How Refugees Make Decisions about Secondary Migration

• In Event: 20862 - Section on International Migration Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 2: Migration Aspirations and Decision-Making

Abstract

Refugees in the United States are resettled into a particular location where they receive resettlement resources, including cash assistance, housing and healthcare. And yet, refugees sometimes engage in secondary migration where they move to other places–foregoing resettlement resources and/or employment opportunities in their resettlement location. Although employment and co-ethnic networks are identified as important factors in secondary migration, how refugees negotiate tradeoffs between their resettlement location and potential secondary destinations remains less understood. I interrogate secondary migration decision-making processes through 35 interviews with refugees resettled in the United States. Merging insights from literatures on residential search and immigrant integration, I argue that refugees engage in secondary migration through a two-stage decision-making process. In the first-stage, refugees employ frames of reference where they assess their resettlement location in comparison to their experiences and expectations prior to resettlement and their prospects for socio-economic mobility. Refugees whose frames of reference aligned with their resettlement location viewed their locations as a long-term home and remained in their location. Refugees whose resettlement location contradicted their frames of reference had negative assessments of their location. In the second stage, refugees with negative assessments were differentiated by their strong network ties (e.g. family and friends) in secondary destinations. Those with such ties received the information and support necessary to move while those without such ties remained in their location. The findings have implications for understanding how refugee policy could better reflect the agentic role of refugees in their integration process.

Author

• Swan Ye Htut, Stanford University