila, Ayuntamiento de Bilbao.

Bonello, Deborah and Sean Culligan. 2019. “The Unlikely New Gateway for African Migrants to the Americas: Ecuador.” Ozy.com. July 15. Accessed May 5, 2020. https://www.ozy.com/around-the-world/the-unlikely-new-gateway-for-african-migrants-to-the-americas-ecuador/95376/

Días, Isabella. 2019. “People Are Being Killed Like Flies”: Denied Asylum in the U.S., Cameroonians Fear Increasing Violence Back Home”. Pacific Standard Magazine. Psmag.com, August 14. Accessed May 10, 2020. https://psmag.com/social-justice/people-are-being-killed-like-flies-denied-asylum-in-the-u-s-cameroonians-fear-increasing-violence-back-home

“México: tensión por protestas de migrantes africanos”. Telemundowashingtondc.com, August 26. Accessed May 7, 2020. https://www.telemundowashingtondc.com/noticias/local/migrantes-africanos-ponen-en-jaque-a-autoridades-mexicanas-en-la-frontera-sur/69895/

Ernst, Jeff and Kirk Semple. 2019. “Mexico Moves to Encourage Caravan Migrants to Stay and Work.” New York Times, January 25. Accessed May 1, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/25/world/americas/migrant-caravan-honduras-mexico.html

Escrich Gallardo, Teresa. 2014. Migración y desarrollo. Refugiados africanos en México. Un análisis desde el interculturalismo y el Enfoque Basado en Derechos. Ciudad de México: Sin Fronteras I. A. P.

Estrada Tobar, Javier. 2017.“Africa en Guatemala: los migrantes invisibles.” Nómada, May 7, 2017. Accessed May 5, 2020. https://nomada.gt/cotidianidad/africa-en-guatemala-los-migrantes-invisibless

Freier, Luisa Feline. 2018. “Against the Odds, Migration to South America Grows”. World Politics Review. Worldpoliticsreview.com, December 4. Accessed May 5, 2020. https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/insights/26901/against-the-odds-african-migration-to-south-america-grows

Flores-Fonseca, Manuel Antonio. 2014. “Factores contextuales de la migración internacional de Honduras”. In Hilos demográficos del siglo XXI: migración internacional, edited by Juan Gabino González Becerril, Bernardino Montoya Arce and Adán Barreto Villanueva, 95-124. Toluca: Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México.

González-Becerril, Juan Gabino, Bernardino, Bernardino Jaciel, Montoya-Arce, Adán Barreto-Villanueva. 2014. “Presentación”. Hitos demográficos del siglo XXI: migración internacional. Toluca: Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México.

“Los 812 migrantes africanos varados en Tapachula consiguieron un amparo para poder salir de México”. Infobae.com, September 1. Accessed May 7, 2020. https://www.infobae.com/america/mexico/2019/08/31/los-812-migrantes-africanos-varados-en-tapachula-consiguieron-un-amparo-para-poder-salir-de-mexico/

Key Migration Terms. 2020. International Organization for Migration (IOM). https://www.iom.int/key-migration-terms

Krogstad, Jens M. 2019. «Key Facts about Refugees to the U.S.» Blog Pew Research Center, October 7. Accessed May 1, 2020. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/10/07/key-facts-about-refugees-to-the-u-s/

Lawal, Shola. 2019. «African migrants fall foul of US, Mexico policy changes». Blog The New Humanitarian, September 30. Accessed May 5, 2020. https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2020/01/17/Mexico-migrants-Uganda-metering

Lawal, Shola. 2019. «For African migrants trying, and dying, to reach North America, the Darien Gap is the New Mediterranean». Blog Equal Times, December 9. Accessed May 5, 2020. https://www.equaltimes.org/for-migrants-trying-and-dying-to?lang=en#.XrSW4Zl7lQI

