In this article, we measure cross
-
border activities of three different categories of migrants in France:
international migrants, French overseas department migrants and other “national migrants” (return colonial
migrants or return expats). We describe for
these three migrant categories a wide range of cross
-
border
ties grouped together through factor analysis into three dimensions: sociopolitical, economic and re
-
migration. Our findings show that all migrants maintain trans
-
border activities, with particula
r intensity
among French overseas migrants. The sociopolitical, economic and re
-
migration dimensions of cross
-
border activities are also shown to be affected by similar determinants
across the three categories of
migrants.
Building on the unique opportunit
y offered by the data in comparing national and international
migrants, our final analysis points towards some common determinants related to the type of the border
between the origin and destination places involved in the migration process
