UNIT 3: MIGRATION

Introduction

• Migration: permanent movement to a new location – cross boundary between states, countries, cities, etc.

• Emigration: migration from a location• Immigration: migration to a location

More Introduction

• Net In-Migration: # of immigrants greater than # of emigrants

• Net Out-Migration: # of emigrants greater than # of immigrants

• Worldwide # of migrants has increased historically as travel has improved

• Immigrants from LDCs form an increasingly large proportion of many MDCs population

International Migration – Movement across country borders (implying a degree of permanence).

World Migration Routes Since 1700

European

African (slaves)

Indian

Chinese

Japanese

Majority of population descended from immigrants

Internal Migration - Movement within a single country’s borders (implying a degree of permanence). Can be interregional or intraregional

Interregional MigrationsU.S. population has been moving Westward and Southward

Gold Rush (1849) and Donner Party just the most dramatic examples of hardship.

– Wells, Pumps, Aqueducts, Mosquito Control and Air Conditioning have allowed this move which otherwise would be impossible.

Loss of Industrial Jobs in east compliments increase in Sunbelt service sector (biotech, communications).

Intraregional Migrations in U.S.

U.S. population has been moving out of the city centers to the suburbs: suburbanization and counterurbanization

U.S. intraregional migration during 1990s.

Developed Countries: suburbanizationautomobiles and roads‘American Dream’better servicescounterurbanizationidyllic settingscost of land for retirementslow pace, yet high tech connections to services and markets

Intraregional Migrations in LDCs

Populations in the less developed world are rushing to cities in search of work and income.

Urbanization migration from rural areas lack of jobs in countryside lack of services in cities Tokyo, Los Angeles, and New York only MDC cities on top 10 list

Lagos, Nigeria Mumbai, India Mexico City, Mexico

Rank City Population1 Tokyo, Japan 28 million2 New York City 20.1 million3 Mexico City, Mexico 18.1 million4 Mumbai, India 18 million5 Sao Paulo, Brazil 17.7 million6 Los Angeles 15.8 million7 Shanghai, China 14.2 million8 Lagos, Nigeria 13.5 million9 Kolkata, India 12.9 million10 Buenos Aires, 12.5 million

STOP

• What could cause you to emigrate to another country?

• What factors would weigh into your decision to go to a specific place?

Key Issue #1: Why do people migrate?

• PUSH: factors that cause people to leave…like what?• PULL: factors that lure people to new location….like

what?• Place Utility: measure of an individual’s satisfaction

with a given location. Desire to migrate is reflection of the person’s appraisal of the current home site as opposed to other possible, hoped for sites. Where would you go? Why?

Factors that cause people to migrate – can be both international and internal

• Economic: THE #1 reason people go…jobs, higher pay, cost of living

• Cultural: people move where they feel they fit in (ex: Jews to Palestine after WWII)

• Environmental: climate or physically attractive regions (ex: to Sunbelt, city to suburbs)

• Political: war or repressive regimes (ex: Pilgrims on Mayflower)

Intervening Obstacles

• Obstacles that stop you from going to your first choice destination– Historically, obstacles were environmental…Rocky

Mountains, Great Plains, Atlantic Ocean– Today’s obstacles – get permission to enter a

country (passport, VISA, green card, etc.), $$ to travel, or in some repressive societies permission to leave a country

Specific Types of Migration

• Forced Migration – Human migration flows in which the movers have no choice but to relocate.

• Voluntary Migration – Human migration flows in which the movers respond to perceived opportunity, not force.

Forced Migration – the Atlantic Slave Trade

Forced Migration

The Trail of Tears, 1838

Refugees….

– Refugees forced out or leave b/c fear of persecution or death

-on account of. . . race, religion, nationality, membership in a

particular social group ,or political opinion.

• No home until another country allows entry• Often live in camps/tents• Largest international groups from Palestine and Afghanistan• Largest internal groups from Sudan and Angola (decades long civil

wars)• Difficult to discern between refugees and poor immigrants coming

for econ reasons (ex: Cubans got special status and free pass; Haitians didn’t)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSR8IVqyt_A&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

Refugees• World Refugee Survey estimates more than 13 million

worldwide• Largest number in Middle East and North Africa (Syria, Iraq,

Palestine, Somalia, Darfur)• Europe – fall of Yugoslavia• Southeast Asia – Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar• South/Central Asia - Afghanistan• Options? 1.) voluntary repatriation, 2.) long-term in refugee

camp, 3.) resettlement in other country• United States takes in largest number of refugees worldwide

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpwqK3B2ac8&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

STOP

• As a group, discuss the videos.• Realistically (and thinking about our unit on

population) what can be done?!

Distance Decay weighs into the decision to migrate, leading many migrants to move less far than they originally contemplate.

Voluntary Migration – Migrants weigh push and pull factors to decide first, to emigrate from the home country and second, where to go.

Kinds of Voluntary Migration• Step Migration –

When a migrant follows a path of a series of stages, or steps toward a final destination.

* intervening opportunity –at one of the steps along the path, pull factors encourage the migrant to settle there.

• Circular migration/transhumance - – A type of temporary migration, mostly associated with agricultural

work – migrant workers follow the harvest of the crops– Very common in the US Southwest (Mexican farm workers) and in

Western Europe (Eastern European farm workers).• Chain Migration –

When a migrant communicates to family and friends at home, encouraging further migration along the same path, along kinship links.

STOP

• Think about the Demographic Transition Model. As a group discuss for each stage:– Where are people migrating? Why?– Examples from history/today

Wilbur Zelinsky’s Migration Transition

• Says migrants come mostly from stage 2 of demographic transition model (LDC/periphery or S-P)

• Move to MDCs for new job, education, or tech opportunities

• Most internal migration in Stage 3 and 4 countries is from city to suburbs

• Most internal migration in Stage 2 countries is rural to urban

Ravenstein’s Characteristics of Migrants

• Most people migrate for economic reasons• Most move short distance (stay within own country)• Most plan to return home (Cuban grandmother w/

packed suitcase)• Long distance migrants to other countries head to

major cities of economic activity• Will produce a counterflow• Historically most long distance migrants are male,

and single from age 25-39, yet women are more likely to move internally

Where Do Migrants Go?• From LDCs to MDCs – from periphery to core

– What are the economic, political and social impacts of this movement?

– Global Patterns…• Asia, LA, Africa = net out-migration• NA, Europe, Oceania = net in-migration• 3 largest flows are:

– From Asia to Europe– From Asia to North America– From Latin America to North America

• U.S. = country w/ most – 40 million foreign born residents

Europe and Migration

• 1800s – rapid population growth fueled emigration. What else made Europe a source of international migrants? Where did they go? Why? Stage in the DTM?

• Today: Europe is a destination for migrants, especially from North Africa. How correspond to the DTM?

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What is an American?

• The Easy Answer: A citizen of the United States

• The Hard Question:What characteristics, values, beliefs, rights and/or obligations are essential to the identity of citizens of the United States?

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A Nation of Immigrants

• Jus Soli (right of the territory) – birthright citizenship – born on US soil– Unique– Should it be changed?

• Jus Sanguinis (right of blood) – i.e. your parents are citizens so are you

U. S. Immigration Patterns

• 3 historic eras…..• Phase One: Initial Settlement – 1500s-late 1800s

– From NW Europe and Africa– Scotland, Ireland, Germany, GB– From Europe, Germany has provided largest # of

immigrants to U.S.– (Mexico recently passed Germany as greatest supplier in

history of immigrants to America)

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Historical Overview of U.S. Immigration Controls

• 1776-1875 Open Frontier = Open Border – anyone could come – no quotas or restrictions

3 historic eras cont’d• Phase Two: Turn of 20th C – 1920ish

– From SE Europe and Asia– Italy, Poland, Russia, Romania, Greece, China,

Japan– Came through Ellis Island and Angel Island– Peaks:

• 1900-1914: 1 million annually. 2/3 from SE Europe – what pushed them here? What were the changes in the US economic structure that encouraged immigration?

