The long-term relocation of an individual or
group outside their place of origin
Dust Bowl Migrants U.S. 1930s
Immigration
Emigration
 Coming to a new place
 Leaving a place of origin
 Example: coming to the
 Example: leaving Mexico
United States
 Push and Pull Factors
 Push Factors: those things that make people leave their
place of origin
 Economic (#1)
 Cultural
 Environmental
 Pull Factors: those things that make people come to a
specific place
 Economic (#1)
 Cultural
 Environmental
 Internal
 Moving from one place
to another within the
borders of a country
 Example: people moving
from the countryside to
a city in the same
country
 External (International)
 Moving from one
country to another
country
 Example: people
moving from Mexico to
the United States
 Economic
 Increasing disparity between “haves” and “have nots”
 Cultural
 Ethnic tensions and resulting violence
 Environmental
 Global warming: climate refugees
 Fleeing low-lying areas , like coasts and floodplains
 New Orleans, Bangladesh, island nations
 Fleeing drought and famine in dry areas
 Example: desertification in the Sahel region of Africa
 Forced
 People are forced to
leave their country and
move to a new place
 2 main cultural reasons
 Slavery
 War (euphemistically
called “political
instability”)
 Example: African Slaves
brought to the New
World in chains
 largest forced migration
in history
 Refugees
 People who have been
forced to move due to
persecution
 Asylees – those granted
asylum in a new country
 Voluntary
 People choose to move
to a new place to lead a
better life
 Most migrants are in
this category
 Native Americans put on
 Europeans coming to the
reservations in 1800s
 Internal migration
 Forced migration
New World
 External migration
 Voluntary migration
 Cultural reasons
 Cause: European
migrants wanted the
land
 Economic reasons –
most common
 Cultural – Puritans
leaving England
 Environmental – Irish
Potato Famine 1846-49
 Cause: Population
explosion in Europe
 Gender
 Mostly males (55%) before 1990s
 85% of undocumented were males before 1990s
 Now reversed, women currently 55% of all migrants
 Women now in the work force in origin countries
 Age
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Mostly late teens and early twenties in 1800s
Still young adults are most common (20s and 30s)
Mostly single, no children
More women with children coming now
Least likely to migrate are elderly
 Exception: grandparents joining families already in U.S.
Women
migrants are
becoming
more
common
•Most migrants relocate a
short distance away in the
same country
•Example: moving from rural
area to a big city in search of
wage labor
•Long distance migrants to
other countries head for
major centers of economic
activity
•Example: moving from
Mexico to Los Angeles
 Distance Decay Theory
 Most like to relocate to a close place
 Rural to urban – since the Industrial Revolution
 Going on at a fast pace today, 50% of people now urban
 From LDCs to MDCs
 People leaving developing countries for better opportunities
in developed countries
 Net Out-migration: Asia, Latin America, Africa
 Net In-migration: North America, Europe, Oceana
 3 largest flows currently:
 To Europe from Asia
 To North America from Asia
 To North America from Latin America
 Leading destination for international migrants
 Most Americans are direct descendants of immigrants
 About 12% of current U.S. population are immigrants
 Demand for labor in U.S. “pulls” immigrants
 U.S. / Mexico border – longest border in the world
between an LDC and an MDC
 Reason for Mexico being largest origin country for U.S.
immigrants
 Guest workers migrate from LDCs to Europe and the
Middle East
 Perform low-paying unskilled jobs not favored by citizens
 In Europe, guest workers are protected by minimum wage
laws, unions, and other programs
 700,000 legally each year, plus 500,000 illegally
 About 1/10th of the workforce but varies by country
 Patterns of European guest workers
 England – former British colonies like Pakistan, India, West
Indies, Nigeria, and Ireland
 Germany – Turkey, 250,00 currently, largest
 France – former French colonies like Algeria and Morocco
 Migrated for contract work, then stayed permanently
 Indians – Burma, Malaysia, Guyana, eastern and
southern Africa, Fiji, Mauritius, Trinidad
 Japanese and Filipinos – Hawaii and Brazil
 Chinese – United States west coast (railroad and
mining)
 China – 33 million ethnic Chinese now live in other
countries, mostly in Asia
 Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines
 17th and 18th Centuries
 British colonists and African slaves
 Mid-19th to early 20th Centuries
 Up to 1890s: Ireland, Germany, Scandinavia
 After 1890s: Southern and Eastern Europe
 Late 20th and early 21st Centuries
 Latin America, primarily Mexico
 Asia, primarily China, Philippines, India, Vietnam
 Quota Laws (1921 and 1924)
 Designed to keep out Southern and Eastern Europeans
 Xenophobia, strong anti-immigrant sentiment, thought
to be inferior, not able to assimilate
 Each year would only admit 2% of the number of people
of that national origin living in the U.S. in the 1910
census
 In effect until 1960s
 Immigration Act of 1965
 Hemisphere quotas, then global quotas
 Total admitted each year 620,000
 No more than 7% from any one country
 Family reunification and skilled workers first
 No limits on spouses, parents, children of U.S. citizens
 Lottery for remaining spots
 Quota does not apply to refugees
 Automatically admitted if judged true refugee
 More than one half of all immigrants in four states:
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California, New York, Florida, Texas
Coastal states are usually “gateways”
Mexican: California, Texas, Illinois
Caribbean: Florida, New York
Indians: New York
East Asians: California
 Proximity – distance decay theory
 Chain migration – relatives or friends are what draw new
immigrants to areas
 Example: Glendale for Armenian immigrants
 Immigrant communities or enclaves help new arrivals get
settled and feel “at home”
 Jobs
 People go where the jobs are
 Example: Mexicans to Illinois for meat packing
Immigrant Enclave
 About one half enter as students or tourists and stay
 About one half slip across the border undetected
 How many? Around 10 million.
 Most are employed, about 5% of U.S. labor
 Farming, cleaning, construction, food preparation,
factories
 Employers hire undocumented for less pay, no
benefits, unable to complain
 If there are jobs, people will come!
 Border is 2000 miles long, longest border between
MDC and LDC in the world
 Hard to patrol, fences broken, just markers
 Expensive and dangerous to cross border
 “Coyotes” charge a lot to help cross
 Obtain papers and Social Security card
 Some dislike so-called “illegal immigrants”
 Taking jobs from Americans
 Too many, changing the country, crime
 Drain on schools, hospitals, other services
 Some welcome undocumented immigrants
 Recognize they take jobs no one else wants
 Understand their contribution to the economy
 Need for temporary farm workers
 Movement from one part of the country to another
 Example: opening the American West
 Center of American population moved west in 1800s
 transcontinental railroad, homesteading
 Similar in other countries like Russia, Brazil with
frontier regions
 Incentives or quotas to control population movement in
other countries
Changing center of American Population
Shifts westward first, then southward in late 20th century
Brazilia – new capital built to encourage
settlement in Brazil’s interior
 Movement within a region
 Usually from rural to urban (LDCs now)
 Pushed by declining agricultural work
 Seek industrial jobs in cities
 Slum settlements due to overcrowding
 Urban to suburban (MDCs now)
 Drawn by suburban lifestyle, not jobs
 Causes rapid expansion into surrounding land
 Counterurbanization: reverse migration back to city
centers
Net Migration
By County
Manila slum
Manhattan Apartment
Ellis Island - waiting for ferry to Manhattan in 1912