Download Europe

KEY ISSUE 3: WHY DO
MIGRANTS FACE OBSTACLES
Governments Place
Legal Restrictions on Migration
• Immigration laws – laws that restrict or
allow migration of certain groups into a
country.
– Quotas limit the number of migrants from each
region into a country.
– A country uses selective immigration to bar
people with certain backgrounds from entering.
Immigration Policies of Host
Countries
• United States uses a quota system
– Era of unrestricted immigration ended when Congress
passed the Quota Act of 1921 and the National Origins
Act of 1924 and was designed to ensure most
immigrants were from Europe
– Current law-620,000, no more than 7% from any one
country. ¾ are admitted to reunify families
– Remaining 1/4 are skilled workers and talented
professionals
– Quota does not apply to refugees
– Asians make good use of law, skilled workers come,
then bring families who bring wider range of families
through chain migration
Post-September 11
BRAIN DRAIN-large scale emigration
by most talented people
• US and Western Europe contribute to this by
drawing the most talented individuals from
a country
• Most seeking employment are young, welleducated people lured to economic growth
• Percentage of college educated Haitians
living abroad was 84%!!! 47% of Ghana,
45% in Mozambique
Guest 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
-typically those who obtain jobs in
Europe and the Middle East
Europe’s Guest workers
• 700,000 immigrants enter Europe legally each
year along with about 500,000 illegally
• Primarily from Northern Africa, the Middle East,
Eastern Europe, and Asia
• Low paid by European standards; taking lowstatus, low-skilled jobs
• Reduces unemployment in home country and puts
foreign currency into local economy
• Germany—Turks; France-former colonies
Distinguishing between refugees and
economic migrantsCuba/Haiti/Vietnam
• US has regarded Cubans as political refugees
since 1959 (Castro’s Communist revolution)
• Took over privately owned banks, farms, factories,
etc. political opponents jailed.
• More than 600,000 came in years following
impacting southern Florida
• 1980 Mariel boatlift—2nd wave of immigrants
came when Castro released prisoners and mental
patients. (more than 125,000)
Haiti
• Just after Mariel boatlift, many Haitians came to the US
• Dictators Papa Doc (Francois Devalier) and Baby Doc
(Jean-Claude Devalier) harshly persecuted political
opponents
• US government drew distinction because Cuba was Soviet
ally
• US immigration would not let people in boats come aboard
and the Haitians sued and won
• After a 1991 coup, many Haitians came and claimed
political asylum
• US decided most came for economic reasons
Vietnam
• After Vietnam war, many Pro-US Southern
Vietnamese were persecuted
• They tried to leave by boat and were thus called
“boat people”
• Would drift into the South China Sea and hope to
be rescued by a US naval vessel
• Some would not be taken aboard
• Second surge in the late 80s went to other Asian
countries; Thailand especially sent them back to
sea
• Many placed in detention camps until 1996 when
returned to Vietnam
US Attitudes toward Immigrants
• Always regarded new arrivals with
suspicion, but accepting during 19th century
b/c immigrants were taming the west
• Opposition intensified toward Poles,
Italians, Russians and Southern Europeans
in early 1900s
• Now denial of undocumented immigrants
services in several states
Attitudes Toward Guest Workers
• Many Europeans dislike them and oppose
programs to improve their living conditions
• In Middle East, workers must marry abroad
and can’t work if they have families
• Anti-immigrant arguments/politicians
seductive to many voters
Economic
Opportunities
In late 1800s and
early 1900s,
Chinese migrated
throughout
Southeast Asia to
work in trade,
commerce, and
finance.
Key Issue 4
Why do people migrate within a
country?
Interregional migration—migration
between regions of a country
• Settling of the American west is one of the
most famous examples of large-scale
internal migration
• Changing center of population (the average
location of everyone in a country; center of
population gravity) pattern of moving west
and south after 1790
• Population center didn’t change throughout
the colonial period
National Migration Flows
• Also known as internal migration
Early Settlement of the Interior
• Settlement of the interior begins after 1790
as a result of opportunity for large amounts
of land for low price
• In early 1800s transportation
improvements, mainly canals, made it
easier to go west
• For much of the 19th century settlement
stopped at the 98th meridian because it was
declared unfit for farming
• Ironically, this region is one of the world’s
richest farmland
98th dotted/100th solid
Settlement of the Great Plains
• After 1880, population center shifts slower
– immigration from Europe offset western migration
– because of filling in the area between California and
the 98th meridian
• Advancing agricultural technology made it
possible for Great Plains to be cultivated
• Expansion of railroads began in 1840/they sold
land acquired from government
• Gold rush in mid 1800s
• In 1980, the population center jumped the
Mississippi for the first time ever
Recent Growth of the South
• 1920s center began to move southward
also
• During the 1980s and 90s, 4 million people
a year moved into the South from the
Northeast, Midwest, and West for job
opportunities—to the “sunbelt” from the
“rustbelt”.
African American Migration
• During the 20th century, large number of
African Americans migrate to Northeast,
Midwest, and West for jobs
• It equals in the 1990s whereas North to
South was much higher for whites
• Presently, migration patterns differ little
between races; internal migration has
slowed due to less difference in regional
employment opportunities
Migration between Regions in
other countries
Russia-government policies to
encourage interregional migration
• Interregional migration important in developing
Soviet Union
• Established factories near raw materials and
didn’t have enough workers
• Needed to develop far North because of rich
resources
• Did force people to migrate but later changed to
incentive programs
• Many just moved back because of the harsh
climate
• Now government officials no longer dictate
locations of industry
Brazil
• Most of Brazil’s most populous cities are on
Atlantic coast while interior is sparsely
populated
• Moved capital to Brasilia in the interior
• Growth slow at first because officials
resented the move
• But now, many have moved in search of
work
• Indonesia—government paid for people to
move from Java to other islands
• Europe—trends depend on country and
where economic opportunities are
• India—an example when a government
limits ability to Migrate; must have a permit
to migrate or even visit the State of Assam
Intraregional Migration—migration
within a region
• Migration from rural to urban
– Most prominent type of intraregional migration;
less than 5% lived in urban areas in 1800
compared to nearly half today
– In MDCs about ¾ of people live in urban areas
– Migration has increased dramatically in LDCs to
urban areas
– Pushed by declining agricultural opportunities
and pulled by job opportunities
– Housing is in issue in many LDC urban areas
• migration from urban to suburban
– Most of migration in MDC happens in this way
– Drawn by suburban lifestyle
– Transportation allows people to live in the
suburban area but work in the urban area
– As a result, farms on the periphery are being
converted to suburban land use.
Intraregional Migration in the U.S.
Fig. 3-14: Average annual migration among urban, suburban, and rural areas in the U.S.
during the 1990s. The largest flow was from central cities to suburbs.
• Migration from Metropolitan to Nonmetropolitan—
net migration from urban to rural is called
counterurbanization
– Trend in late twentieth century
– Represents some difficulty distinguishing from rural
and suburb but most is genuine migration from suburbs
and urban areas to small towns and rural communities
– Moving for a desire to change lifestyle
– sometimes can be retirees
– Not common in US because the economy of small
towns and rural areas not attractive
– Farming suffering / industry located in rural areas
suffering