Chapter 3 „Migration“

Key issues

1. Why do people migrate?
2. Where are migrants distributed?
3. Why do migrants face obstacles?
4. Why do people migrate within a country?

Key issue #1
All the reasons for migrating can be grouped into push and pull factors. The people feel pushed to migrate from a location due to political, environmental and economic reasons like a dictatorship or a bad economy of their country. Equally, the people feel pulled to a new location due to the political, environmental and economical attractiveness of the new location like health-care or the freedom of speech.
Key issue #2
From the global view, the main flow of migrants can be seen is from Asia to Europe and from Asia and Latin America to the United States. The U.S has by far the highest number of immigrants.
Key issue #3
Migrants find it hard to get a permission to enter the country they are migrating to. They also face the hostility of the citizens of the country when they arrive because the citizens think that they will get fewer jobs.

 

Key issue #4
There are two categories of internal migration. Interregional and intraregional migration. Interregional migrations means that somebody moves from one region to another within the country and intraregional migrations means that somebody moves to another location within the region they live in. The reason why people migrate within a country in less developed is that the people move from rural to urban areas in hope for a job and a better. The trend in more developed countries is the opposite. People move from urban areas to the suburbs in order to escape the bustle of the urban area.
Vocabulary
Brain drain is a kind of migration where a company recruits well-educated, young people from other countries to work for them.
Chain migration, Circulation, Counter urbanization, Emigration, Floodplain Forced migration, Guest workers, Immigration, Internal migration, International migration, Interregional migration, Intervening obstacle, Intraregional migration, Migration, Migration transition, Mobility, Net migration. Pull factor, Push factor, Quotas are laws in the United States that define how many people are allowed to immigrate per year. Refugees, Undocumented immigrants, Voluntary migration
Outline
Reasons for Migrating
Many people decide to migrate because of push and pull factors. Migration is for the majority of migrant a major step. In migration push and pull factors both play a role. There are three push and pull factors: economic, cultural and environmental.

 

Economic Push and Pull Factors
The majority of migrants migrate due to economical reasons. The U.S and Canada have been the main country where economic migrates immigrate. The economic attractiveness of a region can have drastic fallbacks when the region itself has an economic crisis. An example of this is Spain.
Cultural Push and Pull factors
This factor can be a very dramatic push and pull factor which forces people to emigrate from their country. One dramatic part of that is slavery when people of the “wrong” ethnicity were enslaved and forced to emigrate as slaves. Another part of cultural push and pull factors is war when people of one side in the war migrate to another country. Those people are called refugees because according to the UN, “refugees are people who have been forced to migrate from their home and cannot return for fear and prosecution because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political opinion”. The largest groups of international refugees are the Palestinians and the Afghans. The largest groups of internal refugees are in Sudan and Angola. Political conditions can also be pull factors for migrants. Migrants are attracted to democratic countries.
Environmental Push and Pull Factors
Many migrants are also pushed from their environmental hazardous region and pulled to less hazardous ones. Such attractive regions include: mountains, seasides and warm climate regions. Some migrants are shocked about the polluted air and congestion in these areas. Migrants are also pushed from their homes due to unfavorable physical conditions like too much or too little water in their region which, in either way, opposes a physical threat to the inhabitants. An example of a location where there is too much water is a floodplain. A floodplain is a region prone to flooding of a nearby river. Due to a lack of water, hundreds of thousands have been forced to emigrate from the Sahel of northern Africa.

 

Intervening Obstacles
The places where people migrate to is not always their favored location. The reason why is an intervening obstacle which can be either an environmental or cultural cause which prevents them from migrating. In the past the main obstacle was environmental. Back then, no modern transportation such as railroads, cars and airplanes did not exist. So the people migrated by horse or on foot which made migration difficult. The improvement in transportation has eliminated these obstacles. However, there are now other obstacles created by the government. Every migrant needs a passport and a visa in order to migrate to another country.
Distance of Migration
According to Ravenstein’s theories of migration, most migrants relocate over a small distance within the same country and long-distance migrants to other countries head to centers of major economic activity
Internal Migration
This kind of migration is the permanent migration within the same country. The further away a place is, the more unlikely it is that someone will immigrate there. Internal migration is for the majority of migrants less traumatic than international migration because they find the same language, food, culture etc. Internal migration is divided into two types: interregional and intraregional migration.
International Migration
This form of migration is the permanent migration from one country to another. This kind is divided into two types: voluntary and forced migration. Voluntary migration is when the migrant has chosen to migrate whereas forced migration means the migrant is being forced to move due to cultural factors.
Characteristics of Migrants
Ravenstein identified gender and family patterns in migration. He noted that most long-distance migrants are males and adult individuals rather than children.

