Tuesday Seminar in Latin American Politics
Date and Time
Betting on Hope: What We Got Wrong About the U.S. Border Crisis
This presentation uses migrant stories and decision-making theory to explain why U.S. “prevention through deterrence” policies have raised the human and financial costs of migration without reliably stopping people from coming. Drawing on interviews conducted along the migrant route from Colombia to the U.S. border in summer 2023, the presentation argues that many migrants are operating from a “domain of loss,” where poverty, insecurity, repression, family separation, or the absence of a viable future make them more willing to take dangerous risks. Through selected stories, the presentation illustrates how hope, fear, faith, and shifting information shape migrants’ calculations, often leading them to discount the dangers of the journey while overestimating the chance of reaching safety or opportunity in the United States.
Speaker
- Katrina Burgess, Professor of Political Economy, Director of Leir Institute for Migration and Human Security, Fletcher School, Tufts University.
Moderator
- Steven Levitsky, Faculty Associate; Harvard Academy Senior Scholar. David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies, Department of Government; Director, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University.
Contact
Paola Ibarra
pibarra@fas.harvard.edu
This event is organized by the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies.