immigration cause effect essay

• Arguments For and Against Immigration Words: 561
• Illegal Immigration: Causes and Consequences Words: 1171
• Immigration Policy and International Security Words: 2260
• Immigration in the U.S. and Its Economic Implications Words: 1245
• Immigration in the 1900s vs. Immigration Now Words: 1181
• Reasons Why Immigration Enhances Diversity Words: 2264
• Immigration Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Words: 853
• Immigration: Information Sources Words: 2165
• Canada and US Economic Relation: Immigration Impact Words: 2793
• Immigration: Advantages and Ways of Improving Words: 1970

Immigration: Causes and Effects

Introduction, economic causes, social causes, works cited.

For a long time, immigration has been a significant policy subject in the United States, with numerous reports and studies conducted on its motives and implications. Immigration is the movement or relocation of people from one country to another. Factors that promote immigration can be categorized to economic, social, and political causes. Although limited by slight economic downsides and political backlash, immigration is necessary for creating social diversity, protecting individuals’ rights and freedoms, and enhancing international relations. There are two significant groups of immigration causes: economic and social, which are associated with particular consequences.

First, the economic causes for immigration are high demand of manpower, unemployment, the desire for better entrepreneurial and employment opportunity. Income and economic status differences between resident and destination nations encourage people to migrate from poor to more prosperous countries. Developed countries have a high demand for labor unlike in less developed countries with high unemployment rates (Duan 3). The shortage of specialists in a particular profession in a specific region increases wages for this profession and stimulates the influx of migrants. The effect of the economic causes of immigration is overwhelming the available opportunities and resources. In 2019, the American Immigration Council reported a population of 44.9 million immigrants in the U.S (American Immigration Council 1). The right-wing Democratic Party in the US is opposed to immigration in effect, that unregulated inflow of foreign labor increases job competition, reduced wages, and increased unemployment. The social zeal for a better quality of life and connection to friends and families promoting immigration results in enhanced diversity, improved international relations, cross-cultural exchange, cosmopolitanism and diversity. Immigration has enhanced international relations and access to social amenities such as education.

The social rationale for immigration is aspirations for a better quality of life and connection with close family and friends. Social factors that influence the rate of immigration include crime rate, access to social amenities such as schools, and inter-cultural exchange (Duan 2). An immigrant can sponsor a family member or friend through an affidavit. Political grounds for immigration include state policies, threats of persecution, armed conflict, and humanitarian issues that force people to seek refuge in stable countries. The social causes of immigration are the inclination for a better life, while political migration is often due to unsafe conditions in the residence country. The effect of social immigration is in the occurrence of cosmopolitanism resulting from social immigration enhances the redistribution of wealth diversity and adequate co-existence of nationalities and socio-cultural exchange. Immigration protects the rights and freedoms of individuals advanced of their countries by political factors of armed conflict, state assassination, and discrimination.

Ultimately, immigration is a significant economic, social, and political factor with clashing implications. The desire for better quality of life and family bonds social causes of immigration lead to enhanced diversity, cosmopolitanism, cross-cultural exchange and international relations. Moreover, immigration protects the rights and freedoms of people threatened by political factors. On the downside the economic immigration driven by the desire for better employment and investment opportunities is characterized by high unemployment, prejudice, discrimination, and political backlash. While policymakers perceive immigration to drive slow wage growth and unemployment, Immigrants present remarkable social, economic, and political benefits. Therefore, migration significantly affects the economic and social structure of the countries. The mentioned effects are connected with the primary causes of migration.

American Immigration Council. “Immigrants in the United States.” American Immigration Council , 2021. Web.

Duan, Carson, Bernice Kotey, and Kamaljeet Sandhu. “A systematic literature review of determinants of immigrant entrepreneurship motivations.” Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship (2021): 1-33. Web.

Cite this paper

• Chicago (N-B)
• Chicago (A-D)

StudyCorgi. (2023, September 5). Immigration: Causes and Effects. https://studycorgi.com/immigration-causes-and-effects/

"Immigration: Causes and Effects." StudyCorgi , 5 Sept. 2023, studycorgi.com/immigration-causes-and-effects/.

StudyCorgi . (2023) 'Immigration: Causes and Effects'. 5 September.

1. StudyCorgi . "Immigration: Causes and Effects." September 5, 2023. https://studycorgi.com/immigration-causes-and-effects/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "Immigration: Causes and Effects." September 5, 2023. https://studycorgi.com/immigration-causes-and-effects/.

StudyCorgi . 2023. "Immigration: Causes and Effects." September 5, 2023. https://studycorgi.com/immigration-causes-and-effects/.

This paper, “Immigration: Causes and Effects”, was written and voluntary submitted to our free essay database by a straight-A student. Please ensure you properly reference the paper if you're using it to write your assignment.

Before publication, the StudyCorgi editorial team proofread and checked the paper to make sure it meets the highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, fact accuracy, copyright issues, and inclusive language. Last updated: December 7, 2023 .

If you are the author of this paper and no longer wish to have it published on StudyCorgi, request the removal . Please use the “ Donate your paper ” form to submit an essay.

The Effects of Immigration on the United States’ Economy

While some policymakers have blamed immigration for slowing U.S. wage growth since the 1970s, most academic research finds little long run effect on Americans’ wages.

The available evidence suggests that immigration leads to more innovation, a better educated workforce, greater occupational specialization, better matching of skills with jobs, and higher overall economic productivity.

Immigration also has a net positive effect on combined federal, state, and local budgets. But not all taxpayers benefit equally. In regions with large populations of less educated, low-income immigrants, native-born residents bear significant net costs due to immigrants’ use of public services, especially education.

Introduction

Today, the United States is home to the largest immigrant population in the world. Even though immigrants assimilate faster in the United States compared to developed European nations, immigration policy has become a highly contentious issue in America. While much of the debate centers on cultural issues, the economic effects of immigration are clear: Economic analysis finds little support for the view that inflows of foreign labor have reduced jobs or Americans’ wages. Economic theory predictions and the bulk of academic research confirms that wages are unaffected by immigration over the long-term and that the economic effects of immigration are mostly positive for natives and for the overall economy.

Figure 1 shows that the foreign-born population has grown rapidly in recent decades, rising from less than 5 percent of the U.S. population in 1970 to 13 percent in 2013. Although immigrants today comprise a larger share of the population than at any time since World War II, the foreign-born share today is roughly the same as during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when about 15 percent of U.S. residents were born in a foreign country.

Figure 1: Foreign-Born Share of U.S. Population, 1850-2013

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Has the surge in immigration since 1970 led to slower wage growth for native-born workers? Academic research does not provide much support for this claim. The evidence suggests that when immigration increases the supply of labor, firms increase investment to offset any reduction in capital per worker, thereby keeping average wages from falling over the long term. Moreover, immigrants are often imperfect substitutes for native-born workers in U.S. labor markets. That means they do not compete for the same jobs and put minimal downward pressure on natives’ wages. This might explain why competition from new immigrants has mostly affected earlier immigrants, who experienced significant reductions in wages from the surge in immigration. In contrast, studies find that immigration has actually raised average wages of native-born workers during the last few decades.

Immigrants are at the forefront of innovation and ingenuity in the United States, accounting for a disproportionately high share of patent filings, science and technology graduates, and senior positions at top venture capital-funded firms. In addition, the presence of immigrants often creates opportunities for less-skilled native workers to become more specialized in their work, thereby increasing their productivity.

Immigration generally also improves the government’s fiscal situation, as many immigrants pay more in taxes over a lifetime than they consume in government services. However, native-born residents of states with large concentrations of less-educated immigrants may face larger tax burdens, as these immigrants pay less in taxes and are more likely to send children to public schools.

Labor Market Competition

A popular view is that immigrants are taking jobs from American citizens. However, although immigrants increase the supply of labor, they also spend their wages on homes, food, TVs and other goods and services and expand domestic economic demand. This increased demand, in turn, generates more jobs to build those homes, make and sell food, and transport TVs.

Most empirical studies indicate long-term benefits for natives’ employment and wages from immigration, although some studies suggest that these gains come at the cost of short-term losses from lower wages and higher unemployment. 1 Standard economic theory implies that while higher labor supply from immigration may initially depress wages, over time firms increase investment to restore the amount of capital per worker, which then restores wages. Steady growth in the capital-labor ratio prevents workers’ average productivity, and therefore their average wages from declining over the long run. Figure 2 shows the pre-1980 trend in the capital-labor ratio extrapolated over the next few decades – the period when U.S. immigration accelerated. Consistent with the theory, the actual capital-labor ratio did not significantly or permanently deviate from that trend after 1980. 2

Figure 2: U.S. Log Capital-Labor Ratio, 1948-2013

Log capital services per worker and trend, business sector. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics and author's calculations.

While growth in the capital stock keeps average wages from falling, immigration may affect the relative wages of different types of workers by changing their relative supplies. As shown in Table 1, immigration over the last few decades has had a bimodal impact across education groups: The largest impact has been on the supply of workers without a high school degree and of workers at the high end of the education spectrum – those with a college or postgraduate degree. Relative to the native-born, recently-arrived immigrants are less likely to have completed high school. At the same time, at the higher end, recent immigrants are more likely to have completed college and hold advanced degrees than their native counterparts. 3 Thus, immigration has primarily raised the supplies of the least and the most skilled workers.

Source: Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement.

