MPI's Migration Information Source Newsletter

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July 1, 2021

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Feature
Intersecting Crises: Pandemic and Hurricanes Add to Political Instability Driving Migration from Honduras
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/pandemic-hurricanes-political-instability-migration-honduras
A disproportionate number of Central American migrants traveling through Mexico to the United States come from Honduras, driven by government corruption, impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, and hurricanes that have devastated communities and livelihoods. This article examine the multiple factors behind migration from the country, drawing from interviews with migrants en route.

U.S. Policy Beat
Texas Once Again Tests the Boundaries of State Authority in Immigration Enforcement
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/texas-tests-boundaries-state-authority-immigration
Texas seems set to become chief antagonist to President Joe Biden's immigration agenda. This article explores Governor Greg Abbott's plans to build new barriers along the border, use state and local law enforcement to carry out arrests of unauthorized immigrants, and strip licensing from federally contracted shelters housing unaccompanied children.


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EDITOR'S NOTE

At long last, Europe is starting to enter the post-Brexit era.

Wednesday was the deadline for millions of European Union, European Economic Area, and Swiss citizens residing in the United Kingdom to apply for the Settlement Scheme allowing them to remain in the country as permanent residents or on a pathway to permanent residence. The scheme, developed as part of the United Kingdom's byzantine and hotly debated withdrawal from the European Union, provides a measure of relief to continental Europeans who have been longtime UK residents.

About those millions: it turns out there were many more than previously thought. More than 5.6 million applications were filed by the end of May, far higher than the 3.7 million previously estimated as likely to come forward. Particularly notable were the high number of citizens of Southern and Eastern European countries; for instance, more than 800,000 Romanians applied for status, double previous estimates.

Wednesday was also the deadline for UK citizens to apply for residence status in three EU states: Latvia, Luxembourg, and Malta. Ten other European countries have later deadlines, some of which have been pushed back due to COVID-19-related challenges. British residents in 13 other EU countries are automatically being given a new residence status. (Ireland is a special case because of its Common Travel Area with the United Kingdom.)

While there are believed to be far fewer Brits in these countries than EU nationals in the United Kingdom, the situations on both sides have been complicated by the coronavirus pandemic, as my colleagues at the Migration Policy Institute Europe examined last year.

The Wednesday deadline, coming almost precisely five years after the pivotal 2016 referendum, is a significant benchmark for Brexit. Generally speaking, most people who had been legally present in one country or another will be allowed to remain. But analysts are almost certain that many eligible people will miss the opportunity to apply and fall into irregular status. And going forward, there will be new barriers for Europeans looking to move to the United Kingdom and vice versa. Saara Koikkalainen described the strain that Brexit placed on Europe's free-movement system in a recent article in the Migration Information Source.

The severe underestimate of the number of EU nationals in the United Kingdom is worth paying attention to, and may offer a glimpse into the true nature of intra-European migration. Because of the minimal restrictions on movement between many European countries, no one quite knows how many citizens move back and forth across boundaries that have become largely invisible.

Ironically, Brexit--which was in large part prompted by heightened anxieties about migration--has shown just how important this migration has become.

Best regards,

Julian Hattem

Editor, Migration Information Source

[email protected]


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NEW FROM MPI

Immigrant and Other U.S. Workers a Year into the Pandemic: A Focus on Top Immigrant States
www.migrationpolicy.org/research/covid19-recession-us-immigrant-workers
By Julia Gelatt, Jeanne Batalova and Christopher Levesque

A Solvable Challenge: Improving Asylee Access to Health and Other Benefits
www.migrationpolicy.org/news/improving-asylee-access-benefits
By Essey Workie, Mark Greenberg and Lillie Hinkle


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HAVE YOU READ?

Mexican Migration to Canada: Temporary Worker Programs, Visa Imposition, and NAFTA Shape Flows
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/mexican-migration-canada

Borderless Europe: Seven Decades of Free Movement
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/borderless-europe-free-movement

Belonging: The Resettlement Experiences of Hmong Refugees in Texas and Germany
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/belonging-resettlement-experiences-hmong-refugees-texas-and-germany


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MEDIA CORNER

Andrejs Plakans dives into the history of the Latvian diaspora in "The Reluctant Exiles: Latvians in the West after World War II."
[link removed]

"Adolescents in Humanitarian Crisis: Displacement, Gender and Social Inequalities," edited by Nicola Jones, Kate Pincock, and Bassam Abu Hamad, considers the unique challenges faced by displaced adolescents.
www.routledge.com/Adolescents-in-Humanitarian-Crisis-Displacement-Gender-and-Social-Inequalities/Jones-Pincock-Hamad/p/book/9780367764616

In "Batman Saves the Congo: How Celebrities Disrupt the Politics of Development," Alexandra Cosima Budabin and Lisa Ann Richey examine ways that the rich and famous affect development and humanitarian projects.
www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/batman-saves-the-congo#

Daniel Bertrand Monk and Andrew Herscher examine the intersection of design and humanitarianism in "The Global Shelter Imaginary: IKEA Humanitarianism and Rightless Relief."
www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/the-global-shelter-imaginary

"Voices of the Border: Testimonios of Migration, Deportation, and Asylum" offers personal stories of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, edited by Tobin Hansen and María Engracia Robles Robles.
[link removed]

Mexican essayist Mariana Oliver ponders multiple forms of migration in "Migratory Birds."
www.transitbooks.org/books/migratorybirds


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