Tested
23 State three factors that influence the regional destination of immigrants in OECD countries. 24 How large were international remittances in 2008? 25 Define diaspora. 26 Describe the trends shown in Figure 5.9 27 State three factors that influence ethnic concentration in London.
5 Migration
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Answers on p.216
5.4 A case study of international migration Mexicans to the USA: a major migration stream One of the largest international migration streams in the world in recent decades has been from Mexico to the USA. This has been primarily a labour migration, the result of a very large gap in: l average income l unemployment rates l the growth of the labour force l the overall quality of life
Revised
Labour migration is migration from one country to another when the primary purpose is to seek employment.
About 30% of legal immigrants in the USA and an estimated half of all unauthorised foreigners in the country are from Mexico. Most of this migration has taken place in the last three decades. Table 5.2 summarises the main push and pull factors influencing migration from Mexico to the USA. Mexico is Latin America’s major emigration country, sending up to 500,000 people — half of its net population increase to the USA each year. Most make unauthorised entries. Table 5.2 Factors encouraging migration from Mexico, by type of migrant Type of migrant
Demand-pull
Supply-push
Network/other
Economic
Labour recruitment (guest workers)
Unemployment or underemployment; low wages (farmers whose crops fail)
Job and wage information flows
Non-economic
Family unification (family members joins spouse)
Low income, poor quality of life, lack of opportunity
Communications; transport; assistance organisations; desire for new experience/adventure
Note: All three factors can encourage a person to migrate. The relative importance of pull, push and network factors can change over time.
Early and mid-twentieth century migration
In the early part of the twentieth century the US government allowed the recruitment of Mexican workers as guest workers. Young Mexican men known as ‘Braceros’ were allowed into the USA legally between 1917 and 1921, and then later between 1942 and 1964. Both guest worker programmes began when US farms faced a shortage of labour during periods of war. US farmers were strong supporters of the scheme, but trade unions were very much against it.
A guest worker is a foreigner who is permitted to work in a country on a temporary basis, for example a farm labourer.
The increase in illegal migration l
There was very little illegal migration from Mexico to the USA before the 1980s. l However, high population growth and the economic crisis in the early 1980s resulted in a considerable increase in illegal migration.
Paper 1 Core Geography
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