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The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of states’ pandemic responses to the conditions and vulnerabilities of undocumented Filipino migrants in Italy and the UK. It also explores the role and strategies of migrant organisations in addressing the issues and concerns of undocumented workers.

Qualitative approaches are used to collect and analyse the narratives of the migrants and migrant organisations. This paper used government reports, policy briefs and documents from international organisations in analysing the socio-political vulnerabilities of undocumented migrants in the context of the global pandemic. In addition, we interviewed leaders of migrant organisations, which are involved in supporting irregular migrants.

The study reveals that states have exercised a regime of legitimate violence against undocumented workers in Italy and the UK. This regime is imposed not only by the stringent laws and policies that directly and indirectly cause economic, social and even cultural suffering to the migrants but also by the “symbolic violence” manifested in structural and social inequalities, and the exploitative economic order amid the pandemic. Responding to the “regime of fear”, migrant organisations provide immediate relief and “safe spaces” for the undocumented workers.

The paper contributes to the ongoing conversation on state practices in regulating migration by framing the conditions of undocumentation as legal violence that structurally deprives irregular migrants access to health care and human rights amid global health crisis.

Neoliberal globalization processes have created the conditions for the differential incorporation of men and women around the globe (Castles & Miller, 2009; Toro-Morn & Alicea, 2004). Indeed, this has been called the age of global migrations. People are on the move sometimes by their own choice, but most frequently pushed by forces beyond their control. Modern nation-states occupy a curious place in this process as it has traditionally managed and restricted the conditions and terms of entrance. This has prevented groups from entering under legitimate conditions creating migration flows of undocumented peoples. The treatment of refugees by modern nation-states in the global North has been problematic at best, neglectful and criminal at worst. In keeping with the goals of this volume, this chapter examines the rhetoric of one modern nation-state – the United States – in implementing border controls and immigration policies. Nation-states have always sought to control borders and regulate flow of people, but the current era offers some moments that demonstrate the contradictions embedded in the neoliberal regimes for modern, nation-states. In this paper, the authors are attentive to current immigration policies to expose the inconsistencies and tensions. The nation-state with its desire to enforce borders and social controls creates a humanitarian crisis unseen in modern history. The authors propose that modern nation-states in the era of global migrations cannot escape the contradictions engendered by neoliberal globalization.

In Canada, undocumented children are “institutionally invisible” – their access to education to be found in unwritten and discretionary practices. Drawing on the experience of a three-year university-community partnership among researchers, institutional and community stakeholders, the purpose of this paper is to examine how undocumented children are constructed as excluded from school.

The establishment of this collaborative research space, helped to critically understand how this exclusion was maintained, and highlighted contradictory interpretations of policies and practices.

Proposing the analytical framework of “institutional invisibility”, the authors argue that issues of access and entitlement for undocumented children have to be often understood within unwritten and ambiguous policies and practices that make the lives of young people invisible to the institutional entities with which they interact.

The notion of institutional invisibility allows the authors to integrate the missing link between questions of access and deservingness. The paper also reflects on the role of action research in both documenting dynamics and pathways of institutional invisibility, as well as in initiating social change – as both horizontal, and vertical mobilisation.

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the impact of globalisation and productive restructuring in contemporary migration flows in Latin America. It analyses two different movements to/from Latin America: Bolivians in São Paulo and Brazilians in London, seeking to highlight the precarious work conditions of migrants from the region.

The paper uses two interrelated research projects. One focuses on Bolivian workers in São Paulo. It used reference documents, and files from the local press and academic articles to map work dynamics of Bolivian migrants working in sweatshops. The other was conducted in London, where in‐depth interviews and participant observations were conducted with Brazilians working in low‐skilled jobs, to explore motives behind migration and settlement.

There is increasing mobility between different countries that receive immigrants with flexible proposals about constructing “new life projects”. These migrants seek to escape unfavourable living and working conditions, yet an overall perspective of flexible capitalism in its forms of production, distribution and consumption is observable. Both contexts feature precarious employment relationships, with informality, illegality and ethnic social networks being the main elements of attraction and support in host countries. Differences are located in the perspectives of return and settlement, given the different economic situations in England, Brazil and Bolivia.

