Compassionate Migration and Regional Policy in the Americas

"Compassionate Migration offers a rich, timely and persuasive examination of how regional cooperation may best address the complex immigration questions of our time. By reminding us of the need to offer compassion in law and policy, Compassionate Migration bestows us with a blueprint for a humanistic and just immigration policy." (Rose Cuison Villazor, Professor of Law & Martin Luther King Jr. Hall Research Scholar, University of California at Davis School of Law, USA) "A fascinating and timely book that provides key elements for demystifying a deeply misunderstood phenomenon of our times, which has risen to the top of the political agenda, particularly in light of the recent US presidential election. The notion of compassionate migration introduced in this edited volume is not a simplistic ethical plea for a humanitarian approach to migration; it offers strong arguments -from an interdisciplinary perspective- for a necessary debate on the real causes and implications of migration for sending, transit and receiving countries in the Americas. The navigational chart in this debate should encompass, as the editors argue, 'a hemispheric dialogue' with the common goal of 'encountering, countering, and preventing dehumanization and for promoting human dignity and social justice." (Raul Delgado Wise, UNESCO Chair on Migration, Development and Human Rights, and President of the International Network on Migration and Development at Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas, Mexico) "Unlike most books on immigration, the emphasis here is on constructing a framing that includes both South and North America. Further, one critical normative dimension is captured in a modest but brutally clear concept: compassion. These two organizing vectors open up the debate in ways that are enabling and avoid the pitfalls of analyses merely centered in how to control migrations." (Saskia Sassen, Columbia University, author of Expulsions)

This book explores the contested notion of compassionate migration in its discourse and practice.This book explores the contested notion of compassionate migration in its discourse and practice. In the context of today's migration patterns within the Americas, compassionate migration can play a fundamental role in responding to the hardships that many migrants suffer before, during, and after their journeys. This volume explores the boundaries of compassion from legal, political, philosophical, and interdisciplinary perspectives, and supplies examples where state and non-state actors engage in practices of compassion and humanity through formal and informal regimes. Despite the lack of a concise and precise definition of the concept and practice of compassionate migration, all authors in this volume agree on the pressing need for more humane and compassionate treatment for those leaving their home country behind in search of a better life.