From Nuevo León to the USA and Back Again: Transnational Students in Mexico

The movement of Mexicans to the United States is both longstanding and long studied and from that study we know that for many newcomers the attachment to the receiving community is fraught and tentative. The experience of immigrant children in U.S. schools is also relatively well studied and reveals challenges of intercultural communication as well as concurrent and contradictory features of welcome and unwelcome. What is less well known, in the study of migration generally and of transnational students in particular, is how students moving in a less common direction — from the U.S. to Mexico — experience that movement. Based on visits to 173 randomly selected classrooms in the state of Nuevo León Mexico, this study shares survey and interview data from 208 of the 242 students encountered who had previous experience attending school in the United States

Migration and Health: A Framework for 21st Century Policy-Making

In the introductory article to a six-part PLoS Medicine series on Migration & Health, series guest editors Cathy Zimmerman, Mazeda Hossain, and Ligia Kiss outline a migratory process framework that involves five phases: pre-departure, travel, destination, interception, and return

Ageing and Long-Term Care Planning Perceptions of Hispanics in the USA: Evidence from a Case Study in New London, Connecticut

This paper explores the ageing attitudes and long-term care planning behavior of adult Hispanics in New London, Connecticut, a town with 30 thousand inhabitants that is rapidly ageing. We conducted six focus groups and had 37 participants share their ageing perceptions and long-term care needs. Our main findings suggest that informal care arrangements are vulnerable and unsustainable especially since women have historically and disproportionately provided most family eldercare even at their own personal and financial expense. Though male participants expected their female relatives to care for them when they age and need personal assistance, female participants did not necessarily expect the same from their relatives including their daughters. Also, both formal and government long-term care systems lack cultural competence and can be prohibitively costly. Therefore, Hispanics plan for ageing within their circles of family care and their resilience in a context of cultural exclusion and socio-economic disadvantage epitomizes strong intergenerational values. These support networks may help explain why may outlive whites (the Hispanic paradox ) who, on average, have higher wealth and education levels. Long-term care planning is a complex process that cannot be relayed to families only. Adequate training for family members from other relatives, and from private and government entities to appropriately convey this type of planning is vital to ensure that Hispanic families understand their options