MPI's Migration Information Source Newsletter

********************************************

January 28, 2021

********************************************

Feature
Africa Moves Towards Intracontinental Free Movement for Its Booming Population
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/africa-intracontinental-free-movement
While intraregional migration is a pillar of the African Union's focus on enhancing regional integration and economic development, visa-free travel or visas upon arrival are a reality for only about half of the countries on the continent. Progress towards free movement for Africans has occurred mostly at a subregional level, as this article explores.

U.S. Policy Beat
Biden Sets the Stage for a Remarkably Active First 100 Days on Immigration
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/biden-immigration-reform-agenda
The Biden administration has set the pace for what could be the most active first 100 days on immigration policy by any White House in recent memory. The efforts represent a dramatic break from President Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, but are likely to meet stiff opposition on Capitol Hill and elsewhere in Washington. This article evaluates Biden's early actions and what they suggest about his ambitions on immigration.


********************************************

EDITOR'S NOTE

We are just one month into 2021, but the first few weeks suggest that the new year may mirror the last in many ways on the migration front.

An estimated 8,000 people, most of them from Honduras, attempted to make their way north through Central America in January, only to be halted by the coordinated action of regional authorities, including Mexico. The route is a well-trodden one, but new emigration pressures are mounting for people in Honduras and elsewhere in Central America, including the lingering economic effects of COVID-19 lockdowns and devastating hurricanes that struck last November. Migrants have pointed to lack of government assistance in the wake of the storms as a driving factor for their decision to trek north, in an illustration of how climate change and environmental impacts can affect migration--an issue the Migration Information Source is exploring through a podcast and a special series of articles.

The fate of the caravan illustrates how countries such as Guatemala and Mexico have more aggressively intervened in migrants' movement, under pressure from the United States. In years past these caravans moved through the region with little hinderance. But fears about the coronavirus and the legacy of pressure from the Trump administration helped build new barriers to their progress, though it appears the caravan phenomenon is unlikely to fade.

In our U.S. Policy Beat article this week, MPI's Muzaffar Chishti and Sarah Pierce outline how new President Joe Biden is breaking from his predecessor on immigration matters. Biden has outlined a $4 billion plan for development in Central America, aimed at addressing the root causes of migration. But Trump's policies will continue to have resonance in the region, given the difficulty of unwinding them.

Increased pressure on transit countries to manage migration has been a hallmark of the COVID-19 era and was one of our top issues of 2020. Concerns about the coronavirus's spread have led to serious impediments to movement, yet the economic fallout from the pandemic has for many made the drive to move all the more pressing.

Another example comes from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Some 2,500 migrants have been stranded in the freezing cold after the Lipa emergency tent camp, hastily constructed over the summer to accommodate people trapped by pandemic-prompted border restrictions, was closed and then ravaged by fire. The plight of the migrants, bound for Croatia and the European Union, has raised significant concern.

New coronavirus variants and renewed outbreaks are prompting another round of travel restrictions, even as vaccines have started to be administered in many wealthy countries. The developments are a reminder that migration flows and trends have a long tail. There is new hope for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it will take time for those changes to impact migrants' experiences.

Best regards,

Julian Hattem

Editor, Migration Information Source

[email protected]


********************************************

NEW FROM MPI

Obscure but Powerful: Shaping U.S. Immigration Policy through Attorney General Referral and Review
www.migrationpolicy.org/research/obscure-powerful-immigration-attorney-general-referral-review
By Sarah Pierce


********************************************

HAVE YOU READ?

Africa Deepens its Approach to Migration Governance, But Are Policies Translating to Action?
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/africa-deepens-approach-migration-governance

Greece Struggles to Balance Competing Migration Demands
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/greece-struggles-balance-competing-migration-demands

As Governments Build Advanced Surveillance Systems to Push Borders Out, Will Travel and Migration Become Unequal for Some Groups?
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/governments-build-advanced-surveillance-systems


********************************************

MEDIA CORNER

In EU Migration Agencies: The Operation and Cooperation of FRONTEX, EASO and EUROPOL, David Fernández-Rojo dives deep into the EU agencies governing migration.
www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/catalog/product/view/id/16839/

Immigrant California: Understanding the Past, Present, and Future of U.S. Policy, edited by David Scott FitzGerald and John D. Skrentny, looks at policy in the most populous U.S. state.
www.sup.org/books/title/?id=32518

Achille Mbembe writes about citizenship and identity in Africa in Out of the Dark Night: Essays on Decolonization.
[link removed]

Refugee Mental Health, edited by Jamie D. Aten and Jenny Hwang, is an in-depth practical guide for practitioners.
www.apa.org/pubs/books/refugee-mental-health

Amanda Frost's You Are Not American: Citizenship Stripping from Dred Scott to the Dreamers looks at the history of revoking U.S. citizenship.
www.beacon.org/You-Are-Not-American-P1634.aspx


********************************************

***Join Our List***
If a friend has forwarded this email to you and you would like to continue receiving the Migration Information Source newsletter, you can subscribe here:
www.migrationpolicy.org/signup/source

***Sign Up for RSS Feed***
Subscribe to our RSS feed for news of the latest articles www.migrationpolicy.org/feeds/83/rss.xml

***Unsubscribe***
If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you can unsubscribe here:
[link removed]

_______________________________________________________________

The Migration Information Source
A project of the Migration Policy Institute
1400 16th Street, NW Suite 300
Washington, DC 20036 USA
tel: (001) 202-266-1940; fax: (001) 202-266-1900
email: [email protected]

Copyright @ 2021 Migration Policy Institute. All rights reserved.