Immigration

This chart shows which Europeans came to the United States.

This chart shows the largest ancestries that make up the population of the United States.

The Demographer’s Toolbox

Demography is the study of the characteristics of human

populations.

A census is a straightforward count of the number of people in a

country, region, or city.

Population experts employ data sources like vital records, which

is a report of births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and the

incidence of certain infectious diseases.

No census is entirely comprehensive (or

comprehensible). All censuses tend to under-represent

nonmainstream kinds of households, as well as homeless

individuals.

Federal funding can have a real impact on peoples’ lives.

Mobility and Migration• Mobility may be used to

describe a wide array of human movement, ranging from a journey to work to an ocean-spanning permanent move.– Emigration and immigration– International migration and

internal migration– Push factors vs. pull factors– Voluntary migration vs. forced

migration

– Refugees, IDPs, guest workers, and transnational migrants

Immigration

• The action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country.

• Synonyms migration - emigration

Emigration

• emigration

• migration from a place (especially migration from your native country in order to settle in another).

• wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Internal Migration

• internal migration

• Movements of persons within a nation’s geographical boundaries, involving a change in usual place of residence

International Migration

• International migration occurs when peoples cross national boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum length of time.

Push and Pull Factors

Push and Pull Factors

• Definition: The push factor involves a force which acts to drive people away from a place and the pull factor is what draws them to a new location.

• There are many economic, social and physical reasons why people emigrate, and they can usually be classified into push and pull factors. Push factors are those associated with the area of origin, while pull factors are those that are associated with the area of destination.

Push and Pull Factors: Economic

• Pull Factors• Economic motives loom large in all human movements, but are particularly important

with regards to migration. Better economic opportunities, more jobs, and the promise of a better life often pull people towards a new country. Sometimes this is encouraged by the destination country, such as the employment campaign in the Caribbean by London bus companies in the 1960s, which actively recruited young men to move to London to work as bus drivers, often followed by their families. Another example might be the ‘brain drain’ to America that occurred in the latter half of the 20th Century from several other Western nations.

• Push Factors• Economic push factors tend to be the exact reversal of the pull factors; a lack of

economic opportunity and jobs tend to push people to look out of their area of origin for their futures. An example of this is the migration of Mexicans and people from other Central American countries into the United States of America, where they often work low-wage, long-hour jobs in farming, construction and domestic labour. It is difficult to classify this case purely with push factors however, as often the factors associated with the country of origin are just as important as the factors associated with the country of destination.Forced migration has also been used for economic gain, such as the 20 million men, women and children who were forcibly carried as slaves to the Americas between the 16th and 18th Centuries.

Push and Pull Factors

• Social FactorsSometimes there are social pull factors in migration, for example the principles of religious tolerance that the United States of America was founded on, which attracted religious refugees such as the Mennonites, who settled in Pennsylvania, but more often migration caused by social factors is a push, such as active religious persecution, as it was in the case of the Huguenots in 16th Century France, the Puritans in 17th England, and the Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany.

Push and Pull Factors

• Physical/Environmental FactorsUnder physical factors we are not including things like the promise of fertile lands that prompted the Westward migration across the United States in the 19th Century, more the physical factors that have compelled people to seek safety elsewhere. A prime example would be the mass exodus from the island of Montserrat leading up to the eruption of the La Soufriere Hills volcano in 1995, which led to two thirds of the population abandoning the island. (N.B. do not confuse the La Soufriere Hills volcano on Montserrat with La Soufriere on the island of Saint Vincent, or La Grande Soufriere on the island of Basse-Terre)

Definition

• Assimilation-The process whereby a minority group gradually adopts the customs and attitudes of the prevailing culture.

Waves of Immigration

• 1st Wave 1600’s-1820’s: NW Europeans, mostly English, French, Dutch, German, also includes African Americans

• 2nd Wave 1840’s-1890’s: West & Central Europeans, mostly Irish and German, Scandinavian

• 3rd Wave 1890’s-1918: South and East Europeans, mostly Italian, Greek, Russian, Polish, Hungarian, many Jewish people

• 4th Wave 1918-Present: Latin America including Mexico• 5th Wave 1950’s-Present: Asian including Chinese,

Korean, Vietnamese, Pilipino, Indian Asians, and Pacific Islanders

Waves of Immigration

Immigrants as a Percent of US Population

Waves of Immigration

Europe

Germans in America

• 50,764,352 Americans– 17.1% of the US

population (2006)– the largest ancestry

group in the United States

Germans in America

• The first significant numbers arrived in the 1680s in New York and Pennsylvania– Some eight million German immigrants

entered the United States since then

Germans in America

• The largest number of arrivals came 1840–1900– Some came looking for

religious or political freedom, others for economic opportunities greater than those in Europe, and others simply for the chance for a fresh start in the New World.

Friedrich Wilhelm von StuebenHero of the Revolutionary War

German immigrants boarding a ship for America in the late 19th century.

Germans in America• push factors: worsening opportunities for farm

ownership in central Europe, persecution of some religious groups, and military conscription;

• pull factors: better economic conditions in the U.S. (especially the opportunity for farmers to own land).

PARKING METER CHECKER STANDS BY HIS POLICE VEHICLE WHICH IS IMPRINTED WITH THE GERMAN WORD FOR POLICE (POLIZEI). IT IS PART OF THE TOWN'S RETURN TO GERMAN ETHNIC ORIGINS. NEW ULM, MINNESOTA, WAS FOUNDED IN 1854 BY A GROUP OF GERMAN IMMIGRANTS.

Persons of German Ancestry

• California and Pennsylvania have the largest populations of German origin, with over six million German Americans residing in the two states alone.

Germans in America

• Germans have contributed to a vast number of areas in American culture and technology

• German settlers brought the Christmas tree custom to the United States

• The influence of German cuisine is seen in the cuisine of the United States throughout the country, especially regarding pastries, meats and sausages, and above all, beer.

Germans in America

• Frankfurters (or "wieners", originating from Frankfurt and Vienna, respectively), hamburgers, bratwurst, sauerkraut, and strudel are common dishes.

• Germans have almost totally dominated the beer industry since 1850

• German bakers introduced the pretzel.

German newspapers in North America 1922

German Culture in America

• The influence of German cuisine is strongest is the small town Midwest. – Among larger cities, Cincinnati is known for its

German American annual festival Zinzinnati, and Milwaukee is known for German Fest.

• The two are among the largest German American festivals in the country.

• Oktoberfest, German-American Day and Von Steuben Day celebrations are held regularly throughout the country.

Irish in America• Irish Americans are citizens of

the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland.

• A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Roughly another 3.5 million (or about another 1.2% of Americans) identified more specifically with Scotch-Irish ancestry.

• The Irish diaspora population in the United States is roughly six times the modern population of Ireland.

Irish in America

• The Irish diaspora population in the United States is roughly six times the modern population of Ireland.

Irish in America

• The Irish are widely dispersed in terms of geography, and demographics.

• Irish American political leaders have played a major role in local and national politics since before the American Revolutionary War: eight Irish Americans signed the United States Declaration of Independence, and twenty-two American Presidents, from Andrew Jackson to Barack Obama, have been at least partly of Irish ancestry.

Irish in America

Irish in America• Approximately "50,000 to

100,000 Irishmen, over 75 percent of them Catholic, came to America in the 1600s, while 100,000 more Irish Catholics arrived in the 1700s."

• Indentured servitude was an especially common way of affording migration, and in the 1740s the Irish made up nine out of ten indentured servants in some colonial regions.

Irish in America

• Most colonial settlers coming from the Irish province of Ulster came to be known in America as the "Scotch-Irish".

• The Scotch-Irish settled mainly in the colonial "back country" of the Appalachian Mountain region, and became the prominent ethnic strain in the culture that developed there.

Irish in America

• Irish immigrants of this period participated in significant numbers in the American Revolution, leading one British major general to testify at the House of Commons that "half the rebel Continental Army were from Ireland

Irish in America

• Irish immigration had greatly increased beginning in the 1820s due to the need for labor in canal building, lumbering, and civil construction works in the Northeast. The large Erie Canal project was one such example where Irishmen were many of the laborers. Small but tight communities developed in growing cities such as Philadelphia, Boston, New York and Providence.

Irish in America

• From 1820 to 1860, 1,956,557 Irish arrived, 75% of these after the Great Irish Famine (or The Great Hunger, Irish: An Gorta Mór) of 1845–1852, struck.

• Of the total Irish immigrants to the U.S. from 1820 to 1860, many died crossing the ocean due to disease and dismal conditions of what became known as coffin ships

Irish in America

• Most Irish immigrants to the United States during this period favored large cities because they could create their own communities for support and protection in a new environment.

• Another reason for this trend was that many Irish immigrants could not afford to move inland and had to settle close to the ports at which they arrived.

Irish in America

• Cities with large numbers of Irish immigrants included Boston, Philadelphia, and New York, as well as Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, St. Paul, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

• In 1910, there were more people in New York City of Irish heritage than Dublin's whole population, and even today, many of these cities still retain a substantial Irish American community.

Irish in America• Mill towns such as Lawrence, Lowell,

and Pawtucket attracted many Irish women in particular.

• The best urban economic opportunities for unskilled Irish women and men included “factory and millwork, domestic service, and the physical labor of public work projects.”

Irish in America

Irish in America

Irish in America• The annual celebration of Saint Patrick's Day is a widely recognized symbol of the Irish presence in America.

• The largest celebration of the holiday takes place in New York, where the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade draws an average of two million people.

• The second-largest celebration is held in Boston. The South Boston Parade, is one the nation's oldest dating back to 1737.

Italians in America

• 17,235,187 Americans– 5.6% of the US population

(2005)

• Most immigration from Italy occurred between 1880 and 1960.– There were also smaller waves

of Italian immigration in 1848 and 1861 after failed revolutionary movements

Italians in America

• The main factor in Italian immigration was a poor economy in Italy, particularly in the southern regions.

• Italians settled in and dominated specific neighborhoods (often called "Little Italy") where they could interact with one another, establish a familiar cultural presence, and find favorite foods.

Italians in America

• Not all Italians left for economic reasons,– Some prosperous Italians came to America

adventure and prosperous opportunities– Some also left because of political reasons

(especially in the 1930’s)

Italians in America

• Italian immigrants usually arrived with very little cash or cultural capital (that is, they were not educated or intellectually sophisticated) and generally performed manual labor.

• Their neighborhoods were typically slums with overcrowded tenements and poor sanitation.– Tuberculosis was rampant.

Italians in America

• Italian immigration peaked from 1900 until 1914, when World War I made such intercontinental movement impossible. – In many cases, the Italian

immigrants were subjected to severe anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant discrimination and even violence such as lynching.

Italian Ancestry (2009)

Italian Culture• Many Italian

Americans still retain aspects of their culture.

• This includes Italian food, drink, art, Roman Catholicism, annual Italian American feasts and a strong commitment to extended family.

Italian Festival Hoboken, NJ

Italians in America

• In movies that deal with cultural issues, Italian American words and lingo are sometimes spoken by the characters. – Although most will not

speak Italian fluently, a dialect of sorts has arisen among Italian Americans, particularly in the urban Northeast, often popularized in film and television.

Italians in America

• Among the most characteristic and popular of Italian American cultural contributions has been their feasts. – Throughout the United States, wherever one may find

an "Italian neighborhood" one can find festive celebrations such as the well known Feast of San Gennaro in New York City, the unique Our Lady of Mount Carmel "Giglio" Feast in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, the Ciciarata in Ambler, Pennsylvania or the lesser known Festa Italiana, in Seattle. The Our Lady of Mount Carmel Festival has been celebrated annually in Hammonton, New Jersey for over 125 years.

Mulberry Street, along which Manhattan's Little Italy is centered. Lower East Side, circa 1900

This sign appeared in post offices and in government buildings during World War II. The sign designates Japanese, German, and Italian, the languages of the Axis powers,as enemy languages.

What Happened to the Languages?

Latin America

Mexican Americans

• Mexican Americans are citizens and/or residents of the United States of Mexican ancestry

• Mexican Americans account for 9% of the country's population

• About 26.8 million Americans have listed their ancestry as Mexican as of 2006

Mexican Americans

• Mexican Americans trace their ancestry to Mexico and many different European countries, especially Spain, which was its colonial ruler for over three centuries

Mexican Americans

• Most Mexican American settlement concentrations are found in metropolitan and rural areas across the United States, with the highest concentrations in the Southwest, and the Midwest. Los Angeles, Albuquerque, Phoenix, San Diego, Houston, Santa Ana, Dallas, El Paso and San Antonio are particular areas for large Mexican American communities.

Mexican Immigration

• Mexican American history is wide-ranging, spanning more than four hundred years and varying from region to region within the United States

• In 1900, there were slightly more than 500,000 Latinos living in New Mexico, California and Texas.

Mexican Americans

• Most were Mexican Americans who arrived in the Southwest in the mid 1800s while others were descendants of Mexican, Spanish, and other hispanicized European settlers who arrived in the Southwest during Spanish and Mexican colonial times– Approximately ten percent of the current

Mexican American population can trace their lineage back to these early colonial settlers

Mexican Americans• Since 1900, there have been many uprisings, failed revolutions, and

failed economic policies that have been HUGE push factors in Mexican immigration

• The US has also offered work, both legal and not so legal, in the form of government programs and shady backdoor deals, which have been big PULL factors– Since 1900, millions of Mexican nationals have immigrated to the US– The largest wave is probably occurring right now.

Map of Los Angeles County showing percentage of population self-identified as Mexican in ancestry or national origin by census tracts. Heaviest concentrations are in East L.A, Echo Lake/Silver Lake, South Central, San Fernando and San Pedro/Wilmington.

Mexican Americans

• Pew Hispanic Center estimated the undocumented population ranged from 11.5 to 12 million individuals. – Pew estimated that 57% of this population comes

from Mexico; 24% from Central America and, to a lesser extent, South America; 9% from Asia; 6% from Europe, and the remaining 4% from elsewhere.

