Deportation and reintegration in the Caribbean and Latin America: addressing the development–security paradox

Abstract

Purpose – To demonstrate that countries must implement policies that produce win-win outcomes for countries engaged in highly contentious issues such as return migration. Specifically, while major metropolitan countries have the right to deport “undesirable” nonnationals, their strategies should factor in a concern for the human rights, given that the receiving countries may not have the specialized resources to reintegrate these individuals.

Methodology – Debate on return migration is situated within the context of complex interdependence, and framed within the development–security paradox to demonstrate deductively via an imputed cost–benefit analysis that the security that countries seek through deportation policies may be undermined if creative mechanisms are not incorporated into the policies.

Findings – Because large influxes of returning migrants challenge the capacity of receiving countries to absorb returnees, maintain socioeconomic stability, and engender growth and development, deportation programs should be undertaken against the capacity of receiving countries to seamlessly reintegrate their citizens, many of whom have been culturally, socially, and economically disconnected from the societies in which they were born. Interventions prior to deportation to provide individuals with skills of training, national identification, and orientation to the countries of their birth can produce win-win outcomes for both the sending and receiving countries.

Practical implications – Policy relevance for political leaders and policy makers in both sending and receiving countries.

Value – Original research holding policy relevance for political leaders and policy makers in sending and receiving countries.

Citation

Griffin, C.E. (2009), "Deportation and reintegration in the Caribbean and Latin America: addressing the development–security paradox", Mcdonald, W.F. (Ed.) Immigration, Crime and Justice (Sociology of Crime, Law and Deviance, Vol. 13), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 279-296. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1521-6136(2009)0000013018