ABSTRACT
International migration is a global process not only because movement occurs between one nation and another, but also because individual nations are linked in ways that have global effects. Migrants fight the political and economic stagnation relegated to them in the systemic periphery as they move to resource-rich places in the core; in the process, they battle inequalities that infringe on opportunity and outcomes at global and local levels. Inequalities are not just data (that is, measurable differences in quality of life), but are obstacles blocking access to the very resources hoarded in the core. Migrants in immigrant networks use their knowledge of immigration regulations to construct flexible and creative arrangements to send for family members and friends. Networks are made of the social matter that only ebbs and flows as best it can, given migration policies that allow or deny entry to persons who desire to better their lives through geographic relocation.