Matalon, Lorne. 2016. «The Changing Face of Migration: US-Bound Africans & Asians in Central America On Rise». Blog Texas Standard, October 3. Accessed May 5, 2020. https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/the-changing-face-of-migration-us-bound-africans-asians-in-central-america-on-rise/

Najar, Alberto. 2016. “La sorprendente y silenciosa migración de africanos que cruza por México”. BBC.com, March 11, 2016. Accessed May 7, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias/2016/03/160310_mexico_migracion_silenciosa_africa_an

OECD. 2018. “Can we anticipate future migration flows?”. Review Migration Policy Debates, n.o 16. Accessed May 2, 2020. https://www.oecd.org/els/mig/migration-policy-debate-16.pdf

Orsi, Eter, Gonzalo Solano and Elliot Spagat. 2020. «Latinoamérica cierra sus puertas a migrantes africanos». Blog Vertigo Político, March 3. Accessed May 7, 2020. https://www.vertigopolitico.com/politica/mundo/latinoamerica-cierra-sus-puertas-a-migrantes-africanos

Recamier, Mariana. 2019. «África, un continente perdido en Chiapas». Blog Reporte Indigo, October 8. Accessed May 7, 2020. https://www.reporteindigo.com/reporte/africa-un-continente-perdido-en-chiapas-migrantes-derechos-protestas-documentos/

Rogers, Tim. 2015. “The long route from Somalia to the U.S. passes through this Panamanian jungle.” Fusion TV, October 21. Accessed May 5, 2020. https://fusion.tv/story/217556/i-hope-that-somali-refugee-i-met-in-the-panamanian-jungle-accepts-my-facebook-friend-request/

Semple, Kirk. 2020. “At a Bar ‘Made by Africans’. Migrants Put Down Roots in Mexico”. New York Times, February 28. Accessed May 5, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/28/world/americas/mexico-african-migrants-diaspora.html

«Migrantes africanos lamentan la travesía: ‘En México tratan mejor a un perro que a nosotros’». Blog SinEmbargo.mx, October 15. Accessed May 7, 2020. https://www.sinembargo.mx/15-10-2019/3662034

Solis, Gustavo. 2019. “Número récord de migrantes africanos en la frontera de México-Estados Unidos”. Los Angeles Times, December 12. Accessed May 7, 2020. https://www.latimes.com/espanol/mexico/articulo/2019-12-09/numero-record-de-migrantes-africanos-en-la-frontera-de-mexico-estados-unidos

Solis, Gustavo. 2019. “Record Number of African Migrants in at U.S.-Mexico Border”. San Diego Union Tribune. Sandiegouniontribune.com, December 8. Accessed May 11, 2020. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/border-baja-california/story/2019-12-08/record-number-of-african-migrants-at-u-s-mexico-border

Solomon, Dania Beth. 2019. “U.S. dream pulls African migrants in record numbers across Latin America”. Reuters, July 5. Accessed May 5, 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-africa/u-s-dream-pulls-african-migrants-in-record-numbers-across-latin-america-idUSKCN1U01A4

Spagna, Giulia and Ninna N. Sorensen. 2015. South-South Child Migration. Policy Brief. Copenhagen: Danish Institute for International Studies.

Torres, Eduardo. 2019. “Migrantes africanos viven en la penuria”. El Sol de México, October 15. Accessed May 7, 2020. https://www.elsoldemexico.com.mx/mexico/sociedad/migrantes-africanos-viven-en-la-penuria-4318027.html

United States Department of Homeland Security. 2017. «United States – Mexico Entry/Exit Data Sharing Initiative», December 14. Accessed May 9, 2020. https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/privacy-pia-cbp-usmexicoentryexitdatasharinginitiative-december2017.pdf

Yayboke, Erol K. and Carmen García Gallego. 2019. Out of the Shadows: Shining Light on Irregular Migration. Center for Strategic and International Studies. London and New York: Rowman and Littlefield.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Copyright (c) 2021 Trudy Mercadal

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.