Vulnerability and Information Practices among (Undocumented) Latino Migrants

Abstract

This paper explores the information practices (information seeking, using, and sharing) among Latino migrants, particularly undocumented migrants, in three different settings: at the US-Mexico border, in Seattle, Washington, and in Cali, Colombia. Through participatory photography and unstructured interviews, we explore the life experiences and information practices of marginalized and underserved communities and relate them to their experience of transience through different stages of the migration experience. We discuss how stages of migration may be limited to understand the iterative and constantly shifting experiences of migrants in the contexts we studied. Using a narrative style, we offer the richness of stories and the power of pictures to illustrate the concepts, in the words and images of the participants themselves.

Rhythms of Everyday Life in Mobile Information Seeking: Reflections on a Photo-Diary Study

“…Lloyd and Wilkinson found that photographs illuminated the everyday spaces in which participants searched for and made sense of information. Gomez (2016) employed participatory photography to explore the information practices among migrants along the US-Mexico border, in Seattle, and in Southern Colombia, finding that the method empowered participants to disrupt preconceived notions about the research topics and promoted deeper understandings of participants' lived realities.…”

Migrant-Serving Organizations: Supporting U.S. Migrants with Safe Digital Access

“…The literature is uneven about whether the overall digital divide is widening or narrowing. However, the literature is consistent about gaps in desirable digital accessibility, especially amongst vulnerable populations like international migrants (Gomez et al, 2019;Nogueron-Liu, 2016). To this extent, organizations should consider developing multi-level, culturally sensitive approaches, especially for vulnerable populations (Lyons et al, 2019).…”

“…Digital spaces, however, pose concerns for a diminished sense of community and heightened risks of breaches in data privacy (Harlow & Guo, 2014;Gomez, 2019). Several studies examine the intersection between data privacy and vulnerable migrants.…”

“…Nogueron-Lui ( 2016) engages with migrant adults to uncover how their understanding of privacy and risk in online platforms translates into their comfort with digital literacy to support more culturally responsive classrooms. Another study examines the practices and systems adopted by humanitarian organizations to protect undocumented migrants, including legal standards of data security and privacy (Gomez et al, 2019). This study advocates for universal organizational guidelines for protective and proactive data security practices (Gomez et al, 2019).…”

Navigating bordersnavigating networks: migration, technology and social capital

“…Our past research is particularly focused on undocumented migration into the United States across the country's southern border with Mexico and, to a lesser extent, migrant integration into various communities in the United States. The primary empirical research we reflect on here is drawn from three interrelated lines of research: the first was a study of the migration-related information practices of clandestine migrants in a shelter in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico (Newell, Gomez and Guajardo 2016;Newell, Gomez and Guajardo 2017;Newell and Gomez 2015;Yefimova et al 2015); the second was a study of the information practices of Latino migrants, many of whom were undocumented, at the US-Mexico border, in Seattle, Washington, and in Cali, Colombia Gomez 2016;Gomez and Vannini 2015;Vannini, Gomez and Guajardo 2016); and the third was a study of the information practices of the humanitarian migrant-aid organizations that work to serve and support clandestine and undocumented migrants in and around Nogales, Sonora, and Nogales, Arizona (Gomez, Newell and Vannini 2020;Vannini, Gomez and Newell 2019;.…”