Despite these increases in labor supply, in many cases immigrants appear to complement American-born workers rather than replacing them. Because less-educated immigrants often lack the linguistic skills required for many jobs, they tend to take jobs in manual labor-intensive occupations such as agriculture and construction. Even for low-skilled native-born workers in these industries, the effects of increased competition from immigrants are ambiguous, as many take advantage of their superior communication abilities and shift into occupations where these skills are more valuable, such as personal services and sales. 4 Similarly, highly educated immigrants face a disadvantage in communication-intensive jobs, and therefore tend to work in scientific and technical occupations. Highly skilled natives in management, media, and other culture- and language-dependent jobs face little competition from high skilled immigrants. The inflow of foreign labor is, therefore, concentrated in a subset of occupations that tend to employ many immigrants already. Consequently, it is earlier immigrants who face the greatest increase in competitive pressure.

Table 2 presents the results of two academic analyses of the wage impacts of immigration over the last several decades. These studies account for firms’ investment response and the imperfect substitutability between immigrant and native-born workers. They find a small but positive effect, equal to about half a percentage point, on the average wages of native workers. One of the studies indicates a minor decline in the wages of those without a high school degree or with a college degree, while the other study finds only positive gains. In sharp contrast, both studies find that earlier immigrants experienced wage declines, on average, of 4 to 7 percent concentrated among the most and least educated.

Change in hours from Borjas (2014).

Productivity

Immigrants also bring a wave of talent and ingenuity, accounting for a disproportionate share of workers in the fields most closely tied with innovation. A 2011 survey of the top fifty venture capital funded companies found that half had at least one immigrant founder and three quarters had immigrants in top management or research positions. 7 A significant share of advanced degrees awarded in science and engineering — often the foundation for innovation and job growth — go to foreign-born students with temporary visas studying in American universities. According to a 2012 National Science Board report, foreign students earned 27 percent of science and engineering master’s degrees in 2009. 8 And in recent years, the number of foreign-born undergraduate students studying in American universities has grown rapidly, rising to 18 percent between 2011 and 2012. 9

In 2011, 76 percent of patents from top 10 U.S. patent-producing universities had at least one foreign-born author. 10 Indeed, immigrants produce patents at double the rate as natives, and the presence of these immigrants generates positive spillovers on patenting by natives. 11 Economic theory suggests a direct link between a skilled and innovative labor force and faster GDP growth, and more than three quarters of U.S. growth over the last 150 years can be explained by improvements in education and research-driven innovation. 12

Moreover, states with a high concentration of foreign-born workers experience significantly faster productivity growth. 13 As discussed earlier, less-skilled natives often respond to increased competition from immigrants by leaving manual labor for occupations that emphasize language and communication skills. This greater specialization leads to a more efficient allocation of labor, raising the incomes and productivity of both natives and immigrants.

Fiscal Impact

Immigrants in general — whether documented or undocumented — are net positive contributors to the federal budget. However, the fiscal impact varies widely at the state and local levels and is contingent on the characteristics of the immigrant population — age, education, and skill level — living within each state.

Figure 3 shows that immigrants, and especially recent arrivals, are generally of working age; thus, they impose relatively small costs on Social Security and Medicare — the largest components of federal non-defense spending. While immigrants’ taxes help pay for defense spending, they do not generate any additional significant costs for the military, thereby somewhat reducing the federal tax burden of the average native.

Figure 3: Age Distribution of Natives and Non-Citizen Immigrants, 2012

More often than not, immigrants are less educated and their incomes are lower at all ages than those of natives. As a result, immigrants pay less in federal, state, and local taxes and use federally-funded entitlement programs such as Medicaid, SNAP, and other benefits at higher rates than natives. But they are also less likely than comparably low income natives to receive public assistance. Moreover, when they do take public assistance, the average value of benefits received is below average, implying a smaller net cost to the federal government relative to a comparable low income native. 14

However, immigrants often impose a heavier tax burden on natives at the state and local level. Immigrants — particularly those with low levels of education and income — generally have larger families and more children using public K-12 education, the largest component of state and local budgets. Furthermore, if immigrants’ children are not already fluent English speakers, the per-student cost of education may be substantially higher than for native-born children. 15 These factors impose short-term costs on state budgets. Over the long term, however, the upward economic mobility and taxpaying lifetime of second generation immigrants more than offset the initial fiscal burden. 16

Because the net cost to state and local governments is closely related to immigrants’ education and income, the socioeconomic composition of the immigrant population determines the fiscal impact in each state. For example, because New Jersey has a high proportion of well-educated and high income immigrants who contribute more to state and local revenues than they consume in public services, the net fiscal burden of immigration is small in New Jersey. In contrast, California’s high share of less-educated and low-income immigrants means that immigrants’ contribution to state and local revenues is smaller relative to their consumption of public services. As a result, the estimated fiscal burden of immigration is five times higher for native residents of California than of New Jersey. 17

Economists generally agree that the effects of immigration on the U.S. economy are broadly positive. 18 Immigrants, whether high- or low-skilled, legal or illegal, are unlikely to replace native-born workers or reduce their wages over the long-term, though they may cause some short-term dislocations in labor markets. Indeed, the experience of the last few decades suggests that immigration may actually have significant long-term benefits for the native-born, pushing them into higher-paying occupations and raising the overall pace of innovation and productivity growth. Moreover, as baby boomers have begun moving into retirement in advanced economies around the world, immigration is helping to keep America comparatively young and reducing the burden of financing retirement benefits for a growing elderly population. While natives bear some upfront costs for the provision of public services to immigrants and their families, the evidence suggests a net positive return on the investment over the long term.

One prominent analysis found that the surge in immigration during 1980-2000 reduced wages by 3 percent on average; see George Borjas, “The Labor Demand Curve is Downward Sloping: Reexamining the Impact of Immigration on the Labor Market,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 118, no. 4 (2003): 1335–1374, available at: http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/118/4/1335.full.pdf . However, most studies find negligible or small positive long-run effects on Americans’ average wages: See G. I. P Ottaviano, and Giovanni Peri, “Rethinking the Effects of Immigration on Wages,” Journal of the European Economic Association 10, no. 1 (2012): 152–197, available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1542-4774.2011.01052.x/epdf ; Jean, B. Grossman, “The substitutability of natives and immigrants in production,” Review of Economic and Statistics 64, no. 4 (1982): 596–603. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1923944 ; David Card, "The Impact of the Mariel Boatlift on the Miami Labor Market," Industrial and Labor Relations Review 43, no. 2 (1990): 245-257, available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2523702 ; David Card, “Immigrant inflows, native outflows and the local labor market impacts of higher immigration,” Journal of Labor Economics 19, no. 1 (2001): 22–64. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/209979 ; David Card, "Immigration and Inequality," American Economic Review 99, no. 2 (2009): 1-21, available at: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/aer.99.2.1 .  ↩

Despite sustained growth in the capital-labor ratio at its pre-1980 trend, wage rates might still decline if the share of labor compensation declines – as it has since the year 2000. However, the timing of the decline in labor compensation share suggests that it is driven by other changes such as changes in technology and increased globalization.  ↩

Pew Research Center, “Modern Immigration Wave Brings 59 Million to U.S., Driving Population Growth and Change Through 2065: Views of Immigration’s Impact on U.S. Society Mixed,” September 2015, available at: http://www.pewhispanic.org/files/2015/09/2015-09-28_modern-immigration-wave_REPORT.pdf .  ↩

Giovanni Peri and Chad Sparber, “Task Specialization, Immigration, and Wages,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 1, no. 3 (July 2009): 35–169, available at: http://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/app.1.3.135 .  ↩

G. I. P Ottaviano, and Giovanni Peri, “Rethinking the Effects of Immigration on Wages,” Journal of the European Economic Association 10, no. 1 (2012): 152–197, available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1542-4774.2011.01052.x/epdf  ↩

George Borjas, Immigration Economics (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014).  ↩

Stuart Anderson, “Immigrant Founders and Key Personnel in America’s 50 Top Venture-Funded Companies,” NFAP Policy Brief (December 2011).  ↩

National Science Board, Science and Engineering Indicators, 2012, pp. 2-26, available at: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind12/pdf/c02.pdf .  ↩

National Science Board, Science and Engineering Indicators, 2014, pp. 2-5, available at: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind14/content/chapter-2/chapter-2.pdf  ↩

“Patent Pending: How Immigrants are Re-inventing the American Economy,” Report of the Partnership for a New American Economy, June 2012, available at: http://www.renewoureconomy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/patent-pending.pdf  ↩

Jennifer Hunt and Marjolaine Gauthier-Loiselle, “How Much Does Immigration Boost Innovation?” American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 2, no. 2 (April 2010): 31–56.  ↩

John G. Fernald and Charles I. Jones, "The Future of US Economic Growth," American Economic Review 104, no. 5 (2014): 44-49, available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/aer.104.5.44  ↩

Giovanni Peri, “The Effect of Immigration on Productivity: Evidence from U.S. States,” Review of Economics and Statistics 94, no. 1 (February 2012): 348–358, available at: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/REST_a_00137  ↩

Leighton Ku and Brian Bruen, “The Use of Public Assistance Benefits by Citizens and Non-citizen Immigrants in the United States,” Cato Working Paper No. 13, February 2013, available at: http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/workingpaper-13_1.pdf  ↩

