Author Archives: Erin D. Phelps
“A place in the generous heart of America”: Reflecting on New York’s immigrant history through Tyler Anbinder’s City of Dreams
I moved to New York City seven months ago, and I’ve spent the last several weeks lugging an extra heavy bag onto the subway during my commutes. Besides my laptop, the main culprit is a 735-page hardcover book – Tyler Anbinder’s City of Dreams: The 400-Year Epic History of Immigrant New York. When I manage […]
Walking the walk: tracing one woman’s steps into advocating for immigration reform
My parents met Kristen and her husband through their church in suburban Seattle. The four of them have become close friends over the years – sharing Bible study discussions, attending baby showers for each other’s now-adult children, going on architecture tours in Seattle. On her Facebook profile, Kristen describes herself: “Wife, mom, grandma.” Recently, I […]
In the wake of the Department of Justice’s memo about ending use of private prisons, the other announcement you probably missed
In August, a Justice Department memo provided instructions for officials to begin ending contracts with private prisons, with an explicit goal of “reducing — and ultimately ending — our use of privately operated prisons.” The memo reflected the department’s findings that private prisons are both less safe and less effective than prisons run by the […]
Is bitcoin the new way to buy a new roof for your family back home?
In the last five years, the world of financial tech start-ups seems to have zeroed in on what was previously a fairly uncompetitive market: remittance transfers from migrant workers. Azimo is a mobile and internet-based remittance service based in the UK that offers an alternative to traditional money transfers. It’s specifically geared toward migrants and […]
The Post-Mortem Mystery: Determining “Cause of Death” Among Migrant Workers
In the last few decades, SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome, has entered the public lexicon and changed the way parents put their infants to bed. But a whole group of conditions known as sudden unexpected death syndrome (SUDS), sudden unexpected nocturnal death syndrome (SUNDS), sudden adult death syndrome (SADS) are far lesser known. These conditions are all […]
Blown deeper into shadows: migrant housing and vulnerability in the wake of the Tianjin explosions
It’s been two months since the massive Tianjin explosions. While few clear details have emerged about the causes of the disaster, or who is to blame, reports are hinting at who may have suffered the most, and the news is not surprising: China’s migrant underclass bears brunt of Tianjin explosions Migrant workers bear the brunt […]
Child Laborers, the Other “Left-Behind” Children of Migration
The pervasiveness of child labor is linked to many country-level indicators, among them levels of economic and social development, government capacity, poverty, and public education[1]. Because of this, the impact of labor migration on rates of child labor has been a focus of researchers who are interested in how remittances might positively benefit receiving families. […]
For Migrant Workers, a Mobile Phone to Fight Isolation – and Trafficking?
If you are a low-wage migrant worker from the Philippines, Nepal, or Bangladesh, the first photos of your newborn daughter might be the ones you see on Facebook as you sit in an internet café on your one day off from work. You might hear that your younger brother is going to be married from […]
As Waters Rise, a Race to Migrate with Dignity
Kiribati, a small cluster of islands in the Pacific Ocean, may be completely submerged in water in just a few decades. Residents are already seeing profound effects of climate change in their day-to-day lives, from acidification of the ocean, extreme weather and changes in rainfall patterns, to increasingly poor food security and a contaminated water […]
The Migrationist 