Why do Migrants Face Obstacles? Chapter 3 Key Issue 4 Why do Migrants Face Obstacles?

Intervening obstacles, which hinder migration, can be categorized into two types. Environmental Barriers - mountain, ocean, desert, great distances, etc. Political Barriers - for example, when countries require proper documentation to enter or leave. Before the advancements in transportation, environmental features were more hindering than political features. More recently, political features are now more hindering. © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

an official document issued by a government, certifying the holder's identity and citizenship and entitling them to travel under its protection VISA an endorsement on a passport indicating that the holder is allowed to enter, leave, or stay for a specified period of time somewhere.

Facing many more immigrants than they want to accept, many developed countries adopt SELECTIVE IMMIGRATION POLICIES, with preference shown for certain migrants from certain places. The global quota was set to 700,000 in 1990. © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

These acts institutes a system of QUOTAS. Passage of the Quota Act in 1921 and the National Origins Act in 1924 marked the end of unrestricted immigration to the United States. These acts institutes a system of QUOTAS.

Before this, millions had arrived in America as fast as boats could deliver them.

More than 12 million immigrants arrived and were processed at ELLIS ISLAND. Only those with transmittable sicknesses and with criminal backgrounds were sent back.

ELLIS ISLAND

More seek admission to the U. S More seek admission to the U.S. than is permitted by the quotas, thus preferences are shown toward: Family Reunification About ¾ of immigrants Skilled Workers Approximately ¼ of immigrants Quotas do not apply to refugees. © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

The quotas have been raised over time; they were most recently raised to 700k people per year in 1990. Countries are limited in how many emigrants they can send, with developed countries allocated larger totals than poorer countries.

UNAUTHORIZED Or “ILLEGAL” IMMIGRATION Unauthorized immigrants are those who enter a country without proper documents.

Unauthorized immigration in the United States More than 11.2 million live in the US without documents. Roughly 58 percent emigrated from Mexico Some 1 million are children © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

FIGURE 3-34 NUMBER OF UNAUTHORIZED IMMIGRANTS TO THE UNITED STATES Most unauthorized immigrants in the United States are from Mexico. © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Unauthorized immigrants have given birth to 4 Unauthorized immigrants have given birth to 4.5 million children on American soil, making those children U.S. citizens. Undocumented parents of US citizens are much less likely to be deported.

Most migrants are more educated than the people in the country they left behind. They leave because they don’t have opportunity to use their skills in their home countries. The loss of the most educated people to developing countries BRAIN DRAIN

Unauthorized Immigration Facts Approximately 8 million unauthorized immigrants are employed in the U.S. Texas and California have largest number of unauthorized immigrants © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

“POROUS” 1,950 miles FIGURE 3-35 U.S.–MEXICO BORDER © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

FIGURE 3-37 U.S.-MEXICO BORDER: PEDESTRIAN CROSSING Pedestrians cross from Nueva Progreso, Mexico (foreground), to Progreso, Texas. © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Biggest fear is that the host country’s unique culture will be lost Immigration Concerns in Europe Population growth in Europe is fueled by immigration from other regions of the world, a trend disliked by many Europeans. Biggest fear is that the host country’s unique culture will be lost © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

FIGURE 3-43 MIGRATION FLOWS WITHIN EUROPE The largest flows are from Poland to Germany and from Romania to Spain. © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Hostility to immigrants has become a central plank of some political parties in many European countries. Immigrants blamed for crime, unemployment rates, and high welfare costs.

FIGURE 3-44 IMMIGRATION CONTROVERY IN FRANCE Demonstrations supporting (top) more rights for immigrants and (bottom) tighter immigration controls. © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Attitudes toward Immigrants Most views of immigration by U.S. citizens are ambivalent, meaning they are split on the issue. They would like more effective border control- but they don’t want to spend more money to solve the issue. Many Americans both complain that immigrants are ‘taking American jobs’ while also supporting some sort of a path to citizenship for them. Polls suggest U.S. citizens believe unauthorized immigration is a pressing matter to the nation, but it should only be dealt with at the federal level and not the local level.

More than 100 localities across the nation support additional rights for unauthorized immigrants—they are known as “Sanctuary Cities.”