Returning to their roots: Examining the reintegration experiences of returned Indigenous migrant youth in Guatemala

Abstract

This article examines the reintegration experiences of Indigenous migrant youth returned to Guatemala from the United States and Mexico, thereby filling a gap in extant literature. This qualitative study employed a critical ethnographic approach with reflexive thematic analysis of fieldwork and interviews with social service providers working with this population through the lens of Critical Latinx Indigeneities. Four major themes emerged: identity negotiation (sub-themes being Indigenous identities and returned migrant identities), trauma and its consequences, institutional and internalized oppression, and decolonization. Implications for social work emphasize the importance of Indigenous and decolonizing approaches to social work.

Migration and Return to Mapuche Lands in Southern Chile, 1970–2022

“…This phenomenon has been recognized in recent decades in Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Lebanon [7]. Likewise, several studies have highlighted this new dimension of migration, return migration, on an international scale [8][9][10].…”