Trust in migrants..., but we are not so bad
Latin America has been watching a large migration move, different from the usual one: it used to be from LA countries, particularly in Central America, to the US and Canada. But then, the Venezuelan government started a new one: Venezuelans running from the effects of their policies to many if not all countries in LA. And what is the impact of these migrants in LA countries?
In an interesting paper “Trust towards migrants”, by Néstor Gandelman, Universidad ORT Uruguay and Diego Lamé, they say Uruguayans are among the most receptive of the lot. https://dspace.ort.edu.uy/bitstream/handle/20.500.11968/4343/documentodeinvestigacion128.pdf
“The recent Venezuelan and Cuban immigration wave has been noticeable in the general population. Though the general climate is not of overt xenophobia, there are signs of dissatisfaction from some Uruguayans considering that the newcomers are taking relatively lowskilled jobs in an economy with increasing unemployment rates, as well as concerns regarding the potential burden they might impose on the country’s social security system in a context of record budget deficits. On the other hand, there is a public perception that these waves of immigrants, both Venezuelan and Cuban, are in general hard workers, under-employed, and good-natured. The 2018 Latinobarómetro survey asked whether the arrival of immigrants to the country had been beneficial or harmful to respondents and their families. In Uruguay, 45 percent of those surveyed considered that the arrival of immigrants had harmed them. Although this is an alarming figure, Paraguay is the only Latin-American country in which immigration is seen in better relative terms. In Argentina, 61 percent of those interviewed think immigrants are harmful, and in Peru, 72 percent. The greatest concern occurs in Colombia and Ecuador, with more than 80 percent of the population declaring that immigrants negatively affect them.”
But if we look at the latest Latinobarómetro report, things do not look so bad: https://www.latinobarometro.org/latOnline.jsp
2020
Positivo/Negativo: Recibir inmigrantes de países fuera de América Latina
Por favor, para cada una de las afirmaciones siguientes sobre los inmigrantes,las personas de otros países que vienen a vivir a (PAÍS) deme su opinion, lo encuentra muy positivo (1), algo positivo (2), algo negativo (3), muy negativo (4). Recibir inmigrantes de países fuera de América Latina
Identificación del País
Categoría Total Argentina Bolivia Brasil Chile Colombia Costa Rica Rep. Dominicana Ecuador
Muy positivo 11,0% 12,2% 4,7% 6,2% 5,5% 8,3% 8,4% 18,7% 7,1%
Algo positivo 41,5% 49,2% 33,8% 51,9% 47,6% 31,2% 43,4% 39,7% 35,9%
Algo negativo 31,5% 25,6% 38,8% 35,7% 37,2% 33,4% 33,4% 27,6% 39,9%
Muy negativo 16,0% 13,1% 22,7% 6,2% 9,7% 27,0% 14,9% 14,0% 17,2%
(N) 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0%
El Salvador Guatemala Honduras México Nicaragua Panamá Paraguay Perú Uruguay Venezuela
22,8% 8,0% 20,2% 6,4% 16,3% 9,2% 5,0% 4,8% 18,7% 19,5%
44,0% 25,5% 39,8% 35,9% 43,8% 34,5% 56,1% 37,1% 50,8% 45,6%
24,2% 38,3% 21,9% 45,5% 28,7% 36,1% 23,2% 35,6% 17,8% 21,5%
9,0% 28,3% 18,1% 12,1% 11,2% 20,2% 15,6% 22,6% 12,7% 13,4%
0,0% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0%