Local Agenda in Argentine Migration Policies: The Case of the "Área Padrón de Extranjeros" (2018-2023)

Abstract

In this paper we will address the relationship between migration and the local/ municipal State based on a case study located in San Rafael, Mendoza, Argentina. For this purpose, we carried out, on the one hand, a historical record of how migrant groups settled in the region under study, taking into account the parallelism with national migration policies over time. This historical reconstruction involved a bibliographic, documentary and census analysis. Next, we analyzed the local migration policy of the "Area Padrón de Extranjeros" in the 2018-2023 time frame, using a qualitative methodology that includes the analysis of primary and secondary sources, observation and interviews. Regarding the interviews, we analyzed testimonies of public officials and the workers themselves, which led us to examine, in the light of different authors, two anticipations of meaning that we consider central to their deepening.