US%20Immigration%20Patterns

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US Immigration Patterns

• 70 million people have immigrated to the US since
  1820
• The US has had 3 main eras of immigration
• Colonial Immigration
• 19th century European Immigration
• Recent Immigration form LDCs

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Colonial Immigration

• 2 sources Europe and Africa
• About 1 million Europeans migrated to the
  American colonies before independence
• 90 from Great Britain
• About 400,000 African slaves were forced to
  migrate here during the same period

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19th Century Migration

• 7.2 million from Germany
• 5.4 million from Italy
• 5.3 million from United Kingdom
• 4.8 million from Ireland
• 4.1 million from Russia

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• 1840s-1850s 4.3 million came to US mostly from
  Western and Northern Europe
• Mostly from Ireland and Germany
• Pushed by bad economic factors
• 1870s-1880s still mostly Western and Northern
  European
• Many German and Irish, but also Norwegians and
  Swedes
• Result of industrial revolution hitting those
  countries
• Search for more land as pop. exploded

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• During the first 15 years of 20th century, close
  to 1 million people migrated each year
• Most came from Southern and Eastern Europe
• Italy, Russia, and Austria-Hungary specifically
• Once again the Industrial Revolution spread to
  these areas causing large pop increases (stage 2)

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Recent Immigration from LDCs

• Most from LA and Asia
• In 2006 Mexico officially passed Germany as the
  country of origin of most total immigrants to the
  US
• Probably actually happened in the 1980s because
  of all the undocumented immigrants
• Also get a lot of Dominicans

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continued

• 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act
• Issued visas to several hundred thousand illegal
  immigrants already living in the US

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• China, Philippines, India, and Vietnam send the
  most immigrants to the US from Asia

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Impact of Immigration on the United States

• US was Europes safety valve for several
  hundred years
• Pop boom in Europe after the industrial
  revolution led to rapid growth in stage 2
• The US had plenty of land for European Immigrants
  who found themselves without it
• Now Europe has very low NIRs
• Dont send many immigrants to US
• safety valve is no longer needed

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• European migration greatly shaped World Culture
• Indo-European languages, Christianity, art,
  music, philosophy and ethics have diffused around
  the world
• In NA political and economic systems of Europe
  have diffused

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Undocumented Immigration

• Def.- immigration to a country without proper
  legal documentation
• aka unauthorized immigrants
• Estimates vary, but somewhere b/w 9.3 and 12
  million illegals in US most from Mexico
• Most come for work
• Make up 24 of US farm labor, 17 in cleaning,
  14 in construction, and 12 in food prep.

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• About 50 of undocumented immigrants come here
  legally with a student or tourist visa
• Just dont leave
• Other half sneaks across border
• Not very difficult to do
• Guards patrol official border crossings, but the
  border is 2000 miles long

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Notice break in fence gtgtgt
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Where would you rather live?????
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• Undocumented often become documented by
  purchasing false documents
• About 1.3 million are caught each year by
  Homeland Security about 90 Mexican
• They are escorted back home
• Many just come right back

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Destination of Immigrants Within the United States

• More than ½ of recent immigrants are clustered in
  4 states
• California (most), NY, FL, and TX
• Undocumented immigrants show a similar pattern
• CA (most), TX, FL, NY, AZ, IL, GA, NJ
• Pretty high in states relatively accessible to
  Mexico

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• Mexicans go to CA, TX, IL
• Caribbean islanders go to NY, FL
• Chinese and Indians go to NY and CA
• Proximity explains much about destinations
• Whereas others choose where people from their
  country have previously settled
• Chain migration- migration to a specific
  location, because relatives or members of the
  same nationality previously migrated there

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Immigration Policies of Host Countries

• Countries use 2 main policies to control the
  arrival of foreigners seeking work
• The US uses a quota system
• In Europe and the Middle East, they permit guest
  workers

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US Quota Laws

• Quotas- maximum limit on the number of people who
  could immigrate to the S from each country in a 1
  year period
• First established in 1924
• Updated in 1965, and replaced with hemisphere
  quotas instead of country quotas
• 1978, changed to a global quota of 290,000, with
  a max of 20,000 per country
• Today, 620,000, w/ max of 7 from one country

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• Get more applications for immigration per year
  than the quota allows
• Congress has set preferences
• 480,000 family sponsored immigrants
• 140,000 employment-related immigrants
• Currently about a 5 year wait for a spouse to
  gain entry
• Quotas do not account for refugees

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• Brain drain- large scale emigration of talented
  people
• In 2005, 84 of Haitians w/ a college degree
  lived abroad
• 47 Ghana
• 45 Mozambique

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US Attitudes Toward Immigrants

• The Germans and Irish had only mild prejudice
  against them because they helped expand the
  frontier
• Russians, Italians, Poles, faced much more
  hostility after the frontier was closed
• They were deemed less intelligent, less
  trustworthy, and more inclined to violence
• Recent immigrants face many of the same
  prejudices today