Columbia University undergraduate student, Astrid Liden, is currently in Chile conducting field research for her thesis. Liden, a double major in Latin American & Caribbean Studies and Political Science, will spend two months in the country, focused on understanding the intersection of Chile's migration policy and the experiences of Venezuelan migrant families.
“Chile is one of the top receivers of Venezuelan migrants in the region and has responded with more restrictive migration policy, most recently through the 2022 Ley de Migración y Extranjería,” Liden explains. "My research aims to delve in the interaction of the state with the family, vis a vis migration policy, and how the state either facilitates or prevents family migration and reunification.”
During her stay in Chile, Liden will conduct interviews with Venezuelan migrants, representatives from NGOs working with migrants, and government officials from the Ministry of Social Development and Family, who work directly with migrants and family migrant policy. Her goal is to uncover how personal and family relations motivate both forced migration and national integration.
Liden, a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research Fellow, has previously worked with the Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS) at Columbia and interned at the Jesuit Service for Migrants (SJM) in Chile, facilitated by the Santiago Center. She is specializing in human rights and migration, looking to pursue a career in human rights, with a focus on the Venezuelan migration crisis in Latin America.
