The Latin Americanist

THE MULTI-FACETED DEBATE ON HUMAN MIGRATION Kristy A. Belton University of Connecticut Waltraud Q. Morales University of Central Florida Since the beginning of human history people have moved. They have left ancestral homelands, entered new spaces, explored new frontiers and returned to former abodes. Ours is a history of emigrating and immigrating , of crossing borders (territorial, social and political), of trying to establish ourselves in new domains, or of arguing for our right to be where we are. The contemporary concern about immigration is thus a manifestation of an age-old and chronic problem that is not unique to the 21st century or to the United States.1 Yet the present debate over human movement appears to have intensified as a result of the relentless advance of globalization and the rise in “illegal” or “undocumented” workers.2 Questions concerning States’ responsibilities toward migrant workers—especially marginalized and undocumented workers who typically experience labor and human rights abuses—have become especially prominent. This article explores the question of human movement from multiple perspectives—theory, foreign policy and international doctrine—in order to contextualize the current immigration debate in the United States. It explains how migration challenges human-State relations, influences political discourse and foreign policy directives, and presents many migrants— particularly the undocumented—with very real human security dilemmas. It ends by demonstrating the discord between political practice and international human rights rhetoric with regard to freedom of movement, and alludes to the fact that the debate on human movement is far from over. Theoretical Overview In order to address the question of human movement (migration), a brief overview of several key theories that explain migratory movements is instructive. Generally, it has been assumed that “if you build it, they will come;” that is, migration responds to the push-pull factors of economic development, and like water pooling at the lowest level, immigrants are drawn to countries and regions of growth and opportunity , seeking out employment and better life prospects. In other words, the majority of foreign migrants are economic immigrants and/or economic refugees.3 Thus a central question for any theory of migration to address is why migrants leave their homes in the first place. To what extent do economic development and growth, and conversely economic hardship and breakdown, in regions or countries stimulate migration C  2009 Southeastern Council on Latin American Studies and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 187 The Latin Americanist, March 2009 flows? To answer this question, migration research draws heavily on multidisciplinary contributions and perspectives. Generally, these attribute migration to a “complex set of factors and interactions which lead to international migration and influence its course.”4 Among the various theoretical explanations of migration include: the economic, the globalization, transnational and historical-structural theory of migration. Economic theories of migration, alluded to above, emphasize the importance of “push-pull” forces of national policies and economies and the central role migrants play as rational decision-makers, constantly weighing the costs and benefits of immigration.5 Key “push factors” include the lack of economic opportunities and political repression in one’s home country while important “pull factors” that attract immigrants to receiving countries include jobs, land, and political freedoms.6 From the economic perspective, migration is largely conceptualized as a form of rational investment in the development of “human capital” and, as such, immigrants’ actions determine their future well-being and their societal worth proportionate to their economic contributions.7 Central to economic explanations of migration is the impact of industrialization on labor markets. Migration from this perspective is viewed as the natural consequence of the chronic labor demands of advanced industrial societies and serves as a major pull factor in receiving countries that struggle with labor shortages and rely on immigrant workers to keep their economies booming. Moreover, employers often turn to immigrants not only to meet short-term labor demands but also to solve endemic structural economic problems such as low wage scales, unstable working conditions, and poor labor mobility that deter recruitment from the domestic labor market.8 The role of migrant workers, therefore, is to fill the gaps present in the receiving society due to existing structural deficiencies. Globalization theories of migration focus on...