Gender of Migrants
A century ago, Ravenstein theorized that males were most likely to migrate compared to females over a long distance. This gender pattern reversed in the 1990s which resulted in that women now make up 55% of U.S immigrants.
Family Status of Migrants
Ravenstein believed that most long-distance migrants were young adults and not children and the elderly. Most Mexican immigrants are not from the northern states but from interior states far from the U.S border. Most illegal Mexican immigrants already have a job in Mexico; they still immigrate to earn more money. Most of them have no difficulty to find a job in the U.S.
Global Migration Patterns
Globally, Asia, Latin America and Africa have net emigration whereas North America and Europe have net Immigration. The population of the U.S includes 30 million people born in other countries. Immigrants make up about one-tenth of the U.S population. The total percentage of immigrants in Europe is lower than that of the U.S.
U.S Immigration Patterns
The U.S plays a major role in international migration because it is mostly inhabited by direct descendants of immigrants. There were three main eras of immigration in the U.S: the main settlement of the colonies, from the mid-19th century to the beginnings of the 20th century and from the 1970s to the present day.
Colonial Immigration from England and Africa
In the first era of immigration, the main migrants came from England and Africa which were enslaved. Most African Americans are descendants from Africans who were enslaved at colonial times.

 

19th century Immigration from Europe
For the Europeans, the U.S provided the greatest economic opportunity, which made them migrate to the U.S. Germany had the largest flow of migrants, 7 million.
First Peak of European Immigration
Between the 1840s and 1850s, there was a vast surge of migrants. More than 90% of those immigrants came from northern and western Europe.
Second Peak of European Immigration
During the civil war, the number of immigrants declined rapidly and began to climb after that. Most of them were, again, north European immigrants.
Third Peak of European Immigration
The numbers of migrants were reduced in the 1890s due to economic problems, but went up again in the 1900s. During this immigration period, nearly 90% were Europeans again, but not northern. They came from countries that hardly had any migrants like Italy and Russia. Most of them came from southern Europe for the same reason, better economy.
Recent Immigration from Less Developed Countries
Immigration rapidly fell during WWII and the great depression. The number of immigrants surged up again in the 1970s. Most of them were from Asia and Latin America.
Immigration from Asia
The number increased from 1million in the 19th century, to 7 million in the last quarter of the 20th century. Asia was the leading source of immigrants until it was overtaken by Latin America in the 1980s.

 

Immigration from Latin America
The number of immigrants changed from 2 million in the 19th century, to 11 million in the late 20th century. The country with the highest number of immigrants is Mexico with about 8 million per year. Because of a reform, hundreds of thousands, who entered the U.S illegally, got legal documents to stay in the U.S.
Impact of Immigration on the United States
There have been many impacts on the U.S such as culture and industry.
Legacy of European Immigration
The European mass migration ended with the start of WWI, because most migrant countries were involved in the war.
Europe’s Demographic Transition
Massive population growth in Europe led to an emigration boom which led to a shortage in food and agriculture and pushed most of Europe into stage two of the demographic transition. To promote agriculture, European governments the combination from several small farms to larger units. For many years, the U.S has been the safety valve for Europe. When the migration boom began, the U.S drained off some of the growth.
Undocumented Immigration to the U.S
The number of illegal immigrants is much higher than the quotas allow. People who are not allowed to immigrate but do this illegally are called undocumented immigrants. About half of the undocumented residents are students and tourists who enter legally, but do not go when needed to leave. The rest simply goes over the border without papers.

 

Destination of Immigrants within the United States
Recent immigrants are not distributed uniformly; the half spread over 4 states: California, New York, Florida and Texas. Individual states attract immigrants from individual countries. In many cases, individuals go to the U.S to get work and to get enough money to get the family over. This is called chain migration.
Immigration Policies of Host Countries
Countries which migrants seek have adopted policies to control the flow. The U.S uses a quota system which limits the number of immigrants.
U.S Quota Laws
The era of unlimited immigration ended with the act of the quota laws. These laws establish a number of migrates who are allowed immigrate per year. They were established to make sure that the main immigrants would be European. The quota laws do not apply for refugees.
Brain Drain
Brain drain migration is a kind of migration where a company or country recruits well-educated, young people from other, mostly poorer countries to work for them.
Temporary Migration for Work
People who are not allowed migrate permanently are permitted to work temporarily in another country. They are called guest workers.
Time-contract workers
These are people who get a time-based contract to work in another country. This is another form of temporary work.

Distinguishing between Economic Migrants and Refugees.
This can prove difficult sometimes. The distinction between this is important, because the various countries treat the two ways of immigration different.
Emigrants from Cuba
The U.S has treated Cuban emigrants as refugees since the beginning of the communist government in 1959.  The U.S admitted over 600,000 Cubans to immigrate.
Emigrants from Haiti
Emigrants from Haiti were not allowed in because they claimed they emigrated for economical reasons. After military takeover of Haiti, the fled emigrants applied as refugees and were admitted into the U.S.
Emigrants from Vietnam
After the Vietnam War, where the North Vietnam captured the capital of South Vietnam, the U.S troops, which had supported the South Vietnam government, evacuated thousands of people as refugees.