Mexican Americans

• People become illegal immigrants in one of three ways: entering without authorization or inspection, staying beyond the authorized period after legal entry, or by violating the terms of legal entry

• The continuing practice of hiring unauthorized workers has been referred to as “the magnet for illegal immigration.”

Mexican Americans

• Illegal hiring has not been prosecuted aggressively in recent years: between 1999 and 2003, according to the Washington Post, “work-site enforcement operations were scaled back 95 percent by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which subsequently was merged into the Homeland Security Department. Major Illegal employers have included: – Wal-Mart, Swift & Co. (meat), Tyson Foods (chicken

processing)

Mexican Influence on Culture

• Nationally more salsa than catsup is purchased now

• Border Culture– Mexican influence on culture near the US-

Mexican Border• Our area is subject to this influence• It can be seen in the food we eat, the words that

we use in our dialect, and in music and TV– The farther north you travel, the less the border

influences culture

Cinco de Mayo

• May 5• Celebrates “Mexican

Independence”• An Americanized holiday-

September 16th is actually Mexico’s Independence Day

• Celebrated all of the US as a day of Mexican heritage and pride

Asia

Asian Americans

• An Asian American is generally defined as a person of Asian ancestry and American citizenship– group of people in the

United States who can trace their ancestry to one or more countries in Asia

• 15,000,000 people in America or close to 5% of the population

Asian Americans

• In 1763, Filipinos established the small settlement of Saint Malo in the bayous of current-day Louisiana, after fleeing mistreatment aboard Spanish ships. Since there were no Filipino women with them, the Manilamen, as they were known, married Cajun and Native American women.

Asian Americans

• Chinese sailors first came to Hawaii in 1778, the same year that Captain James Cook came upon the island. Many settled and married Hawaiian women. – Some Island-born Chinese can claim to be 7th generation. – Most Chinese, Korean and Japanese immigrants in Hawaii

arrived in the 19th century as laborers to work on sugar plantations.

– Later, Filipinos also came to work as laborers, attracted by the job opportunities, although they were limited.

Asian Americans• Numerous Chinese and

Japanese began immigrating to the U.S. in the mid-19th century for work, – Many of the immigrants worked

as laborers on the transcontinental railroad. A surge in Asian immigration in the late 19th century caused some Americans to fear the change represented by the growing number of Asians. This fear was referred to as the "yellow peril." The United States passed laws such as Asian Exclusion Act and Chinese Exclusion Act to limit Asian immigration

Top Chinese Railroad Workers, Left, Cucamonga China House, Bottom China House

World War II

• During World War II, the United States government declared Japanese Americans a risk to national security and undertook the Japanese Americans Internment,

World War II• This controversial action forced the relocation of

approximately 110,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans, taking them from the west coast of the United States to hastily constructed War Relocation Centers in remote portions of the nation's interior.

Manzanar War Relocation Camp Owens Valley, CA

World War II

• This shameful chapter in US history was a result of war hysteria, racial discrimination, and economic competition. Sixty-two percent of those forced to relocate were United States citizens. Starting in 1990, the government paid some reparations to the surviving internees in recognition of the harm it had caused them and their families.

World War II• Despite the internment, many

Japanese American men served in World War II in the American forces. The 442nd Regimental Combat Team/100th Infantry Battalion, composed of Japanese Americans, is the most highly decorated unit in U.S. military history. The 442nd/100th fought valiantly in the European Theater even as many of their families remained in the detention camps stateside. The 100th was one of the first units to liberate the Nazi extermination camp at Dachau.

Asian Americans

• The largest ethnic subgroups are:1. Filipinos (4.0 million), 2. Chinese (2.8M), 3. Asia Indians (1.9M), 4. Vietnamese (1.5M), 5. Koreans (1.2M) , 6. Japanese (1.1M).

Other sizable groups are Cambodians (206,000), Pakistanis (204,000), Laotians (198,000), Hmong (186,000), and Thais (150,000)

Africa

Stereotypes

• In the 1890-1920 period Italian Americans were often stereotyped as being "violent" and "controlled by the Mafia". In the 1920s, many Americans used the Sacco and Vanzetti trial, in which two Italian anarchists were wrongly sentenced to death, to denounce Italian immigrants as anarchists and criminals.

• During the 1800s and early 20th century, Italian Americans were one of the most likely groups to be lynched. In 1891, eleven Italian immigrants in New Orleans were lynched due to their ethnicity and suspicion of being involved in the Mafia. This was the largest mass lynching in US history.

• Irish Catholics were popular targets for stereotyping in the 19th century. According to historian George Potter, the media often stereotyped the Irish in America as being boss-controlled, violent (both among themselves and with those of other ethnic groups), voting illegally, prone to alcoholism and dependent on street gangs that were often violent or criminal.

North America