The role of migrant status on transnational ties: The case of migrants in Italy

Theoretical as well as empirical studies on transnationalism have been almost exclusively restricted to legal migrants with about the same rights as nationals, referring to issues like traveling back and forward and participation in formal employment and organizations. Hence, there is a lack of knowledge about variation across migrants with different migrant statuses (e.g. migrants with dual citizenship, migrants with a work permit, asylum seekers, refugees, undocumented migrants) in the intensity of transnational engagement and its explanations. From a theoretical point of view, having no legal status or restricted permissions either hinder or encourage transnational behaviour. Following the ‘resource-dependent’ line of thinking, assuming that socioeconomic resources are necessary to maintain transnational practices, lack of papers or full status often result in marginal job opportunities and, accordingly, constraint migrants to accumulate sufficient means in order to be transnational. The ‘reactive’ line of thinking, on the other hand, assumes the opposite: as a response to exclusion and discrimination, marginalized migrants are more likely to maintain cross-border ties in order to seek emotional support or to enhance social prestige and strengthen social ties with relatives and friends in preparation for a dignified return to the community of origin. This paper will test these conflicting hypotheses by examining, in particular, the importance and direction of economic and socio-cultural integration in explaining the observed differences in transnational behaviour (overall as well as for transnational practices separately) between migrants with different migrant statuses. The data come from the Integrometro survey, a national-wide survey on migrants’ integration, carried out during October 2008 – February 2009, in 32 provinces and towns across Italy, selected according to the high incidence of migrants and their diversification in relation to the socioeconomic context. The survey collected information on a total sample of 12,047 individuals aged 18-71, among 128 different nationalities from developing countries with different migration motives and waves. Moreover, respondents were selected using the center sampling technique, which is a suitable method for taking both legal and illegal migrants into account