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| dc.title | The Right to Belong: Migrant Regularization in Latin America and the Caribbean |
| dc.contributor.author | Inter-American Development Bank |
| dc.contributor.editor | van der Werf, Cynthia |
| dc.contributor.editor | Harris, Jeremy |
| dc.contributor.editor | Velásquez, Andrea |
| dc.contributor.orgunit | Migration Unit |
| dc.coverage | Latin America |
| dc.coverage | The Caribbean |
| dc.date.issue | 2025-12-03T00:12:00 |
| dc.description.abstract | Over the past decade, Latin America and the Caribbean have experienced a sharp rise in intraregional migration, accompanied by widespread situations of migrants residing without regular status. In response, governments across the region have implemented an unprecedented number of regularization initiatives70 programs comprising 88 phases between 2010 and 2025to expand regular stay, improve access to rights, and reduce administrative and social vulnerability. This monograph provides the first systematic mapping of these regularization efforts, documenting their legal foundations, eligibility criteria, registration mechanisms, and the benefits conferred. It also synthesizes evidence on the labor market and fiscal implications of regularization, addressing one of the most contested dimensions of migration policy: whether granting regular status affects employment outcomes for native-born workers. The findings indicate that regularization can enhance migrants access to formal employment, strengthen institutional capacity, and expand tax and social security contributions, with limited or no adverse effects on native workers. By distinguishing between the decision to regularize and the design of regularization schemes, the analysis offers a structured framework for governments to evaluate when and how regularization can serve as a viable and sustainable migration policy tool in contexts of large-scale mobility and constrained legal pathways. |
| dc.format.extent | 126 |
| dc.identifier.doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0013812 |
| dc.identifier.url | https://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/The-Right-to-Belong-Migrant-Regularization-in-Latin-America-and-the-Caribbean.pdf |
| dc.identifier.url | https://publications.iadb.org/publications/spanish/document/El-derecho-a-pertenecer-regularizacion-de-migrantes-en-America-Latina-y-el-Caribe.pdf |
| dc.language.iso | en |
| dc.publisher | Inter-American Development Bank |
| dc.subject | Migrant |
| dc.subject | Immigration |
| dc.subject | Labor Market |
| dc.subject | Human Migration |
| dc.subject | Labor Force |
| dc.subject | Labor Mobility |
| dc.subject | Labor |
| dc.subject | Migration Management |
| dc.subject.jelcode | F22 - International Migration |
| dc.subject.jelcode | J61 - Geographic Labor Mobility • Immigrant Workers |
| dc.subject.jelcode | J68 - Public Policy |
| dc.subject.jelcode | H53 - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs |
| dc.subject.jelcode | O15 - Human Resources • Human Development • Income Distribution • Migration |
| dc.subject.jelcode | K37 - Immigration Law |
| dc.subject.keywords | Regularization;Migration governance |
| dc.type | Monographs |
| idb.identifier.pubnumber | IDB-MG-01315 |
| idb.operation | RG-E2017 |