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Migration and the Threat of Extremism (Central America)

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Jan 1, 2025 — Chinese Diaspora in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Chinese diaspora in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) represents a significant and multifaceted component of the region's demographic and cultural landscape. Originating from various waves of migration since the 19th century, Chinese migrants mostly work in Chinese restaurants, laundromats and warehouses in the respective countries, although some engage in illicit activities such as casinos.

Ecuador was the main destination for illegal Chinese migrants, although in June 2024 it suspended visa free travel for Chinese nationals. New potential destinations include Bolivia, Nicaragua and Suriname. This report examines the destinations of Chinese migrants, their societal roles, occupations, and population demographics.

Leland Lazarus

Feb 26, 2025 — US CBP Air and Marine Operations Intercepts Maritime Smuggling Attempt Off Florida Coast: On February 11, 2025, Air and Marine Operations (AMO), an operational component of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, intercepted a maritime smuggling attempt off the coast of Florida, preventing the unlawful entry of 13 illegal aliens.

Marine Interdiction Agents with the Miami Marine Unit identified a suspicious vessel operating without navigation lights. When agents attempted to stop the vessel, the operator failed to comply. Agents initiated the Small Boat Interdiction Program (SBIP), deploying one marine warning round, which prompted the vessel to stop.

Tony Kingham Border Security Report

Feb 5, 2025 — Chinese migrant smuggled to Florida shares why she was desperate to flee to U.S.: 30 people were taken into custody in Coral Gables as part of an investigation into a possible human smuggling or trafficking operation. 21 out of the 30 people were Chinese nationals.

Routes through the Bahamas have drawn interest over the past few years, though those patterns can be cyclical.

For Chinese migrants in particular, the number apprehended in Miami so far for fiscal year 2025, which began in October, has already reached almost three-quarters of what it was in 2024.

Aarne Heikkila, Kimmy Yam NBC News

May 16, 2024 — Mind the Darién Gap, Migration Bottleneck of the Americas: Under mounting pressure from the United States to contain illegal immigration, the Mexican government has expanded its visa requirements, making it more difficult for people to fly directly to the U.S.-Mexico border. Instead, they will now often fly into Brazil or Ecuador, where visa policies are more lax, before heading for Necocli. To bypass the Darién Gap entirely, some African migrants are flying to Nicaragua before heading north.

Another starting point is the port city of Turbo about an hour south of Necoclí that regained popularity in 2023 after it was largely unused for years.

Panamanian authorities have set up infrastructure to temporarily house migrants and provide them with basic services, but officials say more assistance is needed.

Daniel F. Runde, Thomas Bryja CSIS

Apr 11, 2024 — South American Immigrants in the United States: By the end of February 2024, 91,000 Venezuelans had arrived under a specific parole program for nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Since 2023, Colombians and Ecuadorians (along with nationals of some Central American and Caribbean countries) have been eligible for family reunification parole programs that allow people who have been approved for a family-based green card to enter and remain in the United States while they await their visa.

Since 2023, Colombians and Ecuadorians (along with nationals of some Central American and Caribbean countries) have been eligible for family reunification parole programs that allow people who have been approved for a family-based green card to enter and remain in the United States while they await their visa.

Julian Montalvo, Jeanne Batalova Migration Policy Institute

Feb 22, 2024 — ‘Disillusioned about China’, more Chinese aim for US via risky Darien Gap: Chinese migrants – unlike many of the other most common nationalities in the Darien, such as Venezuelans and Haitians – often take special “VIP” routes across the jungle that are led by guides working for the Gulf Clan, Colombia’s largest drug cartel, and are quicker and less strenuous for higher prices than the most basic routes.

The huge spike in Chinese people making the journey across the Darien – a journey now so popular it is known in Mandarin as “zouxian” or walking the line — has been driven by the Chinese government’s COVID-19 lockdowns, increasingly rigid rule and the recent flatlining of China’s once-imperious economy.

Peter Yeung Aljazeera

Chinese Migration and Their Organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean: New studies on transpacific interactions dating from the colonial period to the present day signify a major shift in Latin American studies as they are only just now using a diasporic transnational approach that has yielded a rich variety of literature.