Congressional Budget Office, “The Impact of Unauthorized Immigrants on the Budgets of State and Local Governments,” December 2007, available at: https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/110th-congress-2007-2008/reports/12-6-immigration.pdf  ↩

James P. Smith and Barry Edmonston, eds., The New Americans: Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1997).  ↩

Ibid., Chapter 6.  ↩

See Chicago Booth IGM Forum, “Low-Skilled Immigrants,” and “High-Skilled Immigrants,” 2013.  ↩

Sign up for our Newsletter

•   Monthly Newsletter
•   Breaking News Alerts

• Implications of Current Budget Policies
• Biden Student Loan Forgiveness Plan
• Inflation Reduction Act: Senate-Passed
• Inflation Reduction Act: CBO vs PWBM
• Decomposing Estate Tax Liability Decline
• Family and Community Inflation Relief Act
• Webinar: Minimum Corporate Income Taxes
• Draft Drug Pricing Reform
• Fertility Decline: Role of Marriage & Education
• Measuring Fertility in the US
• Mortality by Education: Update
• Three-Month Federal Gas Tax Holiday
• The U.S. Fiscal Imbalance
• State Gasoline Tax Holiday: Effects
• Total Cost of Universal Pre-K
• Why Taxpayers Owed $500 Billion When Filing
• Biden FY2023 Budget: Budget & Econ Effects
• Emission Reductions in Build Back America
• Introducing PWBM's DataView
• Federal Gas Tax Holiday
• Medicaid Long Term Care Expenditures
• Capital Gains Taxation Reform
• Medicare Advantage Auto-Enrollment
• Did Wages Keep Up With Inflation in 2021?
• H.R. 5376, Build Back Better Act: Inflation
• Inheritances by race
• Impact of Inflation by Income
• H.R. 5376, Build Back Better Act
• Sen. Wyden’s Billionaires Income Tax
• WH Build Back Better: Macro Effects
• SALT Deduction: Limit Modification
• WH BBB, Illustrative Permanent Scenario
• COVID-19 Learning Loss: Long-run Effects
• Child Tax Credit Expansion Effects
• Can Inflation Help Offset Government Debt?
• Global Minimum Tax Agreement: U.S. Profit Shifting
• Ways & Means: Incentives to Shift Income Abroad
• ETR on Foreign Income: Ways and Means & OECD
• SNAP Expansion: Macro and Dist Effects
• Preschool and Childcare: Econ Effects
• National Debt Reduction Simulator
• Crowd Out Effects of Government Debt
• Econ Effects of Infrastructure Investment

Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Immigration Reform — Argumentative Essay On Immigration

Argumentative Essay on Immigration

• Categories: Immigration Reform

About this sample

Words: 638 |

Published: Mar 5, 2024

Words: 638 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Dr. Karlyna PhD

Verified writer

• Expert in: Social Issues

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

1 pages / 570 words

1 pages / 681 words

7 pages / 3156 words

3 pages / 1475 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Immigration Reform

Joppke, Christian. 'The Content of Citizenship Tests: How Liberal?' Citizenship Studies, vol. 16, no. 2, 2012, pp. 179-193.Groenendijk, Kees, and Monique Kremer. 'A Touchstone of Belonging or a Barrier to Entry? The Role of [...]

Police brutality is a pressing issue in contemporary society that demands urgent attention and effective solutions. Over the years, numerous incidents of excessive use of force by law enforcement officers have sparked unrest, [...]

Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza is a groundbreaking book written by scholar and activist Gloria Anzaldúa. Published in 1987, the book explores the concept of the border, both physical and metaphorical, as experienced by [...]

When immigrants come of age many grew up feeling like outcasts in contrast to citizens. Immigration is a considerably large importance in the U.S, especially because it was originally founded and forged by immigrants. The land [...]

Illegal immigration has been a hotly debated topic in the United States for many years, and it continues to be a contentious issue today. The influx of undocumented immigrants into the country has sparked heated discussions on [...]

Since its birth, America has been declared a nation of immigrants, an asylum for those who must to abandon their country, be it because of famine, religious or political oppression, the aspiration of owning land or the [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

Cause And Effect Of Immigration Essay

Causes And Effects Of Immigration

For decades, some Americans have wanted to believe that immigrants are the cause and effect of many problems that has happened in America. They have came up with many accusations to try to convince others that immigrants pose a threat to the physical, the social and the economic welfare of natives. They have wanted others to believe immigration causes harm towards America's economy, market wages, and the high unemployment rates for natives. But in reality immigrants do not “take American jobs” and

tremendous population and workforce to accommodate the rapidly growing economy, giving millions of foreigners not only opportunity, but also refuge in times of need. Counteractively, immigration has also had a history of causing continuous, contemporary issues within our government today. Immigration has had tremendous effects that have shaped America and contributed to the country’s identity concerning cultural and racial diversity, dynamic dilemmas, and overall magnetism of the country. For hundreds

Immigration in America: cause and effects

Format: MLAPages: 5SummaryThis paper is a study of the causes and effects that immigration has caused in the United States Of America, and how migration has centered around the countryThe search for food and new land has driven humans from one end to another end. With time, the need increased into the quest of knowledge and thirst of wisdom, eventually as the periods started to pass by, development started in some countries, and some countries were left far behind. This partial development of the

Cause/Effect of immigration reform

to mind when you think of immigration? What is the United States’ current Immigration Policy? Would you even think that it is considered to be one of the most debatable topics today? Nowadays, many people decide to immigrate to have a better life for themselves and their families. Immigration reform, as it has been called, had been tried during the past years by our very own Congress. Obviously, administration's efforts failed because, currently, illegal immigration is still a platform. Why would

Causes And Effects Of Illegal Immigration

Anderson, Oliver C. Illegal Immigration : Causes, Methods, and Effects. Nova Science Publishers, Inc, 2010. Global Political Studies. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=341673&site=ehost- live. This book covers all the angles about illegal immigration and how it affects them and the United States. It gives an explanation on why the government did what it used to and what it does now, it even shows equations about how illegal immigrants affect the labor in the

Cause And Effects Of Immigration In Europe

goods and services, and overall safety in the area. The topic on immigration lies on a large spectrum of views. Some Europeans believe that immigrants have made their country a better place and others believe the complete opposite. In this research paper, I plan on discussing the effects on the increase in immigration in Europe alone, and how those effects are similar and different throughout other regions in the world. Immigration in Europe is constantly rising each year. By 2060, the European Union

In America illegal Immigration is a major concern that haunts many of the citizens in our country. Many argue that immigration is what The United States was founded upon and it is beneficial for immigrants to enter our country with the intentions to work and achieve the American dream, but there is a difference between immigrants arriving legally and illegally. Immigration is the process of one moving from his or her current country to another country with the intentions to stay there permanently

What is the effect of illegal immigration on society- causes and effects anthropology

Zuha Mirza Illegal Mexican Immigration Anthropology 205 Professor Collins Section 9M3W Mirza 1 Illegal Mexican Immigration to the U.S Marsha Blackburn once said "We all learned in kindergarten that the beginning is a very good place to start. As we have this debate on illegal immigration and illegal entry into this country, let 's begin at the very beginning by sealing the borders to this great Nation." This quote is a connotation of the negative attitudes toward illegal aliens that hinder

Illegal Immigration: Causes, Methods and Effects by Oliver C. Anderson

Anderson, Oliver C: Illegal Immigration: Causes, Methods, and Effects. New York: Nova Science Publishers. 2010. EBook. , Database: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). This eBook provides insight into the concept of “illegal immigration” in textual interpretation and points to the need of immigration system while also points out to the causes, ways and monetary and societal effects of illegal immigration. Anderson points out that illegal immigration may be prompted by host country and it would be due bad

The Positive Causes And Effects Of Illegal Immigration In The United States

MMIGRANTS AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE WALL Introduction Illegal immigration has always been seen has a problem in America for a number of years now, lots of them have the tendency that a border wall would solve this issue. As a much this how individuals perceive it, immigrants have a positive side which as a matter of fact, impact the economy a varied means. In the year 2014 alone approximately eighty four percent immigrants originated from Central America, Asia and more from Mexico (Felbab-Brown

Popular Topics

• Corporate Governance Assignment Essay
• Hammurabi S Code Just Or Unjust Essay
• Health Insurance Matrix Essay
• Effects Of Drugs In Our Society Essay
• Contrasts In An Inspector Calls Essay
• Informative Speech On Marijuana Essay
• How Does Steinbeck Present Slim Essay
• Child Study Observation Reports Essay
• White Rat Dissection Lab Report Essay
• My Greatest Achievement In Life Essay

• Social Justice
• Environment
• Health & Happiness
• Get YES! Emails
• Teacher Resources

• Give A Gift Subscription
• Teaching Sustainability
• Teaching Social Justice
• Teaching Respect & Empathy
• Student Writing Lessons
• Visual Learning Lessons
• Tough Topics Discussion Guides
• About the YES! for Teachers Program
• Student Writing Contest

Follow YES! For Teachers

Eight brilliant student essays on immigration and unjust assumptions.

Read winning essays from our winter 2019 “Border (In)Security” student writing contest.

For the winter 2019 student writing competition, “Border (In)Security,” we invited students to read the YES! Magazine article “Two-Thirds of Americans Live in the “Constitution-Free Zone” by Lornet Turnbull and respond with an up-to-700-word essay. 

