Vulnerability and Information practices: experiences of (undocumented) Latino migrants in the U.S.

Abstract

This paper explores the Information practices (search, use and distribution of information) by Latino migrants, in particular those who are undocumented, at the US-Mexico border and in Seattle, Washington. Different information practices emerge in these contexts. At the border, we find more information poverty practices of the “small world” type, and these slowly broaden and consolidate as the migrants’ sense of belonging is strengthened after they live more time established in the US. Nonetheless, the vulnerability and impermanence remain, in the face of constant danger of deportation. The findings of a complementary study among communities in Colombia are presented in the next issue of this journal. Using participatory photography and unstructured interviews, we explore the experiences and the information practices among marginalized communities, and we relate them to how they experience impermanence during different stages of the migration experience. We also discuss how the migration stages may not be sufficient to account for the constant changes and iterations in the experiences of migrants in our study.