Sample size does not allow making representative statements or generalisations about Brazilians in London. In addition, it was not possible to get primary data from Bolivians in São Paulo because the clandestine nature of the sweatshops makes it difficult to gain access, and to obtain reliable data.

The paper offers an important departure point to advance discussions about productive restructuring, informality, and Latin American mobilities by addressing the intersections between employment relations, migration and geographical mobility within/from Latin America.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss family migration through the findings of the undocumented worker transitions (UWT) European Union funded, sixth framework project, which was completed in February 2009.

Focusing on results from 211 interviews across seven European countries, together with the current literature on the subject, the paper identifies types of family migration and examines the implications of migration policies and measures in relation to family life and the position of individuals within it, such as women, children or the older people. The paper argues that family‐related reasons often play a central role in the decision to migrate and shape employment experiences.

Independent of restrictions imposed by various states to control migration, family‐related migration does occur in destinations considered to provide economic prosperity (or survival) with the help of social networks and often with the intention of settling permanently/semi‐permanently in the host state. Status shift towards irregularity often translates to a more vulnerable position in the labour market, inviting exploitation and worsening of the working conditions as a result of precarious employment conditions.

The paper concludes that greater protection (in terms of status) and encouragement (in terms of involvement in the civic society) is needed for migrant families in order to enable integration and combat future disadvantage and discrimination that might be experienced by this group.

The paper places emphasis on irregular migrants, as research in this area is limited. The work is also original as it is based on primary research on the experiences of undocumented migrants in seven European countries.

In this paper, the authors suggest that Central Americans can use entrepreneurship to solve economic uncertainty in their home country and that entrepreneurship can contribute to reducing the number of undocumented migrants to the USA.

The authors first illustrate the context of Central American illegal migration to the USA from a transitional entrepreneurship perspective, the authors address the economic drivers of illegal migration from Central America, which results in marginalization in the USA. Second, the authors build a theoretical model that suggests that Central Americans can improve their entrepreneurial abilities through the entrepreneurial cognitive adjustment mechanism.

Central Americans at risk of illegally migrating to the USA have high entrepreneurial aptitudes. Entrepreneurship can help them avoid the economic uncertainty that drives Central Americans to illegally migrate to the USA and become part of a marginalized community of undocumented immigrants. This conceptual paper introduces an entrepreneurial cognitive adjustment mechanism as a tool for Central Americans to reshape their personalities and increase their entrepreneurial abilities in their home countries. In particular, entrepreneurial intentions reshape the personality characteristics of individuals (in terms of high agreeableness and openness to experiences, as well as low neuroticism) through the entrepreneurial cognitive adjustment mechanism, which consists of reflective action in sensemaking, cognitive frameworks in pattern recognition and coping in positive affect.

This paper studies Central Americans at risk of illegal migration using the lens of transitional entrepreneurship, which advances the understanding of the antecedents to marginalized immigrant communities in the USA and suggests a possible solution for this phenomenon. Besides, the authors build a cognitive mechanism to facilitate the transitional process starting from entrepreneurial intention to reshaping individuals' personality, which further opens individuals' minds to entrepreneurial opportunities. Since entrepreneurial intention applies the same way to all entrepreneurs, the authors' aim of constructing the entrepreneurial intention unfolding process will go beyond transitional entrepreneurship and contribute to intention-action knowledge generation (Donaldson et al., 2021). Moreover, the conceptual study contributes to public policy such that international and local agencies can better utilize resources and implement long-term solutions to the drivers of illegal migration from Central America to the USA.

This paper is designed to provide primary research which illuminates both the motivations for Cambodian migration as well as the risks entailed in undertaking migration.

This paper gathered its information through a structured interview with 49 respondents aged between 17–29 years of mixed gender. The questionnaire comprised 18 questions in addition to a demographics section. Findings were subsequently analysed in order to extract commonalities amongst the experiences and perceptions of migrants.

