More than any issue, migration shapes and defines the U.S. relationship with Mexico, and increasingly, Central America. Thus, understanding this migration, and the factors that impel it, is vital to the region’s long-term stability and prosperity in a fast-changing and competitive global economy. The Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute and Latin America program and the Migration Policy Institute have partnered to facilitate a series of conversations about developing a collaborative, regional approach to these issues.

The Regional Migration Study Group, consisting of two dozen former officials, civil-society leaders, policy intellectuals, and specialists in the United States, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, will meet twice yearly over a three-year period. The Study Group will be co-chaired by former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, former US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, and former Guatemalan Vice President Eduardo Stein. In addition, senior government officials from throughout the region will be involved as observers and will be briefed on the group’s findings at appropriate intervals.

The Study Group’s mission is twofold:

1. To act as a “virtual think tank” to aid policymakers and civil society as they manage their day-to-day migration relations.
2. To develop and promote a longer-term vision of how to build a stronger social and economic foundation for the region by enhancing the region’s human-capital infrastructure. Building up the region’s human capital through education and workforce development reforms will increase opportunities for the region’s citizens, fueling growth in each country and strengthening the region’s overall competitiveness.

Meetings will be held in February and September, with additional “extraordinary” meetings as needed. The Study Group directors also will convene one or more expert working groups to support its substantive work, including a working group on education and training. The expert working groups will develop concrete proposals related to the Study Group’s work on human-capital development. Accepted proposals will form the basis for pilot programs.

The Study Group’s findings and recommendations will be published in English and Spanish as a dedicated paper series, which will be disseminated widely using the two partnering institutions’ networks in the region.

The Study Group will issue a final report early in 2013. The Study Group’s co-chairs and staff directors, assisted by Study Group members as available, will continue to work throughout 2013 to promote recommendations and monitor their implementation.

For more information on the Regional Migration Study Group