Migration Geography

1. Why do people migrate?

2. Where do they come from and where do they go?

3. What kinds of barriers are there to migration (i.e.

immigration policies)
 Migration Tendencies
1. More often short distance
2. Usually rural to urban

3. Most migrants are young adults

4. Gender matters – males first, females later

5. Relatively educated people more likely to migrate

– “Brain Drain”
6. Economic Reasons most important
7. Social relations plays a role – Chain Migration
 Why Migrate?
• Pull
• Push
Factors
Factors

– Economic
– Economic
– Cultural
– Cultural
– Environmental
– Environmental

#1 Reason is Economic!
 Internal Migration Example:
African American Migration North and West
• Two phases, around WWI and WWII
– Push Factors
• Economic
• Cultural
• Environmental

– Pull Factors
• Economic
• Cultural
• Environmental

• 1970s on these flows reversed

 Breakout Rooms
• What are the top 5 states you would like to move to
– Why?

• What are the 5 states you would NOT want to move to

– Why not?
Migration
Transition
 How it impacts Population Growth
• Jamaica with 3 million people
– CBR 18 per 1000
– CDR 7 per 1000
– NIR = 1.1%
– This equals 45,000 new people every year

• But net migration is -5 per 1000

– 15,000 emigrate every year

• So population growth is only 30,000 = 0.6% net growth

Fig. 3-2: The major flows of migration are from less developed to more developed
countries.
 History of U.S. Immigration
• Involuntary Migration: African Slave Trade

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 History of Immigration to the U.S.
• 1st Era – 1840s to 1850s from Germany and Ireland
Relationship Between
Industrial Revolution,
Population Growth, and
Migration
History of Immigration to the U.S.
• 2nd Era – 1870s from Ireland and Germany
History of Immigration to the U.S.
• 3rd Era – 1880s from Scandinavia
Relationship Between
Industrial Revolution,
Population Growth,
and Migration
 History of Immigration to the U.S.
• 4th Era – 1905-1914 from Southern and Eastern Europe
Relationship Between
Industrial Revolution,
Population Growth,
and Migration
European Migration
 History of Immigration to the U.S.
• 5th Peak – 1950s to present from Latin America and Asia
Annual Migration from Asia to the U.S.

The largest numbers of migrants from Asia come from

India, China, the Philippines, and Vietnam
Fig. 3-6: Mexico has been the largest source of immigrants to the U.S., but immigrants have also
come from numerous other Latin American nations.
U.S. States as
Immigrant
Destinations
 Inscription on the Statue of Liberty
“Give me your tired, your poor, your
huddled masses yearning to breathe free”
U.S. Immigration Policies
• 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act

• 1921 Quota Act, 1924 National Origins Act

 U.S. Immigration Policies
• 1965 and 1978 Immigration Acts
– 290,000 people

• 1990 Immigration Act

– 700,000 global quota

Today: 1 million people allowed legally in every year

Most future U.S. population growth will be from immigration

 Unauthorized Immigration
• 11 million in U.S.
Haitian vs. Cuban Migration to the U.S.
• Haitian’s considered ‘economic migrants’

• Cuban’s considered ‘political refugees’

– ‘Wet foot – dry foot’ policy
– Rescinded in 2017
Unauthorized Immigrants in the US
• Peak of
12.2 million
in 2007

• Declined
since
Internal Migration in the U.S.
European
Migration
United Kingdom Migration
European
Migration
Refugees
Environmental Refugees
Hurricane Katrina 2005
Hurricane Maria 2017 in the Caribbean
 One More Thing…Remittances
• $550 billion remitted every year

• India - $71 billion

• China - $60 billion

• Mexico - $23 billion
• Haiti over 30% of GDP

• Tajikistan 50% of GDP