The present research study found that the migration of Cambodians to Thailand is largely forced in the sense that there is a lack of economic opportunities within Cambodia. Of the respondents, 88% indicated that their preference would be to remain in Cambodia. What is more, the authors found that the migration is fraught with insecurity and risk, with a range of security issues faced by respondents including not being paid, being abused and being overworked.

This response group is not a representative sample of Cambodians who work in Thailand. The study’s respondents in Cambodia were at a deportation centre, where migrants caught by Thai authorities worked without documentation, which had a clear impact upon migration experience. Additionally, the study’s respondents in Pattaya, Thailand, were accessed via an associate of a colleague, so this too is not a representative sample of Cambodians working in Thailand.

This can have practical use for a variety of stakeholders by providing quantitative information as well as analysis into the migration of Cambodians to Thailand. Within the Recommendations section, it is illustrated how a temporary migrant worker programme can be beneficial to the host and receiving countries and individual migrants. Individual migrants can benefit from being employed by legitimate, accountable employers and hence result in higher provision of human rights for this demographic.

There is a highly entrenched culture of migration within Cambodia's bordering provinces. Through changes to the personal health, well-being and prosperity of migrants in Thailand because of reduced exploitation and increased pay. Host communities in Cambodia are also likely to receive higher levels of remittances, which can stimulate development in Cambodian communities.

Deepened understanding of the motivations for migration and highlighted lack of desire amongst Cambodians to migrate continue to demonstrate the persistent need for effective and substantial development policies within Cambodia. The proposal of a temporary migrant worker scheme is in its short-term nature and reflects the necessity of this demographic to migrate irrespective of whether they can receive official working papers.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the levels of access to healthcare available to undocumented migrants in the Italian and British health systems through a comparative analysis of health policies for this population in these two national health systems.

It builds on textual and legal analysis to explore the different meanings that the principle of universal access to healthcare might have according to literature and legal documents in the field, especially those from the human rights domain. Then, the concept of universal access, in theory, is contrasted with actual health policies in each of the selected countries to establish its meaning in practice and according to the social context. The analysis relies on policy papers, data on health expenditure, legal statutes and administrative regulations and is informed by one research question: What background conditions better explain more universal and comprehensive health systems for undocumented migrants?

By answering this research question the paper concludes that the Italian health system is more comprehensive than the British health system insofar it guarantees access free of charge to different levels of care, including primary, emergency, preventive and maternity care, while the rule in the British health system is the recovering of charges for the provision of services, with few exceptions. One possible legal explanation for the differences in access between Italy and UK is the fact that the right to health is not recognised as a fundamental constitutional right in the latter as it is in the former.

The paper contributes to ongoing debates on Universal Health Coverage and migration, and dialogues with recent discussions on social justice and welfare state typologies.

This chapter examines the lives of Central American immigrant workers, with a focus on the paramount position of legal status in immigrants’ lives.

The legal context into which Central American immigrant workers arrive creates the various legal statuses they hold, which in turn dictate the kind of jobs they can obtain, where they live and, in general, shape their prospects in the United States. Although many Central Americans have held various forms of temporary protection from deportation, such relief is temporary and therefore subject to multiple extensions, applications, forms, and renewals, which serve to accentuate these immigrants’ legal uncertainty. Given their legal predicament and the consequent truncated paths to mobility, many Central American immigrant workers live in poverty; indeed, they are more likely to live in poverty than other foreign born. At the same time, they have high labor force participation rates. Their high rates of poverty coupled with high labor force participation rates indicate that their jobs do not pay much. In spite of these circumstances, they remit a significant portion of their earnings to their non-migrating family members in the origin countries.

The largely unchanged occupational and sectorial concentrations of Central Americans in the U.S. economy over the last two decades underscores the critical implications of legal status for immigrant incorporation and socioeconomic mobility.

This chapter exposes the vulnerabilities imposed by a precarious legal status and highlights the importance of more secure legal statuses for immigrant workers’ potential integration and paths to mobility.