This book identifies the history, conventions, and uses of security discourses, and argues that such language and media frames distort information and mislead the public, misidentify the focus of concern, and omit narratives able to recognize the causes and solutions to humanitarian crises. What has been identified as a crisis at the border is better understood as an on-going crisis of violence, building over decades, that has forced migrants from their homes in the countries of the Northern Triangle. Authors Robin Andersen and Adrian Bergmann look back to U.S. military policies in the region and connect this legacy to the cross-border development of transnational gangs, government corruption, and on-going violence that often targets environmental and legal defenders. They argue that the discourses of demonization and securitization only help perpetuate brutality in both Central America and the United States, especially in the desert borderlands of the southwest. They offer ways in which stories of migrants can be reframed within the language of justice, empathy, and humanitarianism. A compelling examination of language, media, and politics, this book is both highly contemporary and widely applicable, perfect for students and scholars of global media, political communications, and their many intersections.

This volume focuses on Jewish, Arab, non-Latin European, Asian, and Latin American immigrants and their experiences in their “new” homes. Rejecting exceptionalist and homogenizing tendencies within immigration history, contributors advocate instead an approach that emphasizes the locally- and nationally-embedded nature of ethnic identification.

This extensive survey of migration in the modern world begins in the sixteenth century with the establishment of European colonies overseas, and covers the history of migration to the late twentieth century, when global communications and transport systems stimulated immense and complex flows of labour migrants and skilled professionals. In ninety-five contributions, leading scholars from twenty-seven different countries consider a wide variety of issues including migration patterns, the flights of refugees and illegal migration. Each entry is a substantive essay, supported by up-to-date bibliographies, tables, plates, maps and figures. As the most wide-ranging coverage of migration in a single volume, The Cambridge Survey of World Migration will be an indispensable reference tool for scholars and students in the field.

In the early years of the recent Central American crisis, analysts often predicted a rapid, dramatic resolution—whether by revolutionary victory or through military intervention by the United States. The 1980s, however, have witnessed an intensification of conflicts with increasing U.S. involvement. Rather than standing at the brink of a sharp turning point, Central America is at an interim point in an evolving historical process. This text provides an assessment of this process and of its immediate and long-term implications for the region and for U.S.-Latin American relations. It focuses on the complex and contradictory effects of the Reagan administration's efforts to influence the Central American debate within the United States and to reestablish U.S. hegemony in the region itself. The first part of the book examines the development of various aspects of U.S. policy toward Central America. In particular, contributors discuss the interaction between the executive and legislative branches in shaping U.S. strategy, the implications for constitutional democracy of presidential control over foreign policymaking, the treatment of Central American refugees, the counterinsurgency strategy of "low intensity warfare," and the effects of U.S. policy on regional peace initiatives put forward by Mexico and other Latin American countries. In the second part, contributors analyze external pressures on Central American countries and regional dynamics. They begin with a discussion of the economic crisis—aggravated by conflicts in the region—and regional integration. Other topics include the ambiguous position of the Catholic church, Guatemala's "hidden war," "demonstration elections," the changing balance of forces in El Salvador, and the obstacles Nicaragua faces in constructing a new economic development model. Nora Hamilton is associate professor of political science and Linda Fuller is assistant professor of sociology at the University of Southern California. Jeffry A. Frie

Looking at refugee protection in Latin America, this landmark edited collection assesses what the region has achieved in recent years. It analyses Latin America’s main documents in refugee protection, evaluates the particular aspects of different regimes, and reviews their emergence, development and effect, to develop understanding of refugee protection in the region. Drawing from multidisciplinary texts from both leading academics and practitioners, this comprehensive, innovative and highly topical book adopts an analytical framework to understand and improve Latin America’s protection of refugees.

This book examines the social construction and representation of ‘youth on the move’ in the context of the migration process, using El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras as a case study to reinterpret the immigration process under the frameworks of coloniality and epistemologies of the South. The discussion surrounding Central American migrants has increased exponentially with the emergence of the caravans and the increased security measures along Mexican and US borders. Explicitly focused on the plight of children and young people, the examination of migration includes exploring the global context and dynamics that influence migratory trends and framing Central American migrant processes and youth strategies of survival and resistance. Contributing to existing conversations about the migration of people from Central America, this text seeks to understand the phenomenon’s roots. This book will interest scholars and students across the social sciences, particularly those studying the global dynamics of power, and migration and governance, as well as practitioners involved in decision-making with governments and international organizations.

Refugees and their protection have started to be a part of daily conversation in recent years. New flows from Africa to Europe, new crisis in Asia and in the Americas, and record numbers since the Second World War, for instance, have paved the way for news reports in the media, political discourses on the topic and debates on how to actually protect these persons. In a world scenario of increasingly (i) closed borders, (ii) association of migration to security issues, (iii) lack of political will to ascertain human rights and (iv) disregard for migration as a right in se, the challenges on and for refugees’ protection have been progressing; as have the need for international protection of persons fleeing well-founded fear of persecution due to their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership to a social group, i.e. refugees. Regional approaches and national practices gain relevance, especially if they can be seen as good practices, even if not without flaws. “What are the main challenges and opportunities regarding Refugee Protection in Latin America and in Brazil? The book offers a very convincing response. The essays by Liliana Jubilut reflect rigorous academic research and years of practical experience on supporting asylum seekers and refugees. The author is certainly one of the most influential scholars in Brazil working in the Forced Migration field, and the essays provide a comprehensive view of Refugee Protection in Brazil and Latin America”. – Gabriel Gualano de Godoy, PhD, UNHCR Chief of Mission in the Dominican Republic and former Head of UNHCR Protection Unit in Brazil. “This book shed clear lights on the development of refugee protection in Latin America for the years to come. Liliana Jubilut is already a leading scholar on refugee protection in Latin America and her articles reflect a long myriad of issues related to refugee protection, since status determination, resettlement, local integration and the remarkable humanitarian visas for the Syrian refugees. She shows the developments and setbacks and recover the most important developments since the Cartagena Declaration with a sharp eye and historical perspective. This book will soon become an essential bibliography for anyone trying to understand the particular and innovative refugee protection initiatives in this troubled but generous region”. – Wellington Pereira Carneiro, PhD, UNHCR Senior Official (having worked in Brazil and Colombia for UNHCR and in Panama prior to joining the UN)