Constructing an Immigrant Narrative Between “Victim” and “Refugee” Status: Haitians Migrating to Brazil

Haitian migration to the global north has been going on for few decades now. There is, however, a new trend toward Brazil, deemed as “forced migration” by the reception country. This paper analyzes the recent Haitian migration to Brazil, which started as a consequence of the 2010 earthquake. In so doing, we focus on how Haitians navigate the identities granted to them by international organization and states (e.g. Brazil, Organization for International Migration) in order to achieve their project of migrating to Brazil to find job. We draw on fieldwork conducted in Peru where we followed Haitians going through to cross the Brazilian border—where Haitians are granted refugee status since 2012. We combine it with the analysis of the state policies, and the programs international organizations have set up to serve (or control) Haitian migration. In particular, we pay attention to the frames used by international organizations and states (e.g. “victims,” “refugees”) and how migrants themselves draw on them to achieve their migratory project.  We want to highlight the mismatch (or decoupling) between how migrants are framed at the international level, and how their see their own migration. Focusing on the latter, we highlight that rather than passive actors, migrants navigate the frames to accomplish their goal that is finding a job in a new country.