During the late 1990s, a number of Central American migrant-sending states began to modify their emigration policy. Though, this is by no means a new phenomenon, sending states are increasingly institutionalizing policies and programs to include emigrants outside the national territory. This paper seeks to provide clarifications about the importance of the role of congresses in dealing with emigration policies, specifically the role of political parties as one of the explanatory factors for the differences in state-led transnationalism.
Data was collected from pieces of legislation and legislative and executive decrees in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Despite of having similar congresses these states show different results in how states engage with their diasporas.
