Chapter 3 Migration Notes

Key Issue 1: Why do people migrate?

EG Ravenstein
Ravensteins laws can be organized into 3 groups; reasons, distance and migrant
characteristics
Reasons for Migrating

Push and pull factors

We can identify 3 major kinds of push and pull factors: economic, cultural, and
environmental
Economic Push and Pull Factors
2 main cultural reasons: slavery and political instabilty.
Refugees are people who have been forced to migrate from their home country and
cannot return for fear of persecution. Political conditions can also operate as pull
factors.
Environmental Push and Pull Factors
People also migrate for environmental reasons, pulled towards physically attractive
regions and pushed from hazardous ones.
Intervening Obstacles
In the past, intervening obstacles were primarily environmental. Todays migrant
faces intervening obstacles created by local diversity in government and politics.
Distance of Migration
Ravensteins Theories
Most migrates relocate a short distance and remain within the same country long
distance migrants to other countries head for major centers of economic activity
Internal Migration

International migration
Internal migration
Interregional migration
Intraregional migration

International Migration

International migration is further divided into 2 types; forced and voluntary.

Economic push and pull factors usually induce voluntary migration, and cultural
factors normally compel forced migration.
Wilbur Zelinsky made a migration transition from demographic transition.***
Characteristics of Migrants
Ravenstein noted distinctive gender and family-status patterns in his migration
theories: most long-distance migrants are male, and most long-distance migrants
are adult individuals rather than families with children.
Gender Migrants
Since the 1990s the gender pattern has reversed, and women now constitute about
55% of US immigration.
Family Status of Migrants
Ravenstein also believed that most long-distance migrants were young adults
seeking work. With the increase in women migrating, more children are coming with
their mother.
Key Issue 2: Where are migrants distributed?
About 9% of the worlds people are international migrants. The country with by far
the largest number is the United States.
Global Migration Patterns
At the global scale, Asia, Latin America, and Africa have net out-migration, whereas
North America, Europe, and Oceania have net in-migration.
The US has foreign- born residents than any other country.
Net in-migration: the highest rates can be found in petroleumexporting countries
in the Middle East, which attract immigration from poorer neighboring countries to
perform many of the dirty and dangerous functions in the oil fields.
US Immigration Patterns
About 70 million people have migrated to the United States since 1820, including
the 40 million alive in 2010, The United States has had 3 main eras in immigration,
each drawing migrants from different migrants from different regions.
Colonial Immigration from England and Africa

Immigration to the American colonies and the newly independent United States
came from 2 sources: Europe and Africa. Most of the Africans were forced to migrate
to the United States as slaves, whereas most Europeans were voluntary migrants.
19th Century Immigration from Europe
In the 500 years since Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain to the Western
Hemisphere, 40 million Europeans migrated to the US, Germany. Migration from
Europe to the US peaked at several points during the 19 th century.

1840s and 1850s: annual migration jumped to 200,000

1870s: emigration from Western Europe resumes after temporary decline
during US civil war
1880s: immigration reached half million per year
1900 and 1914: nearly a million people per year migrate to the US

Recent Immigration from Less Developed Regions

Immigration to the US dropped sharply in the 1930s and 1940s, during the Great
Depression and World War 2, steadily increased beginning in the 1950s, and the
surged to historically high levels during the 1980s.
More than of the recent US immigrants have originated in 2 regions:

Asia: the 3 leading sources of US immigrants from Asia are China, India, and
the Philippines
Latin America

Legacy of European Migration

The era of massive European migration ended with the start of World War 1.
Europes Demographic Transition
Rapid population growth in Europe fueled emigration.
Diffusion of European Culture
Europeans frequently imposed political domination on existing populations and
injected their cultural values with little regard for local traditions. Economies in
Africa and Asia became based on extracting resources for export to Europe, rather
than on using those resources to build local industry. Many of todays conflicts in
former European colonies result from past practices by European immigrants.
During stage 2 of demographic transition international migration peaked.***
Unauthorized Immigration to the US

Immigrating illegally unauthorized immigrants. 59% of unauthorized immigrants

came from Mexico, 22% came from elsewhere in Latin America, and 12% from Asia.
2008 estimate, undocumented workers account for 5.4% of the total US civilian
labor force
Destinations of Immigrants Within the US
Recent immigrants are not distributed uniformly through the US, chain migration.
Key Issue 3: Why do immigrants face obstacles?
Today, the major obstacles faced by most immigrants are cultural: gaining
permission to enter and hostile attitudes of citizens.
Immigration Policies of Host Countries
The US uses a quota system to limit the number of people who can migrate.
US Quota Laws
The era of unrestricted immigration to the US ended when Congress passed the
Quota Act in 1921 and the National Origins Act in 1924. Quota laws were designed
to assume that most immigrants to the US continued to by Europeans.
Congress has set preferences to reunify families and admit skilled workers and
exceptionally talented professionals, brain drain.
Temporary Migration for Worker
Guest workers serve as a useful role in Western Europe because they take lowstatus and low-skilled jobs that local residents wont accept.
Most guest workers in Europe come from North Africa, the Middle East, Eastern
Europe, and Asia.
Distinguishing Between Economic Migrants and Refugees
Economic migrants are generally not admitted unless they possess special skills or
have a close relative already there. Refugees receive special priority in admission to
other countries.
Key Issue 4: Why do people migrate within a country?
Internal migration for most people is less disruptive than international migration.
2 main types of internal migration are interregional (between regions of a country)
and intraregional (within a region).
Recent Growth of the South

The population center resumed a more vigorous migration during the late 20 th
century, moving across Illinois and into central Missouri by 2000. It has also moved
southward by 75 miles since 1940 because of net migration into southern states.
Migration within One Region
In the United States, the principal intraregional migration is from cities to suburbs.
Migration from Rural to Urban Areas
Urbanization began in the late 1800s in Europe and North America as part of the
Industrial Revolution. In recent years, urbanization has diffused to LDCs, especially
in Asia.
Migration from Urban to Suburban Areas
Most intraregional migration in MDCs is from cities to surrounding suburbs. As a
result of suburbanization, the territory occupied by urban areas has rapidly
expanded.
Most Asians migrate to the US today via chain migration.***
What caused the largest level of interregional migration in the US?
Opening up of Western territories.***