ABSTRACT
Throughout
the history of humankind, people have migrated from one location to another.
For many decades, one of the most heavily traveled migratory routes in the
world has been the one from Latin America north toward the United States (US).
Millions of people from Mexico, the Northern Triangle region of Central
America, and other parts of Latin America have traveled north in search of
economic opportunity, to reunify with family members, to seek refuge from
violence, insecurity, and persecution, or for various other reasons. However,
in recent times, particularly during the last decade, the demographic profile
of migrants moving through Latin America toward the US has significantly
changed and diversified. A growing number of migrants originating from
countries in Africa have traveled to Latin America seeking to transit northward
to the US. Despite the recent growing
number of arrivals in Latin America, as well as the fact that Africans are
among the fastest-growing groups of US immigrants, African migrants’ transit
through Latin America has received scant attention and remains poorly
understood. What are the recent trends and factors helping to drive this
phenomenon? Moreover, what are some of the experiences and general challenges
faced by African migrants undertaking the journey? Guided by a comprehensive
review of the literature and an examination of materials collected from an
assortment of sources, public open access databases, and various secondary data sources, the present paper examines
African migration through Latin America to the US. Significantly, the present
paper contributes to the relatively small body of work focused on this topic,
helping to increase awareness of the geopolitics of the phenomenon and
providing a better understanding of the movement of African extracontinental
migrants. In particular, it explores the diverse set of factors underlying
African migration in the region, and
offers insight into the array of challenges they face on their long journey
through Latin America. Possible scenarios for the near future and a number of potential areas for further study
are also discussed.