Students had a choice between two writing prompts for this contest on immigration policies at the border and in the “Constitution-free zone,” a 100-mile perimeter from land and sea borders where U.S. Border Patrol can search any vehicle, bus, or vessel without a warrant. They could state their positions on the impact of immigration policies on our country’s security and how we determine who is welcome to live here. Or they could write about a time when someone made an unfair assumption about them, just as Border Patrol agents have made warrantless searches of Greyhound passengers based simply on race and clothing.

The Winners

From the hundreds of essays written, these eight were chosen as winners. Be sure to read the author’s response to the essay winners and the literary gems that caught our eye.

Middle School Winner: Alessandra Serafini

High School Winner: Cain Trevino

High School Winner: Ethan Peter

University Winner: Daniel Fries

Powerful Voice Winner: Emma Hernandez-Sanchez

Powerful Voice Winner: Tiara Lewis

Powerful Voice Winner: Hailee Park

Powerful Voice Winner: Aminata Toure

From the Author Lornet Turnbull

Literary Gems

Middle school winner.

Alessandra Serafini

Brier Terrace Middle School, Brier, Wash.

Broken Promises

“…Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

These words were written by Emma Lazarus and are inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty. And yet, the very door they talk about is no longer available to those who need it the most. The door has been shut, chained, and guarded. It no longer shines like gold. Those seeking asylum are being turned away. Families are being split up; children are being stranded. The promise America made to those in need is broken.

Not only is the promise to asylum seekers broken, but the promises made to some 200 million people already residing within the U.S. are broken, too. Anyone within 100 miles of the United States border lives in the “Constitution-free zone” and can be searched with “reasonable suspicion,” a suspicion that is determined by Border Patrol officers. The zone encompasses major cities, such as Seattle and New York City, and it even covers entire states, such as Florida, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. I live in the Seattle area, and it is unsettling that I can be searched and interrogated without the usual warrant. In these areas, there has been an abuse of power; people have been unlawfully searched and interrogated because of assumed race or religion.

The ACLU obtained data from the Customs and Border Protection Agency that demonstrate this reprehensible profiling. The data found that “82 percent of foreign citizens stopped by agents in that state are Latino, and almost 1 in 3 of those processed are, in fact, U.S. citizens.” These warrantless searches impede the trust-building process and communication between the local population and law enforcement officers. Unfortunately, this lack of trust makes campaigns, such as Homeland Security’s “If You See Something, Say Something,” ineffective due to the actions of the department’s own members and officers. Worst of all, profiling ostracizes entire communities and makes them feel unsafe in their own country.

Ironically, asylum seekers come to America in search of safety. However, the thin veil of safety has been drawn back, and, behind it, our tarnished colors are visible. We need to welcome people in their darkest hours rather than destroy their last bit of hope by slamming the door in their faces. The immigration process is currently in shambles, and an effective process is essential for both those already in the country and those outside of it. Many asylum seekers are running from war, poverty, hunger, and death. Their countries’ instability has hijacked every aspect of their lives, made them vagabonds, and the possibility of death, a cruel and unforgiving death, is real. They see no future for their children, and they are desperate for the perceived promise of America—a promise of opportunity, freedom, and a safe future. An effective process would determine who actually needs help and then grant them passage into America. Why should everyone be turned away? My grandmother immigrated to America from Scotland in 1955. I exist because she had a chance that others are now being denied.

Emma Lazarus named Lady Liberty the “Mother of Exiles.” Why are we denying her the happiness of children? Because we cannot decide which ones? America has an inexplicable area where our constitution has been spurned and forgotten. Additionally, there is a rancorous movement to close our southern border because of a deep-rooted fear of immigrants and what they represent. For too many Americans, they represent the end of established power and white supremacy, which is their worst nightmare. In fact, immigrants do represent change—healthy change—with new ideas and new energy that will help make this country stronger. Governmental agreement on a humane security plan is critical to ensure that America reaches its full potential. We can help. We can help people in unimaginably terrifying situations, and that should be our America.

Alessandra Serafini plays on a national soccer team for Seattle United and is learning American Sign Language outside of school. Her goal is to spread awareness about issues such as climate change, poverty, and large-scale political conflict through writing and public speaking.

  High School Winner

Cain Trevino

North Side High School, Fort Worth, Texas

Xenophobia and the Constitution-Free Zone

In August of 2017, U.S. Border Patrol agents boarded a Greyhound bus that had just arrived at the White River Junction station from Boston. According to Danielle Bonadona, a Lebanon resident and a bus passenger, “They wouldn’t let us get off. They boarded the bus and told us they needed to see our IDs or papers.” Bonadona, a 29-year-old American citizen, said that the agents spent around 20 minutes on the bus and “only checked the IDs of people who had accents or were not white.” Bonadona said she was aware of the 100-mile rule, but the experience of being stopped and searched felt “pretty unconstitutional.”

In the YES! article “Two-Thirds of Americans Live in the ‘Constitution-Free Zone’” by Lornet Turnbull, the author references the ACLU’s argument that “the 100-mile zone violates Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure.” However, the Supreme Court upholds the use of immigration checkpoints for inquiries on citizenship status. In my view, the ACLU makes a reasonable argument. The laws of the 100-mile zone are blurred, and, too often, officials give arbitrary reasons to conduct a search. Xenophobia and fear of immigrants burgeons in cities within these areas. People of color and those with accents or who are non-English speakers are profiled by law enforcement agencies that enforce anti-immigrant policies. The “Constitution-free zone” is portrayed as an effective barrier to secure our borders. However, this anti-immigrant zone does not make our country any safer. In fact, it does the opposite.

As a former student from the Houston area, I can tell you that the Constitution-free zone makes immigrants and citizens alike feel on edge. The Department of Homeland Security’s white SUVs patrol our streets. Even students feel the weight of anti-immigrant laws. Dennis Rivera Sarmiento, an undocumented student who attended Austin High School in Houston, was held by school police in February 2018 for a minor altercation and was handed over to county police. He was later picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and held in a detention center. It is unfair that kids like Dennis face much harsher consequences for minor incidents than other students with citizenship.

These instances are a direct result of anti-immigrant laws. For example, the 287(g) program gives local and state police the authority to share individuals’ information with ICE after an arrest. This means that immigrants can be deported for committing misdemeanors as minor as running a red light. Other laws like Senate Bill 4, passed by the Texas Legislature, allow police to ask people about their immigration status after they are detained. These policies make immigrants and people of color feel like they’re always under surveillance and that, at any moment, they may be pulled over to be questioned and detained.

During Hurricane Harvey, the immigrant community was hesitant to go to the shelters because images of immigration authorities patrolling the area began to surface online. It made them feel like their own city was against them at a time when they needed them most. Constitution-free zones create communities of fear. For many immigrants, the danger of being questioned about immigration status prevents them from reporting crimes, even when they are the victim. Unreported crime only places more groups of people at risk and, overall, makes communities less safe.

In order to create a humane immigration process, citizens and non-citizens must hold policymakers accountable and get rid of discriminatory laws like 287(g) and Senate Bill 4. Abolishing the Constitution-free zone will also require pressure from the public and many organizations. For a more streamlined legal process, the League of United Latin American Citizens suggests background checks and a small application fee for incoming immigrants, as well as permanent resident status for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients. Other organizations propose expanding the green card lottery and asylum for immigrants escaping the dangers of their home countries.

Immigrants who come to the U.S. are only looking for an opportunity to provide for their families and themselves; so, the question of deciding who gets inside the border and who doesn’t is the same as trying to prove some people are worth more than others. The narratives created by anti-immigrant media plant the false idea that immigrants bring nothing but crime and terrorism. Increased funding for the border and enforcing laws like 287(g) empower anti-immigrant groups to vilify immigrants and promote a witch hunt that targets innocent people. This hatred and xenophobia allow law enforcement to ask any person of color or non-native English speaker about their citizenship or to detain a teenager for a minor incident. Getting rid of the 100-mile zone means standing up for justice and freedom because nobody, regardless of citizenship, should have to live under laws created from fear and hatred.

Cain Trevino is a sophomore. Cain is proud of his Mexican and Salvadorian descent and is an advocate for the implementation of Ethnic Studies in Texas. He enjoys basketball, playing the violin, and studying c omputer science. Cain plans to pursue a career in engineering at Stanford University and later earn a PhD.  

High School Winner

Ethan Peter

Kirkwood High School, Kirkwood, Mo.

I’m an expert on bussing. For the past couple of months, I’ve been a busser at a pizza restaurant near my house. It may not be the most glamorous job, but it pays all right, and, I’ll admit, I’m in it for the money.

I arrive at 5 p.m. and inspect the restaurant to ensure it is in pristine condition for the 6 p.m. wave of guests. As customers come and go, I pick up their dirty dishes, wash off their tables, and reset them for the next guests. For the first hour of my shift, the work is fairly straightforward.

I met another expert on bussing while crossing the border in a church van two years ago. Our van arrived at the border checkpoint, and an agent stopped us. She read our passports, let us through, and moved on to her next vehicle. The Border Patrol agent’s job seemed fairly straightforward.

At the restaurant, 6 p.m. means a rush of customers. It’s the end of the workday, and these folks are hungry for our pizzas and salads. My job is no longer straightforward.

