WHAT IS MUNMIGRA'S OBJECTIVE?

MunMigra project aims to explore whether, how, and why Spanish cities responded to protecting precarious migrants in the presence of the Covid-19 pandemic, as a transboundary crisis.
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WHY MUNMIGRA?

In an era of crises of transboundary nature (e.g., global financial crisis, pandemics, inter-state wars), what role do cities have in the protection of different societal groups (e.g., persons in situations of poverty, ethnic and racial minorities, immigrants, indigenous population, and their intersection with gender and socio-economic status) under these circumstances?

The Covid-19 pandemic is the most recent example of a mega-transboundary crisis in an era where crises are the new normal. This crisis particularly affected migrants, particularly migrants in a precarious administrative situation - onwards, precarious migrants (i.e., those with an irregular administrative status, temporary [agricultural] workers, rejected asylum seekers, and individuals with a temporary suspension of deportation) located in urban settings. Containment measures, such as strict confinement and frequent closures of economic activity, exposed precarious migrants living in cities to greater vulnerabilities. In Europe, such a situation was particularly true for precarious migrants in Spanish cities where strict public health measures were implemented. 

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HOW IS MUNMIGRA DEVELOPED?

Based on a crisis management framework applied to cities, MunMigra develops a two-phase research based on mixed methods. In the first phase of the project, we do a quantitative study to identify whether responses to protect precarious migrants were offered by Spanish cities during the Covid-19 pandemic, the types of responses, and the presence of innovation and cooperation among actors in the local decision-making and coordination around the responses. To do so, we conduct a survey to municipal officials in 417 Spanish cities, as well as a focus group with selected city officials.
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In the second phase, we do an in-depth qualitative study focusing on cities with a strong centrality in the responses to precarious migrants during the pandemic. The aim is to learn how and why local governance dynamics drive cities to become engaged with these responses. To do so, we do interviews to municipal officials, politicians, immigrants, and civil society leaders, among others, and desk research in six Spanish municipalities.​