Exclusion and Forced Migration in Central America: No More Walls PDF
Preview Exclusion and Forced Migration in Central America: No More Walls
Mobility & Politics Series Editors Martin Geiger Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Parvati Raghuram Open University Milton Keynes, United Kingdom William Walters Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Mobility& Politics Series Editors: Martin Geiger, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada; Parvati Raghuram, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK; William Walters, CarletonUniversity,Ottawa, Canada GlobalAdvisoryBoard:MichaelCollyer,UniversityofSussex;SusanB. Coutin, University of California; Raúl Delgado Wise, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas; Nicholas De Genova, King’s College London; Eleonore Kofman, Middlesex University; Rey Koslowski, University at Albany; Loren B. Landau, University of the Witwatersrand; Sandro Mezzadra, Università di Bologna; Alison Mountz, Wilfrid Laurier University; Brett Neilson, University of Western Sydney; Antoine Pécoud, Université Paris 13; Ranabir Samaddar, Mahanirban Research Group Calcutta; Nandita Sharma, University of Hawai’i at Manoa; Tesfaye Tafesse, Addis Ababa University; Thanh-Dam Truong, Erasmus University Rotterdam. Human mobility, whatever its scale, is often controversial. Hence it carrieswithitthepotentialforpolitics.Acorefeatureofmobilitypolitics is the tension between the desire to maximise the social and economic benefits of migration and pressures to restrict movement. Transnational communities, global instability, advances in transportation and commu- nication, and concepts of ‘smart borders’ and ‘migration management’ arejustafewofthephenomenatransformingthelandscapeofmigration today. The tension between openness and restriction raises important questions about how different types of policy and politics come to life and influence mobility. Mobility & Politics invitesoriginal, theoreticallyand empirically informed studies for academic and policy-oriented debates. Authors examine issues suchasrefugeesanddisplacement,migrationandcitizenship,securityand cross-border movements, (post-)colonialism and mobility, and transna- tional movementsand cosmopolitics. More information aboutthisseries at http://www.springer.com/series/14800 CarlosSandoval-García Exclusion and Forced Migration in Central America No More Walls CarlosSandoval-García InstituteforSocialResearch UniversityofCostaRica SanJose,CostaRica TranslatedbyKariMeyers Mobility&Politics ISBN978-3-319-51922-7 ISBN978-3-319-51923-4(eBook) DOI10.1007/978-3-319-51923-4 LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017930969 ©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s)2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher,whetherthewholeorpartofthematerialisconcerned,specificallytherightsof translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodology nowknownorhereafterdeveloped. Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthis publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesare exemptfromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformation in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publishernortheauthorsortheeditorsgiveawarranty,expressorimplied,withrespectto thematerialcontainedhereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade.The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutionalaffiliations. Coverillustration:Modernbuildingwindow©saulgranda/Getty Printedonacid-freepaper ThisPalgraveMacmillanimprintispublishedbySpringerNature TheregisteredcompanyisSpringerInternationalPublishingAG Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland ’ S E F ERIES DITORS OREWORD ThepastdecadeshaveseenasignificantriseinmigrationfromCentraland LatinAmericatopopularmigrationdestinationssuchastheUnitedStates and Canada. The nature of this migration stems not from desire, but necessity.Thedeepeningofneo-liberalpoliciesinparticularregionsneces- sitates workers migrate in an attempt to maintain their livelihoods. As a means to counter this form of forced migration, wealthier destination countries impose increasingly restrictive migration policies. This is partly in response to global market conditions, but more consistently it is the result of a growing politicization of migration and the exclusion of migrants. Racism,nationalismanddynamicsofcontrolmarksomeethni- citiesas‘undesirable’.Withtheuseofhumanrightsvocabularies,statescan legitimizepolicieslimitingthefreedomofmovementanddenyinghuman andotherbasicrightstomigrantsonthebasisofalackofcitizenship. ExclusionandForcedMigrationinCentralAmericaidentifiesmigration from Central America as a consequence of neo-liberal policies whereby millionsareforcedtoleavetosurvive.Itdemonstrateshowthisprocessforces migrantsintoirregularity,jeopardizingtheirsafetyandhumanrights.This newest addition to the Mobility & Politics series highlights the research of CarlosSandoval-Garcíainpresentingacompellingargumentagainstrestric- tiveanddiscriminatorymigrationpolicies.Theauthor’sworkistrulyinter- disciplinaryandcontributestoanemergingfieldofresearchthat considers migration and development as intersecting and intrinsically linked fields. Sandoval-Garcíaisexemplaryforinvolvingemergingscholarsinhisresearch. His work informs readers about the realities of economic migration from Central America through an examination of the process of migration. v vi SERIESEDITORS’FOREWORD Thebookfirstlyassessesthenationalandglobalcausesandconditionsthat havepropagatedmassmigration.Secondly,itanalysesthismigrationprocess asanindustry ofextortion. Thirdly, itidentifies the contrived roleofnon- governmentalorganizationsincompensatingforstatefailuresinthishuma- nitarianchallenge.Sandoval-Garcíashowsthisprocessextendsfarbeyonda regionalproblem,butratherisaperpetuatedsystemicinjustice. Astimegoeson,thisissueonlybecomesmoreprevalentandpressing,its implications profoundly impacting the lives of millions. Sandoval-García offers a series of considerations concerning the need to transcend a global orderthatpermitstheextortionandexploitationofmigrantworkersintheir mobilityprocess.TheinsightshisworkcontributestotheMobility&Politics series are invaluable to the examination of migration politics in Central America. Exclusion and Forced Migration in Central America makes the connection between systemic conditions and exclusion to address major injusticesperpetratedthroughtheglobalcapitalisteconomicorder. Delivering a comprehensive understanding of the systematically rooted nature of labour migration, Exclusion and Forced Migration in Central America, poses the daunting, but important question regarding the arbi- trariness of borders. This particularly questions the prioritization of what Liisa Malkki calls the ‘national order of things’1 and national security over the valueand safeguarding ofhumanlives and humanrights. Ithighlights thelegitimizationofanignoranceofkeyvaluesheldhighinWesternregard for their own citizens, and as an imposed global standard. Exclusion and ForcedMigrationinCentralAmericaprovidesinsightsforfutureconversa- tionsbetweenscholars,policy-makers,andotherstakeholdersintheircon- siderationofhownationswilladdressthedirectandindirectsystemiccauses andconsequencesofforcedmigrationforeconomicnecessity. The Series Editors Martin Geiger, CarletonUniversity ParvatiRaghuram,OpenUniversity WilliamWalters,CarletonUniversity and ErinNewman-Grigg,Mobility&PoliticsResearchCollective www.mobpoli.info//www.mobilitypoliticsseries.com 1Malkki,L.“NationalHeographic:TheRootingofPeoplesandtheTerritorialization of National Identity among Scholars and Refugees”. Cultural Anthropology, 7, 1(1992):24–44. A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS Exclusion and Forced Migration in Central America: No More Walls evolved from the project ‘Anti-Immigration Discourses and Institutional Practices and Normative Perspectives in Central America’, which took place from 2011 to 2013 at the Institute of Social Research of the University of Costa Rica (Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales de la Universidad de Costa Rica). I would like to express my gratitude to my colleaguesattheProgramofCultures,InstitutionsandSubjectivitieswho readandgavefeedbackontheresearchadvancesthatnowformpartofthis book. The two people who reviewed the Spanish manuscript made very valuable observationsforwhich Iam also grateful. Throughout the project I had the privilege of working with a very talented group of psychology students whom I would like to thank for their work and their friendship: Santiago Navarro, María José Masís, Eduardo Bolaños, Ada Soto, Melisa Chan and Valeria Sancho. To all of them a huge thank-you for facilitating multiple tasks associated with this project and also for sharing their research skills and questions, some of which arenow crystalizedin graduatetheses. During these three years, a long list of colleagues have invited me to presentresearchadvancesandhavefacilitatedinterviews,housing,biblio- graphy,newsreleasesfromorganizationsandcontactswithorganizations and individuals. At the risk of omitting someone, I would like to thank