Throughout the frenzy, the TVs in the restaurant buzz about waves of people coming to the U.S. border. The peaceful ebb and flow enjoyed by Border agents is disrupted by intense surges of immigrants who seek to enter the U.S. Outside forces push immigrants to the United States: wars break out in the Middle East, gangs terrorize parts of Central and South America, and economic downturns force foreigners to look to the U.S., drawn by the promise of opportunity. Refugees and migrant caravans arrive, and suddenly, a Border Patrol agent’s job is no longer straightforward.

I turn from the TVs in anticipation of a crisis exploding inside the restaurant: crowds that arrive together will leave together. I’ve learned that when a table looks finished with their dishes, I need to proactively ask to take those dishes, otherwise, I will fall behind, and the tables won’t be ready for the next customers. The challenge is judging who is finished eating. I’m forced to read clues and use my discretion.

Interpreting clues is part of a Border Patrol agent’s job, too. Lornet Turnbull states, “For example, CBP data obtained by ACLU in Michigan shows that 82 percent of foreign citizens stopped by agents in that state are Latino, and almost 1 in 3 of those processed is, in fact, a U.S. citizen.” While I try to spot customers done with their meals so I can clear their part of the table, the Border Patrol officer uses clues to detect undocumented immigrants. We both sometimes guess incorrectly, but our intentions are to do our jobs to the best of our abilities.

These situations are uncomfortable. I certainly do not enjoy interrupting a conversation to get someone’s dishes, and I doubt Border Patrol agents enjoy interrogating someone about their immigration status. In both situations, the people we mistakenly ask lose time and are subjected to awkward and uncomfortable situations. However, here’s where the busser and the Border Patrol officer’s situations are different: If I make a mistake, the customer faces a minor inconvenience. The stakes for a Border Patrol agent are much higher. Mistakenly asking for documentation and searching someone can lead to embarrassment or fear—it can even be life-changing. Thus, Border Patrol agents must be fairly certain that someone’s immigration status is questionable before they begin their interrogation.

To avoid these situations altogether, the U.S. must make the path to citizenship for immigrants easier. This is particularly true for immigrants fleeing violence. Many people object to this by saying these immigrants will bring violence with them, but data does not support this view. In 1939, a ship of Jewish refugees from Germany was turned away from the U.S.—a decision viewed negatively through the lens of history. Today, many people advocate restricting immigration for refugees from violent countries; they refuse to learn the lessons from 1939. The sad thing is that many of these immigrants are seen as just as violent as the people they are fleeing. We should not confuse the oppressed with the oppressor.

My restaurant appreciates customers because they bring us money, just as we should appreciate immigrants because they bring us unique perspectives. Equally important, immigrants provide this country with a variety of expert ideas and cultures, which builds better human connections and strengthens our society.

Ethan Peter is a junior. Ethan writes for his school newspaper, The Kirkwood Call, and plays volleyball for his high school and a club team. He hopes to continue to grow as a writer in the future. 

University Winner

Daniel Fries

Lane Community College, Eugene, Ore.

Detained on the Road to Equality

The United States is a nation of immigrants. There are currently 43 million foreign-born people living in the U.S. Millions of them are naturalized American citizens, and 23 million, or 7.2 percent of the population, are living here without documentation (US Census, 2016). One in seven residents of the United States was not born here. Multiculturalism is, and always has been, a key part of the American experience. However, romantic notions of finding a better life in the United States for immigrants and refugees don’t reflect reality. In modern history, America is a country that systematically treats immigrants—documented or not—and non-white Americans in a way that is fundamentally different than what is considered right by the majority.

The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment states,“No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” When a suspected undocumented immigrant is detained, their basic human rights are violated. Warrantless raids on Greyhound buses within 100 miles of the border (an area referred to by some as the “Constitution-free zone”) are clear violations of human rights. These violations are not due to the current state of politics; they are the symptom of blatant racism in the United States and a system that denigrates and abuses people least able to defend themselves.

It is not surprising that some of the mechanisms that drive modern American racism are political in nature. Human beings are predisposed to dislike and distrust individuals that do not conform to the norms of their social group (Mountz, Allison). Some politicians appeal to this suspicion and wrongly attribute high crime rates to non-white immigrants. The truth is that immigrants commit fewer crimes than native-born Americans. In fact, people born in the United States are convicted of crimes at a rate twice that of undocumented non-natives (Cato Institute, 2018).

The majority of immigrants take high risks to seek a better life, giving them incentive to obey the laws of their new country. In many states, any contact with law enforcement may ultimately result in deportation and separation from family. While immigrants commit far fewer crimes, fear of violent crime by much of the U.S. population outweighs the truth. For some politicians, it is easier to sell a border wall to a scared population than it is to explain the need for reformed immigration policy. It’s easier to say that immigrants are taking people’s jobs than explain a changing global economy and its effect on employment. The only crime committed in this instance is discrimination.

Human rights are violated when an undocumented immigrant—or someone perceived as an undocumented immigrant—who has not committed a crime is detained on a Greyhound bus. When a United States citizen is detained on the same bus, constitutional rights are being violated. The fact that this happens every day and that we debate its morality makes it abundantly clear that racism is deeply ingrained in this country. Many Americans who have never experienced this type of oppression lack the capacity to understand its lasting effect. Most Americans don’t know what it’s like to be late to work because they were wrongfully detained, were pulled over by the police for the third time that month for no legal reason, or had to coordinate legal representation for their U.S. citizen grandmother because she was taken off a bus for being a suspected undocumented immigrant. This oppression is cruel and unnecessary.

America doesn’t need a wall to keep out undocumented immigrants; it needs to seriously address how to deal with immigration. It is possible to reform the current system in such a way that anyone can become a member of American society, instead of existing outside of it. If a person wants to live in the United States and agrees to follow its laws and pay its taxes, a path to citizenship should be available.

People come to the U.S. from all over the world for many reasons. Some have no other choice. There are ongoing humanitarian crises in Syria, Yemen, and South America that are responsible for the influx of immigrants and asylum seekers at our borders. If the United States wants to address the current situation, it must acknowledge the global factors affecting the immigrants at the center of this debate and make fact-informed decisions. There is a way to maintain the security of America while treating migrants and refugees compassionately, to let those who wish to contribute to our society do so, and to offer a hand up instead of building a wall.

Daniel Fries studies computer science. Daniel has served as a wildland firefighter in Oregon, California, and Alaska. He is passionate about science, nature, and the ways that technology contributes to making the world a better, more empathetic, and safer place.

Powerful Voice Winner

Emma Hernandez-Sanchez

Wellness, Business and Sports School, Woodburn, Ore.

An Emotion an Immigrant Knows Too Well

Before Donald Trump’s campaign, I was oblivious to my race and the idea of racism. As far as I knew, I was the same as everyone else. I didn’t stop to think about our different-colored skins. I lived in a house with a family and attended school five days a week just like everyone else. So, what made me different?

Seventh grade was a very stressful year—the year that race and racism made an appearance in my life. It was as if a cold splash of water woke me up and finally opened my eyes to what the world was saying. It was this year that Donald Trump started initiating change about who got the right to live in this country and who didn’t. There was a lot of talk about deportation, specifically for Mexicans, and it sparked commotion and fear in me.

I remember being afraid and nervous to go out. At home, the anxiety was there but always at the far back of my mind because I felt safe inside. My fear began as a small whisper, but every time I stepped out of my house, it got louder. I would have dreams about the deportation police coming to my school; when I went to places like the library, the park, the store, or the mall, I would pay attention to everyone and to my surroundings. In my head, I would always ask myself, “Did they give us nasty looks?,” “Why does it seem quieter?” “Was that a cop I just saw?” I would notice little things, like how there were only a few Mexicans out or how empty a store was. When my mom went grocery shopping, I would pray that she would be safe. I was born in America, and both my parents were legally documented. My mom was basically raised here. Still, I couldn’t help but feel nervous.

I knew I shouldn’t have been afraid, but with one look, agents could have automatically thought my family and I were undocumented. Even when the deportation police would figure out that we weren’t undocumented, they’d still figure out a way to deport us—at least that was what was going through my head. It got so bad that I didn’t even want to do the simplest things like go grocery shopping because there was a rumor that the week before a person was taken from Walmart.

I felt scared and nervous, and I wasn’t even undocumented. I can’t even imagine how people who are undocumented must have felt, how they feel. All I can think is that it’s probably ten times worse than what I was feeling. Always worrying about being deported and separated from your family must be hard. I was living in fear, and I didn’t even have it that bad. My heart goes out to families that get separated from each other. It’s because of those fears that I detest the “Constitution-free zone.”

Legally documented and undocumented people who live in the Constitution-free zone are in constant fear of being deported. People shouldn’t have to live this way. In fact, there have been arguments that the 100-mile zone violates the Fourth Amendment, which gives people the right to be protected from unreasonable searches and seizures of property by the government. Unfortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently upheld these practices.

One question that Lornet Turnbull asks in her YES! article “Two-Thirds of Americans Live in the ‘Constitution-Free Zone’” is, “How should we decide who is welcome in the U.S and who is not?” Instead of focusing on immigrants, how about we focus on the people who shoot up schools, rape girls, exploit women for human sex trafficking, and sell drugs? These are the people who make our country unsafe; they are the ones who shouldn’t be accepted. Even if they are citizens and have the legal right to live here, they still shouldn’t be included. If they are the ones making this country unsafe, then what gives them the right to live here?

I don’t think that the Constitution-free zone is an effective and justifiable way to make this country more “secure.” If someone isn’t causing any trouble in the United States and is just simply living their life, then they should be welcomed here. We shouldn’t have to live in fear that our rights will be taken away. I believe that it’s unfair for people to automatically think that it’s the Hispanics that make this country unsafe. Sure, get all the undocumented people out of the United States, but it’s not going to make this country any safer. It is a society that promotes violence that makes us unsafe, not a race.

Emma Hernandez-Sanchez is a freshman who is passionate about literature and her education. Emma wan ts to inspire others to be creative and try their best. She enjoys reading and creating stories that spark imagination. 

  Powerful Voice Winner

Tiara Lewis

Columbus City Preparatory Schools for Girls,

Columbus, Ohio

Hold Your Head High and Keep Those Fists Down

How would you feel if you walked into a store and salespeople were staring at you? Making you feel like you didn’t belong. Judging you. Assuming that you were going to take something, even though you might have $1,000 on you to spend. Sometimes it doesn’t matter. This is because people will always judge you. It might not be because of your race but for random reasons, like because your hair is black instead of dirty blonde. Or because your hair is short and not long. Or just because they are having a bad day. People will always find ways to bring you down and accuse you of something, but that doesn’t mean you have to go along with it.

Every time I entered a store, I would change my entire personality. I would change the way I talked and the way I walked. I always saw myself as needing to fit in. If a store was all pink, like the store Justice, I would act like a girly girl. If I was shopping in a darker store, like Hot Topic, I would hum to the heavy metal songs and act more goth. I had no idea that I was feeding into stereotypes.

When I was 11, I walked into Claire’s, a well-known store at the mall. That day was my sister’s birthday. Both of us were really happy and had money to spend. As soon as we walked into the store, two employees stared me and my sister down, giving us cold looks. When we went to the cashier to buy some earrings, we thought everything was fine. However, when we walked out of the store, there was a policeman and security guards waiting. At that moment, my sister and I looked at one another, and I said, in a scared little girl voice, “I wonder what happened? Why are they here?”

Then, they stopped us. We didn’t know what was going on. The same employee that cashed us out was screaming as her eyes got big, “What did you steal?” I was starting to get numb. Me and my sister looked at each other and told the truth: “We didn’t steal anything. You can check us.” They rudely ripped through our bags and caused a big scene. My heart was pounding like a drum. I felt violated and scared. Then, the policeman said, “Come with us. We need to call your parents.” While this was happening, the employees were talking to each other, smiling. We got checked again. The police said that they were going to check the cameras, but after they were done searching us, they realized that we didn’t do anything wrong and let us go about our day.

Walking in the mall was embarrassing—everybody staring, looking, and whispering as we left the security office. This made me feel like I did something wrong while knowing I didn’t. We went back to the store to get our shopping bags. The employees sneered, “Don’t you niggers ever come in this store again. You people always take stuff. This time you just got lucky.” Their faces were red and frightening. It was almost like they were in a scary 3D movie, screaming, and coming right at us. I felt hurt and disappointed that someone had the power within them to say something so harsh and wrong to another person. Those employees’ exact words will forever be engraved in my memory.

In the article, “Two-Thirds of Americans Live in the ‘Constitution-Free Zone’,” Lornet Turnbull states, “In January, they stopped a man in Indio, California, as he was boarding a Los Angeles-bound bus. While questioning this man about his immigration status, agents told him his ‘shoes looked suspicious,’ like those of someone who had recently crossed the border.” They literally judged him by his shoes. They had no proof of anything. If a man is judged by his shoes, who else and what else are being judged in the world?

In the novel  To Kill a Mockingbird , a character named Atticus states, “You just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you, don’t you let’em get your goat. Try fighting with your head for a change.” No matter how much you might try to change yourself, your hairstyle, and your clothes, people will always make assumptions about you. However, you never need to change yourself to make a point or to feel like you fit in. Be yourself. Don’t let those stereotypes turn into facts.

Tiara Lewis is in the eighth grade. Tiara plays the clarinet and is trying to change the world— one essay at a time. She is most often found curled up on her bed, “Divergent” in one hand and a cream-filled doughnut in the other.

Hailee Park

 Wielding My Swords

If I were a swordsman, my weapons would be my identities. I would wield one sword in my left hand and another in my right. People expect me to use both fluently, but I’m not naturally ambidextrous. Even though I am a right-handed swordsman, wielding my dominant sword with ease, I must also carry a sword in my left, the heirloom of my family heritage. Although I try to live up to others’ expectations by using both swords, I may appear inexperienced while attempting to use my left. In some instances, my heirloom is mistaken for representing different families’ since the embellishments look similar.

Many assumptions are made about my heirloom sword based on its appearance, just as many assumptions are made about me based on my physical looks. “Are you Chinese?” When I respond with ‘no,’ they stare at me blankly in confusion. There is a multitude of Asian cultures in the United States, of which I am one. Despite what many others may assume, I am not Chinese; I am an American-born Korean.

“Then… are you Japanese?” Instead of asking a broader question, like “What is your ethnicity?,” they choose to ask a direct question. I reply that I am Korean. I like to think that this answers their question sufficiently; however, they think otherwise. Instead, I take this as their invitation to a duel.

They attack me with another question: “Are you from North Korea or South Korea?” I don’t know how to respond because I’m not from either of those countries; I was born in America. I respond with “South Korea,” where my parents are from because I assume that they’re asking me about my ethnicity. I’m not offended by this situation because I get asked these questions frequently. From this experience, I realize that people don’t know how to politely ask questions about identity to those unlike them. Instead of asking “What is your family’s ethnicity?,” many people use rude alternatives, such as “Where are you from?,” or “What language do you speak?”

When people ask these questions, they make assumptions based on someone’s appearance. In my case, people make inferences like:

“She must be really good at speaking Korean.”

“She’s Asian; therefore, she must be born in Asia.”

“She’s probably Chinese.”

These thoughts may appear in their heads because making assumptions is natural. However, there are instances when assumptions can be taken too far. Some U.S. Border Patrol agents in the “Constitution-free zone” have made similar assumptions based on skin color and clothing. For example, agents marked someone as an undocumented immigrant because “his shoes looked suspicious, like those of someone who had recently crossed the border.”

Another instance was when a Jamaican grandmother was forced off a bus when she was visiting her granddaughter. The impetus was her accent and the color of her skin. Government officials chose to act on their assumptions, even though they had no solid proof that the grandmother was an undocumented immigrant. These situations just touch the surface of the issue of racial injustice in America.

When someone makes unfair assumptions about me, they are pointing their sword and challenging me to a duel; I cannot refuse because I am already involved. It is not appropriate for anyone, including Border Patrol agents, to make unjustified assumptions or to act on those assumptions. Border Patrol agents have no right to confiscate the swords of the innocent solely based on their conjectures. The next time I’m faced with a situation where racially ignorant assumptions are made about me, I will refuse to surrender my sword, point it back at them, and triumphantly fight their ignorance with my cultural pride.

Hailee Park is an eighth grader who enjoys reading many genres. While reading, Hailee recognized the racial injustices against immigrants in America, which inspired her essay. Hailee plays violin in her school’s orchestra and listens to and composes music. 

Aminata Toure

East Harlem School, New York City, N.Y.

We Are Still Dreaming

As a young Muslim American woman, I have been labeled things I am not: a terrorist, oppressed, and an ISIS supporter. I have been accused of planning 9/11, an event that happened before I was born. Lately, in the media, Muslims have been portrayed as supporters of a malevolent cause, terrorizing others just because they do not have the same beliefs. I often scoff at news reports that portray Muslims in such a light, just as I scoff at all names I’ve been labeled. They are words that do not define me. 

In a land where labels have stripped immigrants of their personalities, they are now being stripped of something that makes them human: their rights. The situation described in Lornet Turnbull’s article, “Two-Thirds of Americans are Living in the ‘Constitution-Free Zone’,” goes directly against the Constitution, the soul of this country, something that asserts that we are all equal before the law. If immigrants do not have protection from the Constitution, is there any way to feel safe?

Although most insults are easy to shrug off, they are still threatening. I am ashamed when I feel afraid to go to the mosque. Friday is an extremely special day when we gather together to pray, but lately, I haven’t been going to the mosque for Jummah prayers. I have realized that I can never feel safe when in a large group of Muslims because of the widespread hatred of Muslims in the United States, commonly referred to as Islamophobia. Police surround our mosque, and there are posters warning us about dangerous people who might attack our place of worship because we have been identified as terrorists.

I wish I could tune out every news report that blasts out the headline “Terrorist Attack!” because I know that I will be judged based on the actions of someone else. Despite this anti-Muslim racism, what I have learned from these insults is that I am proud of my faith. I am a Muslim, but being Muslim doesn’t define me. I am a writer, a student, a dreamer, a friend, a New Yorker, a helper, and an American. I am unapologetically me, a Muslim, and so much more. I definitely think everyone should get to know a Muslim. They would see that some of us are also Harry Potter fans, not just people planning to bomb the White House.

Labels are unjustly placed on us because of the way we speak, the color of our skin, and what we believe in—not for who we are as individuals. Instead, we should all take more time to get to know one another. As Martin Luther King Jr. said in his “I Have a Dream” speech, we should be judged by the content of our character and not the color of our skin. To me, it seems Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream is a dream that should be a reality. But, for now, we are dreaming.

Aminata Toure is a Guinean American Muslim student. Aminata loves spoken-word poetry and performs in front of hundreds of people at her school’s annual poetry slam. She loves writing, language, history, and West African food and culture. Aminata wants to work at the United Nations when she grows up.

From the Author 

Dear Alessandra, Cain, Daniel, Tiara, Emma, Hailee, Aminata and Ethan,

I am moved and inspired by the thought each of you put into your responses to my story about this so-called “Constitution-free zone.” Whether we realize it or not, immigration in this country impacts all of us— either because we are immigrants ourselves, have neighbors, friends, and family who are, or because we depend on immigrants for many aspects of our lives—from the food we put on our tables to the technology that bewitches us. It is true that immigrants enrich our society in so many important ways, as many of you point out.

And while the federal statute that permits U.S. Border Patrol officers to stop and search at will any of the 200 million of us in this 100-mile shadow border, immigrants have been their biggest targets. In your essays, you highlight how unjust the law is—nothing short of racial profiling. It is heartening to see each of you, in your own way, speaking out against the unfairness of this practice.

Alessandra, you are correct, the immigration system in this country is in shambles. You make a powerful argument about how profiling ostracizes entire communities and how the warrantless searches allowed by this statute impede trust-building between law enforcement and the people they are called on to serve.

And Cain, you point out how this 100-mile zone, along with other laws in the state of Texas where you attended school, make people feel like they’re “always under surveillance, and that, at any moment, you may be pulled over to be questioned and detained.” It seems unimaginable that people live their lives this way, yet millions in this country do.

You, Emma, for example, speak of living in a kind of silent fear since Donald Trump took office, even though you were born in this country and your parents are here legally. You are right, “We shouldn’t have to live in fear that our rights will be taken away.”

And Aminata, you write of being constantly judged and labeled because you’re a Muslim American. How unfortunate and sad that in a country that generations of people fled to search for religious freedom, you are ashamed at times to practice your own. The Constitution-free zone, you write, “goes directly against the Constitution, the soul of this country, something that asserts that we are all equal before the law.”

Tiara, I could personally relate to your gripping account of being racially profiled and humiliated in a store. You were appalled that the Greyhound passenger in California was targeted by Border Patrol because they claimed his shoes looked like those of someone who had walked across the border: “If a man is judged by his shoes,” you ask, “who else and what else are getting judged in the world?”

Hailee, you write about the incorrect assumptions people make about you, an American born of Korean descent, based solely on your appearance and compared it to the assumptions Border Patrol agents make about those they detain in this zone.

Daniel, you speak of the role of political fearmongering in immigration. It’s not new, but under the current administration, turning immigrants into boogiemen for political gain is currency. You write that “For some politicians, it is easier to sell a border wall to a scared population than it is to explain the need for reformed immigration policy.”

And Ethan, you recognize the contributions immigrants make to this country through the connections we all make with them and the strength they bring to our society.

Keep speaking your truth. Use your words and status to call out injustice wherever and whenever you see it. Untold numbers of people spoke out against this practice by Border Patrol and brought pressure on Greyhound to change. In December, the company began offering passengers written guidance—in both Spanish and English—so they understand what their rights are when officers board their bus. Small steps, yes, but progress nonetheless, brought about by people just like you, speaking up for those who sometimes lack a voice to speak up for themselves.

With sincere gratitude,

Lornet Turnbull

Lornet Turnbull is an editor for YES! and a Seattle-based freelance writer. Follow her on Twitter  @TurnbullL .

We received many outstanding essays for the Winter 2019 Student Writing Competition. Though not every participant can win the contest, we’d like to share some excerpts that caught our eye:

After my parents argued with the woman, they told me if you can fight with fists, you prove the other person’s point, but when you fight with the power of your words, you can have a much bigger impact. I also learned that I should never be ashamed of where I am from. —Fernando Flores, The East Harlem School, New York City, N.Y.

Just because we were born here and are privileged to the freedom of our country, we do not have the right to deprive others of a chance at success. —Avalyn Cox, Brier Terrace Middle School, Brier, Wash.

Maybe, rather than a wall, a better solution to our immigration problem would be a bridge. —Sean Dwyer, Lane Community College, Eugene, Ore.

If anything, what I’ve learned is that I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to change our world. I don’t know how to make a difference, how to make my voice heard. But I have learned the importance of one word, a simple two-letter word that’s taught to the youngest of us, a word we all know but never recognize: the significance of ‘we.’ —Enna Chiu, Highland Park High School, Highland Park, N.J.

Not to say the Border Patrol should not have authorization to search people within the border, but I am saying it should be near the border, more like one mile, not 100. —Cooper Tarbuck, Maranacook Middle School, Manchester, Maine.

My caramel color, my feminism, my Spanish and English language, my Mexican culture, and my young Latina self gives me the confidence to believe in myself, but it can also teach others that making wrong assumptions about someone because of their skin color, identity, culture, looks or gender can make them look and be weaker. —Ana Hernandez, The East Harlem School, New York City, N.Y.

We don’t need to change who we are to fit these stereotypes like someone going on a diet to fit into a new pair of pants. —Kaylee Meyers, Brier Terrace Middle School, Brier, Wash.

If a human being with no criminal background whatsoever has trouble entering the country because of the way he or she dresses or speaks, border protection degenerates into arbitrariness. —Jonas Schumacher, Heidelberg University of Education, Heidelberg, Germany

I believe that you should be able to travel freely throughout your own country without the constant fear of needing to prove that you belong here . —MacKenzie Morgan, Lincoln Middle School, Ypsilanti, Mich.

America is known as “the Land of Opportunity,” but this label is quickly disappearing. If we keep stopping those striving for a better life, then what will become of this country? —Ennyn Chiu, Highland Park Middle School, Highland Park, N.J.

The fact that two-thirds of the people in the U.S. are living in an area called the “Constitution-free zone” is appalling. Our Constitution was made to protect our rights as citizens, no matter where we are in the country. These systems that we are using to “secure” our country are failing, and we need to find a way to change them. —Isis Liaw, Brier Terrace Middle School, Brier, Wash.

I won’t let anyone, especially a man, tell me what I can do, because I am a strong Latina. I will represent where I come from, and I am proud to be Mexican. I will show others that looks can be deceiving. I will show others that even the weakest animal, a beautiful butterfly, is tough, and it will cross any border, no matter how challenging the journey may be. —Brittany Leal, The East Harlem School, New York City, N.Y.

Get Stories of Solutions to Share with Your Classroom

Teachers save 50% on YES! Magazine.

Inspiration in Your Inbox

Get the free daily newsletter from YES! Magazine: Stories of people creating a better world to inspire you and your students.

• Tools and Resources
• Customer Services
• Contentious Politics and Political Violence
• Governance/Political Change
• Groups and Identities
• History and Politics
• International Political Economy
• Policy, Administration, and Bureaucracy
• Political Anthropology
• Political Behavior
• Political Communication
• Political Economy
• Political Institutions
• Political Philosophy
• Political Psychology
• Political Sociology
• Political Values, Beliefs, and Ideologies
• Politics, Law, Judiciary
• Post Modern/Critical Politics
• Public Opinion
• Qualitative Political Methodology
• Quantitative Political Methodology
• World Politics
• Share This Facebook LinkedIn Twitter

Article contents

Global migration: causes and consequences.

• Benjamin Helms Benjamin Helms Department of Politics, University of Virginia
•  and  David Leblang David Leblang Department of Politics, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, University of Virginia
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.631
• Published online: 25 February 2019

International migration is a multifaceted process with distinct stages and decision points. An initial decision to leave one’s country of birth may be made by the individual or the family unit, and this decision may reflect a desire to reconnect with friends and family who have already moved abroad, a need to diversify the family’s access to financial capital, a demand to increase wages, or a belief that conditions abroad will provide social and/or political benefits not available in the homeland. Once the individual has decided to move abroad, the next decision is the choice of destination. Standard explanations of destination choice have focused on the physical costs associated with moving—moving shorter distances is often less expensive than moving to a destination farther away; these explanations have recently been modified to include other social, political, familial, and cultural dimensions as part of the transaction cost associated with migrating. Arrival in a host country does not mean that an émigré’s relationship with their homeland is over. Migrant networks are an engine of global economic integration—expatriates help expand trade and investment flows, they transmit skills and knowledge back to their homelands, and they remit financial and human capital. Aware of the value of their external populations, home countries have developed a range of policies that enable them to “harness” their diasporas.

• immigration
• international political economy
• factor flows
• gravity models

Introduction

The steady growth of international labor migration is an important, yet underappreciated, aspect of globalization. 1 In 1970 , just 78 million people, or about 2.1% of the global population, lived outside their country of birth. By 1990 , that number had nearly doubled to more than 150 million people, or about 2.8% of the global population (United Nations Population Division, 2012 ). Despite the growth of populist political parties and restrictionist movements in key destination countries, the growth in global migration shows no signs of slowing down, with nearly 250 million people living outside their country of birth as of 2015 . While 34% of all global migrants live in industrialized countries (with the United States and Germany leading the way), 38% of all global migration occurs between developing countries (World Bank, 2016 ).

