Onward migration of Latin American families: negotiating citizenship and mobility in times of crisis

• Published in: International migration Vol. 59; no. 6; pp. 59 - 76
• Main Author: McCarthy, Helen N. J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-12-2021
• Subjects: Citizenship; Economic crisis; Economic stabilization; Families & family life; Family stability; Immigration; Immigration policy; Labor market; Labor migration; Migration; Mobility; Negotiation; Opportunity structures; Social mobility; Upward mobility; United Kingdom > UK; Latin America; Spain
• ISSN: 0020-7985; 1468-2435
• DOI: 10.1111/imig.12763

Transnational families have long used migration as a strategy for upward social mobility. However, migration projects are increasingly complex and often do not involve a single move from one country to another. Drawing on qualitative interviews, this paper explores how Latin American families negotiate different stages of their migration from Latin America to Spain to the UK. The paper demonstrates how families negotiate within the opportunity structures afforded to them to achieve physical and social mobility. These opportunities are structured by different legal regimes and the way that immigration, citizenship and labour market policies are implemented. The initial migration from Latin America to Spain had enabled Latin American families to gain economic stability and EU citizenship, but at the cost of a period of family separation. However, faced with the financial crisis, some families opted for onward migration to the UK, a process that resulted in families becoming “re‐transnationalised.”