Stratification of Undocumented Migrant Journeys: Honduran Case
| Date | 01 February 2016 |
| Author | Jana Sladkova |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12141 |
| Published date | 01 February 2016 |
Stratification of Undocumented Migrant
Journeys: Honduran Case
Jana Sladkova*
ABSTRACT
This article examines stratification of journeys of undocumented Honduran migrants to the
United States. The unequal distribution of wealth across the world forces many people to
migrate to wealthier countries. Despite the narrative of free movement of goods and finances,
migrants run into the ever strengthening security systems of nation states. Migrants’access to
mobility (finances and networks) influences how migrants interact with these systems, which
impacts their experiences on their journeys. I conducted in-depth interviews with 21 Honduran
migrants and subjected these to narrative analysis. I was able to identify several strata of jour-
neys as well as the processes and specific actors that shape them. The degree to which
migrants are subject to abuse, robbery, rape, and death on their journeys, and often their
success in reaching their destinations, depend on their access to mobility.
INTRODUCTION
As nation states continue to strengthen their borders, migration processes have become more com-
plex for everyone involved and new territories and technologies have been utilized. Colleyer
(2007) writes that overland journeys of migrants from Africa to Spain have become a new “signifi-
cant feature of undocumented migration”(p. 668). He suggests conceptualizing migrant journeys as
complex travels through new spatialities and away from “an unproblematic transition from place of
origin to a place of destination”(Colleyer, 2007: 668). There are researchers who have been look-
ing at various aspects of migrant journeys through Europe (e.g. Hess, 2012), from Africa to Europe
(e.g. Triulzi and McKenzie, 2013), from Latin America to North America (e.g. Hagan, 2008; Mah-
ler, 1995; Sl
adkov
a, 2010), or from Asia to the United States (e.g. Liang and Ye, 2001; Roberts,
1997). Reading these studies illuminates what those journeys have in common, how they differ,
and how their complexity has increased with time. The journey has also become more transnational
as it often encompasses a number of different countries needing to address in-transit migrants who
are not looking to stay on their territories. With complexity, price has also increased, contributing
to “growing inequalities of access to mobility”(Collyer, 2007: 669) and “effective spatial segrega-
tion during the migration process”(Collyer, 2007: 671). Indeed, migrants who are able to acquire
the required visas undergo a very different journey from those who do not have access to the same
privilege. Sanctioned journeys are the cheapest and easiest, often involving a cheap plane or boat
ticket. The other journeys have much higher costs, both financial and human.
This article aims to illustrate the increasing stratification of undocumented journeys and their dif-
ferent processes. Moreover, it focuses on Honduran migration to the US, which has been insuffi-
ciently studied even though Hondurans represent a growing Latino population in the US, having
* University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA.
doi: 10.1111/imig.12141
©2013 The Author
International Migration ©2013 IOM
International Migration Vol. 54 (1) 2016
ISS N 00 20- 7985 Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
the longest standing Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and at the same time the highest numbers
of detainees and deportees from the US after Mexicans, despite being a much smaller group. They
constitute the largest group travelling through Mexico.
Below, I briefly describe the method and analysis, present the socio-historical context of the
spaces where the stratified journeys of Honduran migrants take place, and identify various means
of transportation and networks the migrants have access to within these strata.
METHOD
This article draws on field research I conducted in Honduras during the summers of 2005, 2006,
and 2007 to study migrant journeys and their psychosocial impact. To avoid potential decontextual-
ization, the research presupposed interaction between the local and global sociohistorical contexts
and experiences of the migrants and placed migrants’decisions, actions, and experiences within a
larger framework. By linking individual processes (collected through observations and interviews)
with more meso (community observations, local media) and macro (globalized and yet heavily
guarded global, Mexican, US, and international migration policies and practices) levels, the project
illuminated their interconnectedness.
I conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with a) nine participants who attempted to reach
the US but did not succeed, b) nine who made it to the US and returned voluntarily and c) two
who had both experiences, accounting for a total of 26 journeys, all by adults. See Table 1 for
summary of participants.
Because of the sensitive nature of the topic, participants were recruited with a native research
assistant and through a snowballing technique. All interviews were conducted in Spanish, the native
language of the participants, and transcribed by a Honduran. Presuming that narrating is a social-
relational process in which the narrators select events and actors to include and their feelings about
them (Bakhtin, 1986), I subjected these transcripts to systematic narrative analysis and utilized the
narrative tools of script and high point
1
(Daiute and Nelson, 1997; Peterson and McCabe, 1983).
The script phase allowed me to look within and across all the interviews to find patterns; it
involved actors and systems that comprise the journeys as well as their stratification. It is this part
of the analysis that I draw upon in this article.
SOCIO-HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The decision to migrate and the actual transnational territories of movement are produced and dri-
ven by structural forces, such as international institutions, interventions, inequality, and global
trade. They set into motion flows of the vulnerable who leave their community in search for a new
livelihood (Bruneau, 2010; Slack and Whiteford, 2011), and who are hunted despite the widespread
discourse of free movement. The US is not alone in instituting deterring and prohibitive immigra-
tion policies; the European Union has focused on deterrents (Drbohlav, 2005), and Mexico has
been collaborating with the US to deport migrants from its own territory. Recently, drug cartels
started participating in the business of migrant smuggling, since their paths often overlap and the
business generates additional income.
Honduras
Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the South; thus many of its people migrate with hopes
of improving their lives. In the US, they are not welcomed with open arms; rather, they are
Stratification of Undocumented Journeys: Honduran Case 85
©2013 The Author. International Migration ©2013 IOM
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