3 historic eras cont’d• Phase Three: 1960-Today

– From Latin America and Asia– Changes in US economic structure:

• Service and technology oriented• Brain-Drain from SP/LDC’s

– Asia highest from late 1970s-late 1980s (China, Philippines, Vietnam, India) – what pushed them here?

– Last 20 yrs Latin America = greatest supplier, and Mexico greatest supplier from Latin America – what has pushed them here?

• 1986 Immigration and Reform Act – US issued Visas to several hundred thousand people who had entered the US in previous years without documentation.

Destination of Immigrants in US

• CA, NY, FL, TX: ½ of all immigrants go to these 4 states– Latin America more likely in CA and TX, Cubans more likely

in FL, …i.e. distance– Immigration = fireball issue in these states because big

drain on state budgets (AZ minutemen)

• Chain Migration: people go to a specific location b/c relatives or people from same area are there…creates enclaves like Little Italy, Chinatown, etc.

Obstacles Migrants Face

• Historically, biggest obstacle was long, expensive journey

• Today, biggest obstacles – Getting permission to enter– $$ to travel– Hostile attitudes once you are there

• Often met with suspicion, fear, hostility• More different you are perceived to be, more hostility you face• Big anti-immigration protests in US, W Europe, Kuwait• How long does it take to fully assimilate???

Immigration Policies of Host Countries: Quotas (US) V. Guest

worker passes (Europe and Middle East)

• Quotas:– Historically used quotas to favor W/N Europeans

• 1881 Chinese Exclusion Act• Quota Act of 1921 and National Origins Act of 1924 (until 1960s)

– Today has global quota of 620,000 w/ no more than 7% from one country

– # of applicants far exceeds quotas so Congress sets preferences for• Unify families (typical wait for spouse is 5 yrs) – 75%• Skilled workers/professionals (LDCs accuse U.S. of brain drain, taking best

and brightest)• Quotas do not apply to refugees – special status

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Quota Preferences

• Family

• Diversity

• Employment

Quotas V. Guest worker passes

• Temporary Guest Worker Passes:– Used in W. Europe and Kuwait– Take low status, low pay, low skill jobs (low pay by MDC

standards, but good $$ for workers from LDC)– Decreases LDC unemployment rate– Guest workers send $$ back to home country – good for

economy– Most Euro guest workers from N. Africa, ME, E. Eur, Asia– Problem – do not become citizens – U.S. unique to have

birth citizenship status

3.4 Internal Migration

• 3 internal patterns in US

– 1.) Late 19th/early 20th C = rural to urban• Motivation = jobs• Ex: Great Migration of African Americans from rural

areas of South to N. cities

Internal Migration – cont’d

• 2.) 1950-1970 = urban to suburban– Motivation – lifestyle…yard, garage, better

schools, bigger houses, etc.– Best of both worlds, close to amenities and jobs of

city but enjoy lifestyle of suburbs– Suburbs more homogenous (often divided racially,

by socioeconomic status, etc.)

Internal Migration cont’d

• 3.) 1975-today = from NE to South and Southwest– White, middle class Americans leaving older NE Rust Belt

(OH, Michigan, Penn) for Sun Belt– New South – FL, GA, NC, TN – has grown faster than other

regions recently. Offers more job opp, nice climate, affordable lifestyle. Atlanta, Charlotte, RTP, Tampa, Nashville have all exploded in last 25 yrs

– South West – LA, San Diego, Houston, Phoenix

Results…..?

• CA, TX, NY, FL – 4 most populous states. All are top destinations for immigrants and for internal migration. These 4 have become political powerhouses. Three of four in Sun Belt.

• Centroid: geographic center point of US is much further W and S than it was at beginning of 20th C– Centroid currently in Missouri