Diasporic Migrations: A Comparative Analysis of Guatemalans in Costa Rica, Belize, Mexico, and the United States

Leila Rodriguez, Pennsylvania State University
Mira M. Hidajat, Pennsylvania State University

International migration flows are not limited to those from developing countries to the developed world. Recently, interest has sparked in the field to study flows between non-developed countries. Furthermore, sending regions often form part of different migration flows, as citizens of one country immigrate to two or more destinations, forming a diaspora. One such example is the case of Guatemalan immigrants. We will use data from the 2000 Censuses of Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, and the United States to compare the Guatemalan communities in each of these receiving countries. Data available includes general demographic markers (age, sex, marital status), socioeconomic markers (educational level, employment), and community variables (place of residence, internal mobility, presence of critical mass). We hope to further our understanding of how migration flows are shaped, and the conditions faced by members of a diaspora in different host countries, by providing a comparative framework upon which further research can be conducted.