Reemergence of claims to ethnic Chinese identity—a process of “re-Sinification”—is centering challenges to traditional notions of inclusion and identity in broader discussions of nationhood, multiculturalism, and ethnic and racial identities.

The growing economic development of the PRC and the greater ability of its citizens to travel abroad have led to a new wave of migration to Latin America. Migrants from provinces like Fujian and Zhejiang are using savings and credit to open businesses, especially restaurants and supermarkets. In Argentina, the number of Chinese-owned supermarkets has grown so much that some areas have restricted new ones. With one of the fastest growth rates in the world, China continues to export its population to Latin America where their presence now manifests through both embassies and large corporations, and through a continuous flow of professionals, students, and workers.

Ariel C. Armony, Rosa Hassan De Ferrari University of Pittsburgh Press

Apr 28, 2023 — Migrants find tips on Chinese version of TikTok for long trek to U.S.-Mexico border: Code words such as “the route” (route to U.S.-Mexico border) and “the Big Beautiful” (the United States) are being used throughout several common hashtags on Douyin, the Chinese counterpart to TikTok, advising migrants on the irregular overland trek across Latin America to the U.S.

About half of Chinese nationals interviewed at the U.S.-Mexico border said they had been small business owners in China: running online stores, a sheep farm, a movie production company. Others wore crosses and carried Chinese-language bibles, saying they were Christians who felt they could not freely practice their religion at home. China's constitution guarantees religious freedom, but in recent years critics including the U.S. government say Beijing has tightened restrictions on religions seen as a challenge to the authority of the Communist party.

Echo Wang, Mica Rosenberg Reuters

Apr 14, 2025 — Sanctions on Venezuela Are Not Driving Migration to the US Southwest Border: An Empirical Assessment: The empirical evidence presented in this paper suggests that higher oil income in Venezuela is associated with higher—not lower—crossings at the US southwest border. This finding has important implications for the ongoing policy debate about sanctions on the Venezuelan regime.

Our results contradict the notion that economic sanctions would increase migration flows to the United States. In fact, the data shows the opposite relationship: when Venezuela's oil income decreases (as would be expected under stricter sanctions), migration flows also tend to decrease.

Dany Bahar, Ricardo Hausmann Center For Global Development

Mar 13, 2025 — Slowing Migrant Flows in Colombia Dry Up Smuggling Profits: Migrant smuggling dynamics in northern Colombia are shifting in response to a US immigration crackdown, potentially disrupting a lucrative revenue stream for the powerful crime group known as the Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia).

The number of migrants crossing the Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama plummeted to just over a dozen per day in February, as fears of stricter US immigration policies under the administration of President Donald Trump have deterred new crossings. The vast majority of those returning are Venezuelans, according to Colombia’s Foreign Ministry, which reported that 1,885 migrants arrived in Colombia from Panama between January 15 and February 28.

Henry Shuldiner, Sara Garcia Insight Crime

Oct 1, 2024 — Migrant encounters at U.S.-Mexico border have fallen sharply in 2024: After reaching a record high at the end of 2023, the monthly number of U.S. Border Patrol encounters with migrants crossing into the United States from Mexico has plummeted so far in 2024.

There have also been sharp decreases in encounters with citizens of other countries, including some that historically have not been common origin nations for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border:

Encounters with citizens of China fell 75% from 5,591 to 1,472.

Encounters with citizens of Venezuela plunged 99% between December 2023 and August 2024, from 46,918 to 626.

Encounters with citizens of Haiti fell 97%, from 1,392 to 46.

Encounters with citizens of Nicaragua fell 96%, from 8,176 to 297.

Encounters with citizens of Peru fell 95%, from 5,742 to 312.

Encounters with citizens of Ecuador fell 84%, from 16,951 to 2,676.

Encounters with citizens of Colombia fell 80%, from 17,874 to 3,531.

Encounters with citizens of Cuba fell 98%, from 4,964 to 104.

John Gramlich Pew Research Center

Dec 12, 2023 — Migration Trends in the Americas October-December 2023: This report encompasses a variety of topics, including a synopsis of migratory movements within the Americas, incidents of migrant deaths and disappearances, predominant nationalities of migrants in transit within the region, data on remittances, statistics on the issuance of permanent residencies, and detailed insights into the migration dynamics of specific countries, among others.

