BREZIL SE LAKAY MWEN: Challenging the Mobility Bias in the Study of Onward Migration

Abstract

While migration to more economically developed countries may be desirable for migrants settled outside their home countries (Bijwaard and Wahba 2023; Della Puppa, Montagna, and Kofman 2021; Mas Giralt 2017; Paul and Yeoh 2021), many migrants ultimately do not migrate, either by choice or due to constraints on their mobility. This thesis challenges the mobility bias in migration studies, particularly in the case of secondary migration. There are many reasons why people who have migrated to countries generally classified as belonging to the “global south” may be unwilling or unable to leave. In this thesis, I use the aspiration-capability framework proposed by Kerilyn Schewel (2020) to analyze three different forms of immobility among migrants. Analyzing thirty (30) semi-structured interviews with Haitian migrants in São Paulo, Brazil, I find that factors beyond individual economic maximization shape migrant immobility. More importantly, I show that immobility involves a complex interplay of pull, push, repel and retain factors, as well as specific capability profiles which together produce specific mobility outcomes. Thus, immobility should not be viewed as the default but rather as the result of elaborate decision-making processes.