Managing Latin American Migration

This Outlook appears at a time of change for international migration, and migration from Latin America and the Caribbean in particular. The European Union has in recent years been taking its first steps toward a European immigration policy the 2008 Return Directive for irregular migrants discussed in Chapter 1 is one facet of this emerging policy structure1. At the same time, individual EU member states have pursued aggressive, and sometimes controversial reforms, including the Spanish assisted-return programme for legal migrants assessed in Chapter 3. France has established quantitative targets for the share of economic immigrants among all immigrants, and for expulsions of irregular migrants (some 30 000 a year). The Obama administration in the United States announced in April 2009 that immigration reform, stalled since 2007, would be a policy priority for the new president’s first year in office – despite competition from health care and energy reform and the need for measures to combat the economic crisis. As part of this, the administration signalled a commitment to make legal status possible for the unauthorised population (about which statistics were provided in Chapter 2).

Latin American Economic Outlook 2010

Managing Latin American Migration

A Case for Public Action?