E.g., 04/23/2024
E.g., 04/23/2024
South America

South America

With the exodus of more than 5.6 million Venezuelans, South America is experiencing major change in its migration flows and policies. Beyond the immediate migration and humanitarian crisis, the region has experienced more movement in recent years, chiefly for labor reasons, with Brazil the preferred destination for migration from outside the continent.

South American migration beyond the region is chiefly to the United States and Europe. The research offered here sketches the dynamism of South America's migration and refugee trends and policies.

A Venezuelan woman in Ecuador after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine
Reports

Converging Crises: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in South America

The COVID-19 pandemic hit South American nations at a time when many were already contending with major migration challenges. Historic levels of intraregional migration and displacement, notably from Venezuela, collided with countries’ attempts to stop the spread of a new threat to public health. This report examines the region’s responses to the public-health crisis, and the immediate and lasting impacts on cross-border movement.

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.

MPIenEspanol Featured Image Venezuela Blurred

Featured

MPI publishes its content most on point to migration policies, trends, and immigrant populations in Latin America and Spain in Spanish. You can access all of our Spanish-language content, including reports, commentaries, multimedia, and press releases, here, as well as sign up for updates when we publish Spanish-language content and learn more about our Latin America and Caribbean Migration Portal.

Recent Activity

ThailandWorkers ILOAsiaPacific Flickr
Articles
December 5, 2016
While Mobility Comes under Assault in Europe, Other Regions Forge Ahead
By Brian Salant
HaitiansRoad MarionDoss Flickr
Articles
October 26, 2016
United States Abandons its Harder Line on Haitian Migrants in the Face of Latest Natural Disaster
By Muzaffar Chishti and Sarah Pierce
worldbank bogota traffic
Articles
August 23, 2016
Free Movement in South America: The Emergence of an Alternative Model?
By Diego Acosta
LittleBrazil DiegoTorresSilvestre Flickr
Articles
July 13, 2016
Brazilian Immigrants in the United States
By Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova
Zika PAHO Flickr
Articles
July 7, 2016
When Outbreaks Go Global: Migration and Public Health in a Time of Zika
By Eric D. Carter
ThomasHawk CarnavalSF2015 Flickr
Articles
March 1, 2016
South American Immigrants in the United States
By Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova
stjc nt ColombiaTumacoDisplacedCommunity Flickr
Articles
January 14, 2016
Protecting the Forcibly Displaced: Latin America’s Evolving Refugee and Asylum Framework
By Marissa Esthimer
Cover Top10 9Borders
Articles
December 8, 2015
Border Skirmishes Resonate in National Domestic Politics
By Marissa Esthimer

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Recent Activity

Articles
December 5, 2016

While Mobility Comes under Assault in Europe, Other Regions Forge Ahead

In stark contrast to a Europe that is erecting new barriers and reinstituting border controls, other regions around the world are moving toward greater mobility for intraregional travelers and migrants. Regional blocs in South America and Southeast Asia have been working to ease intraregional movements of workers, and the African Union in 2016 launched a new biometric African passport.

Articles
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.

Articles
August 23, 2016

Free Movement in South America: The Emergence of an Alternative Model?

In contrast to increasingly restrictive approaches to migration in the global North—and recent skepticism towards Europe's free mobility project—South America is taking steps in the other direction, toward free movement for regional migrants. This article examines the emerging South American model and discusses its implications for migration in the region and for free movement in general.

Articles
July 13, 2016

Brazilian Immigrants in the United States

The Brazilian immigrant population in the United States doubled during the 1980s and almost tripled in the 1990s, but stabilized following the Great Recession. While this population has long included a significant share of unauthorized immigrants, Brazilians are increasingly coming to the United States through family, employment, and study channels. Learn more about Brazilian immigrants with this Spotlight.

Articles
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.

Articles
March 1, 2016

South American Immigrants in the United States

Growing rapidly from a population of 90,000 in 1960 to nearly 3 million in 2014, South American immigrants now represent 7 percent of all foreign born in the United States. Family-based immigration is the primary pathway for all South American groups, ranging from 45 percent of Venezuelan immigrants to 97 percent of those from Guyana.

Articles
January 14, 2016

Protecting the Forcibly Displaced: Latin America’s Evolving Refugee and Asylum Framework

Signed more than 30 years ago, the Cartagena Declaration sought to address rising flows of refugees and establish regional solidarity in refugee protection in Latin America. This article explores the evolution of refugee and asylum policies in Latin America amid the long-running Colombian civil war, as well as the region's response to the current global refugee crisis.

Articles
December 8, 2015

Border Skirmishes Resonate in National Domestic Politics

Facing electoral challenges, falling approval rates, and weak economies, some political leaders in 2015 altered border policies or engaged in conflicts across borders as tools of domestic policy. This trend looks at the effects on migration of conflicts between Venezuela and Colombia, Russia and Ukraine, and India and Nepal.

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