Cultural problems living in other countries
Allowed entry to a country does not end the problems of migrants; citizens of the host country may dislike their culture and treat them badly.
U.S attitudes towards Immigrants
Americans have always been suspicious against immigrants, but have tempered this in the 19th century due to immigrants helping to settle the frontier. A study from 1911 shows that immigrants from southern and eastern Europe have been criminal and racially “inferior”.

 

Attitudes toward Guest Workers
In Europe, guest workers are suffering from poor social conditions. A guest worker typically is a young man, with less money for food or housing. Away from home, he leads a lonely life. Guest workers describe their stay as temporary. However, in reality, the settlement is definite and permanent. Most Western Europeans dislike guest workers and blame the government for allowing them.
Migration between Regions of a Country
In the U.S, interregional migration has been predominant. Many farmers went into urban areas to look for a job.
Migration between Regions within the U.S
A famous example of large internal migration is the opening of the American West.
Changing Center of Population
The U.S census defines the country’s population center. This is the average location of everyone in the country. When the population was first measured in 1790, it was east of Baltimore. Over the years, it moved to the west. Today, it is somewhere in Missouri.
Early Settlement in the Interior
The interior settlement began after 1790. Better transportation helped to open the interior in the early 1800s. After 1830 the point rapidly moved towards Cincinnati because western settlers moved through this area.
Settlement of the Great Plains
The population center continued west, but at a slower pace. The expanding railroad system encouraged western settlement. Between 1950 and 1980 the population center moved west faster.

 

Recent grow of the South
In the late 20th century, the population center moved south more rapidly because of net migration.  People have also migrated south for environmental reasons like a more temperate climate.
Migration between Regions in other Countries
Russia
Interregional migration has been important to developing countries like the former Soviet Union. An insufficient number of workers lived in the factory regions. They were eager to develop the north of Russia because of its rich resources. However, it was not achieved to move a sufficient number of workers to the north.
Brazil
Brazil has also encouraged interregional migration. Because they wanted to increase the attractiveness of the country’s center; they had moved their capital called Brasilia to there. First the population of Brasilia grew slowly. Now it has increased because many people migrate there in search for a job.
Indonesia
The Indonesian government paid for the migration of 5 million people from Java, which was overpopulated, to less populated islands. The migrants received 5 acres of land to live on.
Europe
In Europe there spread migration patterns. In Italy migrate from south to north in search of a job. The United Kingdom has a similar pattern though it is vice-versa. People migrate from the rural north to the urban south.

India
People there have limited ability to migrate to other regions in order to protect ethnicity. These restrictions date back to colonial times.
Migration within One Region
Intraregional migration is far more prominent than interregional migration.
Migration from Rural to Urban regions
The urbanization of Europe and North America began in the 1800s. The migration from rural to urban regions has rocketed upwards in less developed countries because people thought they would have a better life and a job in cities. Migrants who move from rural to urban areas seek economic advancement.
Migration from Urban to Suburban Areas
In the more developed countries, this kind of migration is the most popular. People who live in urban areas want to move to the suburbs to escape the bustle of the city and to live in a house rather than an apartment.
Migration from Metropolitan to Nonmetropolitan Areas
In the late 20th century, more developed countries witnessed a new trend. For the first time more people immigrated to rural areas that people emigrate from them. This is called counter urbanization. People are attracted to rural areas to swap their frantic lives in urban areas for a rural life on a farm. Because communication is highly developed, no region is isolated anymore. Most of these migrants are retired people over 50.
Introduction
Humans have spread across the earth for almost 7,000 years. The average family in the U.S moves once every six years. Most migrants migrate for 3 reasons, economic opportunity, environmental comfort and cultural freedom.

 

 

Case Study
Ilhami Elhoussin, a Moroccan man, decided to migrate to Spain. He paid 500$ for a boat ride across the strait of Gibraltar. He and 20 other migrants were detained by the Spanish police for immigrating without papers. He escaped and fled to a small town called El Ejido. He had no difficulty finding a job and worked as a tomato picker on a farm. He lived with a cousin in a small shack on the farm. He sent most of his earnings to his family in Morocco. Because of cultural hostility, young Spaniards attacked and destroyed the shacks. Elhoussin and 20 others escaped into the mountains. The Spanish had to tolerate the immigrants as being the poorest country in the EU and having sent its youth into other EU countries.
Case Study Revisited
The most famous symbol of migration is the Statue of Liberty. It stands in the New York harbor on Liberty Island and close to Ellis Island. This island was an initial landing processing point for millions immigrants from Europe. U.S inhabitants did not welcome European immigrants with open arms in the 19th century. For many migrants, the only way to enter the U.S is illegally.