Migration Chapter 3 Migration Migration A change in

Migration Chapter 3

Migration • Migration A change in residence that is intended to be permanent. • Emigration-leaving a country. • Immigration-entering a country. Little Haiti, Miami, Florida

• On average, Americans move once every 6 years. • US population is the most mobile in the world with over 5 million moving from 1 state to another every year. • 35 million move within a state, county or community each year. • Migration a key factor in the speed of diffusion of ideas and innovation. • Our perception of distance and direction are often distorted-thus a sizable % of migrants return to their original home due to these distorted perceptions.

Types of Migration • Forced Migration-migrants have no choice-must leave. • periodic movement-short term (weeks or months) seasonal migration to college, winter in the south, etc. • Cyclic movement-daily movement to work, shopping. • Transhumance-seasonal pastoral farming-Switzerland, Horn of Africa. • Nomadism-cyclical, yet irregular migration that follows the growth of vegetation. Commuter train in Soweto, South Africa

From 12 to 30 million Africans were forced from their homelands in the 18 th century. It took generations to restore the population balance.

Catalysts of Migration (Push-Pull Factors-push factors induce people to leave. Pull factors encourage people to move to an area. ) • Economic conditions-poverty and a desire for opportunity. • Political conditionspersecution, expulsion, or war. • Environmental conditionscrop failures, floods, drought, environmentally induced famine. • Culture and traditionthreatened by change. • Technology-easier and cheaper transport or change in livability.

Economic Conditions – Migrants will often risk their lives in hopes of economic opportunities that will enable them to send money home (remittances) to their family members who remain behind.

Most illegal immigrants are Mexicans, but a growing number Are from Central and South America, like the men waiting Outside of “Bar Honduras” in Nuevo Laredo.

• A massive dump site in Arizona’s Upper Altar Valley. After walking 40 miles through the desert, illegal immigrants are met here by coyotes. They are told to dump their old clothes & packs and put on more “American” looking clothes the coyotes have brought. They then begin the trip to an urban stash house.

Environmental Conditions –In Montserrat, a 1995 volcano made the southern half of the island, including the capital city of Plymouth, uninhabitable. People who remained migrated to the north or to the U. S.

Economic Opportunities Islands of Development – Places within a region or country where foreign investment, jobs, and infrastructure are concentrated.

Economic Opportunities In late 1800 s and early 1900 s, Chinese migrated throughout Southeast Asia to work in trade, commerce, and finance.

Reconnecting Cultural Groups • About 700, 000 Jews migrated to then. Palestine between 1900 and 1948. • After 1948, when the land was divided into two states (Israel and Palestine), 600, 000 Palestinian Arabs fled or were pushed out of newly-designated Israeli territories.

Jerusalem, Israel: Jewish settlements on the West Bank.

Voluntary Migration – Migrants weigh push and pull factors to decide first, to emigrate from the home country and second, where to go. Distance Decay weighs into the decision to migrate, leading many migrants to move less far than they originally contemplate.

Refugees A person who flees across an international boundary because of a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.

Characteristics of Refugees • Move with only what they can carry or easily transport. • Most move first on foot, bicycle, wagon or open boat-very low tech. transport. • Most have no official documentation such as passports, identification or other official papers.

Ernst Ravenstein’s “Laws of migration” 1885 he studied the migration of England • • • Most migrants go only a short distance. Big cities attract long distance migrants. Most migration is step-by-step. Most migration is rural to urban Each migration flow produces a counterflow. Most migrants are adults-families are less likely to make international moves. • Most international migrants are young males.

Historic US Migration • Westward to the frontier. • Black migration to northern cities in WWI and WWII period • 1950 s, 60 s Cubans to Florida from Castro’s Cuba • In recent decades the migration from the Rust belt to the Sunbelt took place. • Some blacks returned to the South

Migrants face obstacles • Quota Laws-limit the number of immigrants from a particular country – Today: 480, 000 family-sponsored immigrants plus 140, 000 employment-related immigrants – Brain Drain: preference is given to educated immigrants thus causing a lack in their home countries

Guest Workers or Time-Contract Workers • Guest workers – migrants whom a country allows in to fill a labor need, assuming the workers will go “home” once the labor need subsides. - have short term work visas - send remittances to home country - France-many from Algeria - Germany-many from Turkey, Eastern Europe

Cultural Problems • U. S. attitudes toward immigrants

Post-September 11

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