Transborder Ethnic Economy: Korean Immigrants on the U.S.-Mexico Border

• In Event: 3141 - Borders and Boundaries in Asia and Asian America

Abstract

Research on the conditions of international migration and settlement has focused on two factors—economic and ethnic. At the macro level, both the world systems theory and the global city perspective posit global economic hierarchy between developed countries and developing countries and the movement of capital investment and the movement of immigrants—both professional and labor—are in the opposite direction. At the meso level, established ethnic communities or ethnic enclaves in the gateway cities, such as Los Angeles, Miami, and New York City, have been important contributing factors of international migration and settlement patterns. Based on ethnographic research on the development of Korean immigrant community in the U.S.-Mexico border region, this paper proposes a capital-labor integrated model of international migration. The North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) facilitated Korean multinational corporations’ (MNCs) investments in the area, which brought Korean professional migrants to the region, along with capital. Gradually, Korean immigrant community developed in the U.S.-border region, especially those in and around Korean maquiladoras, develop what I call transborder ethnic economy where Korean immigrants’ transborder economic activities are closely tied to co-ethnic networks.

Author

• Minjeong Kim, San Diego State University