Andrés León Araya, Artemio Velasco, Daniel Villafuerte Solís, Francisco Iznardo SJ, Gabriela Martínez Castillo, Sister Dolores Palencia, Sister Gloria Morúa, Iván Merino SJ, José Julián Llaguno Thomas, Karina Fonseca Vindas, Koen Voorend, Laura Paniagua Arguedas, Luis Mario vii viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Martínez, Luz María López Meza, Marcelino López Balán, María Alejandrina Gómez Vásquez, María del Carmen García, Martha Rojas Wiesner, Mónica Brenes Montoya, Olivia Mena, Father Pedro Pantoja, Ricardo Machuca SJ, Rubén Figueroa, Sean Carroll SJ, Sergio Salazar Araya, Friar Tomás González Castillo and Yolanda González Cerdeira. I would also like to thank Marta Rojas Wiesner, who twice invited me to participate in sessions of the Permanent Seminar on International Migration (Seminario Permanente sobre Migración Internacional), orga- nized by the Colegio de la Frontera Sur, both in Tapachula and in San Cristóbal de Las Casas. Likewise, I appreciate the invitation proffered by LuisMarioMartíneztoparticipateinaseminaronthemediaandviolence at the Universidad Rafael Landívar. Both activities facilitated my knowl- edge of migratory dynamics in Guatemala and Mexico. A task commis- sioned by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) provided additional resources for financing field trips. No More Walls, the title of this book, refers to a phrase employed to question the arbi- trariness of borders which I found painted on the border wall between Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora, which renders homage to the many people who work day after day in the construction of hospitality andsolidarity. Some of the lessons from this project were employed in the digital animation project ‘Christmas Is Hospitality’ (http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=AI6Ubmy5OcY&index=2&list=PLQq7FNTefbM3mwLbygIg_ j57VOb6s7_mL), which is made up of four short stories. I would like to thank the work crew for having crystalized this unique experience. The enthusiasmandcommitmentofOlmanBolañosVargasandKarinaFonseca Vindas (again!) will be very difficult to forget. This book also informed a documentarywhosetitleis‘HomeinaForeignLand’,producedbyajoint initiative promoted by the National University of Distance Education (UNED) and the University of Costa Rica. It was a great opportunity to belong to the production team with Ivannia Villalobos-Vindas, Michelle Ferris-Artavia,SantiagoMartínez-ArtaviaandDavidRamírez. Karina Fonseca has been an ideal companion throughout this project; during our five o’clock coffee sessions we have gone over many of the pages that follow. While I was on field trips, Ignacio and Lucía, our children,askedmemanytimes,‘Whenareyoucoming?’Iamverythank- fultothemforthat!Thefinaleditionofthismanuscriptcameatthesame timeasthebirthofAlejandro,ournewsonwho,likehisolderbrother,was born prematurely andnowis healthy. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix WhilethismanuscriptwastranslatedfromSpanishtoEnglish,building a‘wall’alongtheborderbetweenMéxicoandtheUnitedStatesbecamea frequent topic in the US electoral campaign. I do hope this book might contributetowardstheunderstandingofwhyimmigrationhasbecomea key raw material for far-right politics. Translating this book is informed by the hope that social sciences produced in the Central American isthmus has to be red by wider audiences as a way adding more voices to the intercultural dialogue, beyond provincial outlooks. I must thank Des Gasper and Truong, Thanh-Dam, who suggested me to approach PalgravePivot.KariMeyersmadeacarefulworkoftranslatingthemanu- script. Thanks are also due to Palgrave’s Mobility and Politics editors, Martin Geiger, Parvati Raghuram and William Walters, for their interest inthisprojectaswellastothereviewersfortheircomments.AncaPusca, editor at Palgrave Pivot, deserves a special thanks for her patience with this project. Thisbook,bothinitsSpanishandEnglisheditions,isdedicatedtothe thousands of people who want to leave but do not have the resources to doso.To thosethousands whoapproachtheborderbetween Guatemala and Mexico. To all those who travel on the train or await in parks or shelters for ‘The Beast’ (La Bestia) to depart again. To all those who decide to return before crossing. To all those who cross over and are deported. To all those who make a life there, on ‘the other side’. To all thosewhodiedatsomepointoftheroute.Toallthosewhodemandofus socialscienceswhicharemorecriticalandcreative,morepropositionaland prospective.
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