Transnational Social Support

2     Transnational Social Policy and Migration

Ernie Lightman

INTRODUCTION

Although transnational migrations have been occurring as long as there have been national borders to cross, only recently has the process become an area of interest for social work. Social work, as a profession, has long been linked with the processes and outcomes of immigration, ranging from work in early settlement houses to contemporary refugee claimants. As large numbers of migrants cross borders, perhaps thousands of miles away from their homes, arriving without obvious sources of support and facing discrimination in their daily lives, it has been the task of social work to help address their needs and concerns.

Many of these new arrivals were what we today would ...