In terms of mobility due to internal displacement, the American continent has registered new movements caused by conflicts and various catastrophes (e.g., in Haiti, during October and November, violence in the West Department forced more than 18,000 displacements, including 8,000 due to crime-related violence in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince and another 10,000 due to land conflicts in the municipality of Arcahaie).

Latin America and the Caribbean recorded an 8 percent increase in remittances received in 2023, surpassing other regions such as Asia and SubSaharan Africa with 1.9 percent, according to World Bank data (World Bank, 2024).

Oct 1, 2016 — Chinese Migration to Latin America and the Caribbean: This report makes note of an increase in permanent Chinese migration to LAC following the post-1985 loosening of Chinese exit rules, followed by an uptake in often temporary flows post-2005, in association with growing Chinese investment in the region.

With the liberalization of Chinese exit rules during China’s era of “reform and opening-up,” (1979) many Chinese migrants traveled to Latin America and the Caribbean on their own to work or to establish businesses. This independent migration was focused on the services sector (e.g., shops and restaurants) and on work in fisheries.

An urgent memo published in 2015 by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, and State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) indicated that labor and capital disputes have the potential to negatively affect local populations, China’s own business interests, and China’s overseas image. Chinese statistics indicate a decline in labor export globally in recent years, although official LAC statistics have increased marginally.

Jacqueline Mazza

Dec 2, 2024 — Intraregional migration in Latin America - statistics & facts: Human mobility has been a constant phenomenon in Latin America and the Caribbean. Nevertheless, regional integration and cheaper transportation have made migration easier in recent decades. Endemic violence, environmental disasters, and lack of economic opportunities have pushed millions of people to seek a better future in neighboring countries, making intraregional migration an increasingly common option . In recent data, there were around 42.9 million migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean around the world, 11.3 million of which were hosted within the region.

Statista Research Department Statista

Migrants in transit through the Americas: The Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) is IOM's global methodology for monitoring and tracking migrant and displaced populations in order to analyze trends in migratory flows. For this interactive dashboard, the flow monitoring component of DTM was used to obtain qualitative and quantitative data on migration trends. The DTM data shown in this dashboard has been collected since October 2022, in different locations in Central America and Mexico.

This interactive dashboard also presents official government data known as administrative data. Specifically, it features irregular migration data from the governments of Panama and Honduras, and regular migration data from Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, Honduras and the Dominican Republic.

IOM UN Migration IOM UN Migration

Human Mobility Data Portal: The migration data portal offers two dashboards. The first highlights official migration data from member states on flows, type of movement, length of stay, etc.

The second offers dashboard visualizes data collected the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM’s) Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM). This database provides multi-layered information on the mobility, vulnerabilities, and needs of displaced and mobile populations.

Feb 22, 2023 — Promise and Peril: Migration Management Technologies in West Africa and Central America: As the United States and Europe address the growing challenge of managing migration flows, they have significantly expanded their engagement with migration origin and transit countries, including in providing and supporting the deployment of sophisticated technology to understand, monitor, and influence the movement of people across borders. While many migrants rely on technology to connect with others and locate critical information and aid throughout the migration process, technology also enables governments to track migrants long before they reach their destination country. Without proper safeguards and human rights due diligence, the misuse of technology is an impending danger to both migrants and those with intentions to migrate.

An upcoming report, co-authored by CSIS’s Human Rights Initiative and the Project on Fragility and Mobility, analyzes the use and exportation of migration management technologies by origin countries, as well as the human rights risks associated with these uses. It then provides recommendations for origin, transit, and destination governments as well as businesses supplying technology for migration management.

Badara Ndiaye, Amal El Ouassif, Caterina Rodelli, Erol Yayboke, William Brownsfield, Oscard Chacon, Angela Alarcon, Marti Flacks CSIS

Mar 27, 2025 — Shifting Migration Trends in the Americas: In this episode of Plaza Central, host Benjamin Gedan , director of the Wilson Center’s Latin America Program, is joined by Wilson Center fellow Molly O'Toole to discuss the migration crisis in the Western Hemisphere. From asylum seekers navigating treacherous routes to shifting enforcement strategies under the new US administration, their conversation examines the drivers of migration and what lies ahead for regional cooperation.

Molly O'Toole, Benjamin N. Gedan Wilson Center