Health crises, ‘undesirables’, and exclusionary border regimes in the Caribbean

Natalie Dietrich Jones

Chapter 27 in Handbook of Research on Migration, COVID-19 and Cities, 2025, pp 486-504 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Abstract With COVID-19, Caribbean cities instituted border measures creating a highly restrictive (im)mobility regime which significantly impacted the region and reflected the inter-connectedness of economies and mobilities. This chapter demonstrates that widespread exclusionary border regimes are extreme in a region that is dependent on openness. It argues that restrictive border regimes are not novel. Rather, they are emblematic of a culture of exclusion of the ‘undesirable’. The chapter makes this case by analysing three pandemics which have impacted the region since the twentieth century: influenza, human immunodeficiency virus, and Ebola virus disease. The chapter examines an approach taken by several cities in the region to extend special work and residence permits to teleworkers within the context of COVID-19. The chapter contrasts ‘undesirables’ with preferred migrant categories. Ultimately, the chapter argues that the ‘undesirable’ remains an acceptable category that symbolically and legally justifies the exclusion of (select) unwanted migrants in Caribbean post-colonial cities.

Keywords: (Im) mobility; COVID-19; Caribbean Post-colonial States; Undesirable Migrants; Nomad Visa Programmes; Non-pharmaceutical Interventions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035301225
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