Identifying the causes and consequences of international labor migration is essential to our broader understanding of globalization. Scholars across diverse academic fields, including economics, political science, sociology, law, and demography, have attempted to explain why individuals voluntarily leave their homelands. The dominant thread in the labor migration literature is influenced by microeconomics, which posits that individuals contemplating migration are rational, utility-maximizing actors who carefully weigh the potential costs and benefits of leaving their country of origin (e.g., Borjas, 1989 ; Portes & Böröcz, 1989 ; Grogger & Hanson, 2011 ). The act of migration, from this perspective, is typically conceptualized as an investment from which a migrant expects to receive some benefit, whether it be in the form of increased income, political freedom, or enhanced social ties (Schultz, 1961 ; Sjaastad, 1962 ; Collier & Hoeffler, 2014 ).

In this article we go beyond the treatment of migration as a single decision and conceive of it as a multifaceted process with distinct stages and decision points. We identify factors that are relevant at different stages in the migration process and highlight how and when certain factors interact with others during the migration process. Economic factors such as the wage differential between origin and destination countries, for example, may be the driving factor behind someone’s initial decision to migrate (Borjas, 1989 ). But when choosing a specific destination, economic factors may be conditioned by political or social conditions in that destination (Fitzgerald, Leblang, & Teets, 2014 ). Each stage or decision point has distinguishing features that are important in determining how (potential) migrants respond to the driving forces identified by scholars.

This is certainly not a theoretical innovation; migration has long been conceived of as a multi-step process, and scholars often identify the stage or decision point to which their argument best applies. However, most interdisciplinary syntheses of the literature on international labor migration do not provide a systematic treatment of this defining feature, instead organizing theoretical and empirical contributions by field of study, unit or level of analysis, or theoretical tradition (e.g., Portes & Böröcz, 1989 ; Massey et al., 1993 ; European Asylum Support Office, 2016 ). Such approaches are undoubtedly valuable in their own right. Our decision to organize this discussion by stage allows us to understand this as a process, rather than as a set of discrete events. As a result, we conceptualize international labor migration as three stages or decision points: (a) the decision to migrate or to remain at home, (b) the choice of destination, and (c) the manner by which expatriates re-engage—or choose not to re-engage—with their country of origin once abroad. We also use these decision points to highlight a number of potential new directions for future research in this still-evolving field.

Figure 1. Global migration intentions by educational attainment, 2008–2017.

Should I Stay or Should I Go, Now?

The massive growth in international labor migration in the age of globalization is remarkable, but the fact remains that over 95% of the world’s population never leave their country of origin (United Nations Population Division, 2012 ). Figure 1 shows the percentage of people who expressed an intention to move abroad between 2008 and 2017 by educational attainment, according to data from the Gallup World Poll. Over this time period, it appears that those who were highly educated expressed intent to migrate in greater numbers than those who had less than a college education, although these two groups have converged in recent years. What is most striking, however, is that a vast majority of people, regardless of educational attainment, expressed no desire to move abroad. Even though absolute flows of migrants have grown at a near-exponential rate, relative to their non-migrating counterparts, they remain a small minority. What factors are important in determining who decides to migrate and who decides to remain at home? 2

From Neoclassical Economics to the Mobility Transition

Neoclassical economic models posit that the primary driving factor behind migration is the expected difference in wages (discounted future income streams) between origin and destination countries (Sjaastad, 1962 ; Borjas, 1989 ; Clark, Hatton, & Williamson, 2007 ). All else equal, when the wage gap, minus the costs associated with moving between origin and destination, is high, these models predict large flows of labor migrants. In equilibrium, as more individuals move from origin to destination countries, the wage differential narrows, which in turn leads to zero net migration (Lewis, 1954 ; Harris & Todaro, 1970 ). Traditional models predict a negative monotonic relationship between the wage gap and the number of migrants (e.g., Sjaastad, 1962 ). However, the predictions of neoclassical models are not well supported by the empirical record. Empirical evidence shows that, at least in a cross-section, the relationship between economic development and migration is more akin to an inverted U. For countries with low levels of per capita income, we observe little migration due to a liquidity constraint: at this end of the income distribution, individuals do not have sufficient resources to cover even minor costs associated with moving abroad. Increasing income helps to decrease this constraint, and consequently we observe increased levels of emigration as incomes rise (de Haas, 2007 ). This effect, however, is not monotonic: as countries reach middle-income status, declining wage differentials lead to flattening rates of emigration, and then decreasing rates as countries enter later stages of economic development. 3

Some research explains this curvilinear relationship by focusing on the interaction between emigration incentives and constraints : for example, increased income initially makes migration more affordable (reduces constraints), but also simultaneously reduces the relative economic benefits of migrating as the wage differential narrows (as potential migrants now have the financial capacity to enhance local amenities) (Dao, Docquier, Parsons, & Peri, 2016 ). The theoretical underpinnings of this interaction, however, are not without controversy. Clemens identifies several classes of theory that attempt to explain this curvilinear relationship—a relationship that has been referred to in the literature as the mobility transition (Clemens, 2014 ). These theories include: demographic changes resulting from development that also favor emigration up to a point (Easterlin, 1961 ; Tomaske, 1971 ), the loosening of credit restraints on would-be migrants (Vanderkamp, 1971 ; Hatton & Williamson, 1994 ), a breakdown of information barriers via the building of transnational social networks (Epstein, 2008 ), structural economic changes in the development process that result in worker dislocation (Zelinsky, 1971 ; Massey, 1988 ), the dynamics of economic inequality and relative deprivation (Stark, 1984 ; Stark & Yitzhaki, 1988 ; Stark & Taylor, 1991 ), and changing immigration policies in destination countries toward increasingly wealthy countries (Clemens, 2014 ). While each of these play some role in the mobility transition curve, Dao et al. ( 2016 ) run an empirical horse race between numerous explanations and find that changing skill composition resulting from economic development is the most substantively important driver. Economic development is correlated with an increase in a country’s level of education; an increase in the level of education, in turn, is correlated with increased emigration. However, traditional explanations involving microeconomic drivers such as income, credit constraints, and economic inequality remain important factors (Dao et al., 2016 ). The diversity of explanations offered for the mobility transition curve indicates that while most research agrees the inverted-U relationship is an accurate empirical portrayal of the relationship between development and migration, little theoretical agreement exists on what drives this relationship. Complicating this disagreement is the difficulty of empirically disentangling highly correlated factors such as income, skill composition, and demographic trends in order to identify robust causal relationships.

Political Conditions at the Origin

While there is a scholarly consensus around the mobility transition and the role of economic conditions, emerging research suggests that the political environment in the origin country may also be salient. We do not refer here to forced migration, such as in the case of those who leave because they are fleeing political persecution or violent conflict. Rather, we focus on political conditions in the homeland that influence a potential migrant’s decision to emigrate voluntarily. Interpretations of how, and the extent to which, political conditions in origin countries (independent of economic conditions) influence the decision to migrate have been heavily influenced by Hirschman’s “Exit, Voice, and Loyalty” framework (Hirschman, 1970 , 1978 ). Hirschman argues that the opportunity to exit—to exit a firm, an organization, or a country—places pressure on the local authorities; voting with one’s feet forces organizations to reassess their operations.

When applied to the politics of emigration, Hirschman’s framework generates two different hypotheses. On the one hand, politicians may allow, encourage, or force the emigration of groups that oppose the regime as a political safety valve of sorts. This provides the government with a mechanism with which to manage potential political challengers by encouraging their exit. On the other hand, politicians—especially those in autocracies—may actively work to prevent exit because they fear the emigration of economic elites, the highly skilled, and others who have resources vital to the survival of the regime. 4

A small number of studies investigate how local-level, rather than national, political circumstances affect a potential migrant’s calculus. The limited empirical evidence currently available suggests that local conditions are substantively important determinants of the emigration decision. When individuals are highly satisfied with local amenities such as their own standard of living, quality of public services, and overall sense of physical security, they express far less intention to migrate compared with highly dissatisfied individuals (Dustmann & Okatenko, 2014 ). Furthermore, availability of public transport and access to better education facilities decreases the propensity to express an intention to emigrate (Cazzuffi & Modrego, 2018 ). This relationship holds across all levels of wealth and economic development, and there is some evidence that satisfaction with local amenities matters as much as, or even more than, income or wealth (Dustmann & Okatenko, 2014 ).

Political corruption, on both national and local levels, also has substantively important effects on potential migrants, especially those who are highly skilled. Broadly defined as the use of public office for political gain, political corruption operates as both a direct and an indirect factor promoting emigration. 5 Firstly, corruption may have a direct effect on the desire to emigrate in that it can decrease the political and economic power of an individual, leading to a lower standard of living and poorer quality of life in origin countries. If the reduction in life satisfaction resulting from corruption is sufficiently high—either by itself or in combination with other “push” factors—then the exit option becomes more attractive (Cooray & Schneider, 2016 ). Secondly, corruption also operates through indirect channels that influence other push factors. Given the large literature on how political corruption influences a number of development outcomes, it is conceivable that corruption affects the decision-making process of a potential migrant through its negative effect on social spending, education, and public health (Mo, 2001 ; Mauro, 1998 ; Gupta, Davoodi, & Thigonson, 2001 ).

The combination of its direct and indirect impacts means that corruption could be a significant part of a migrant’s decision-making process. At present there is limited work exploring this question, and the research does not yield a consensus. Some scholars argue that political corruption has no substantive effect on total bilateral migration, but that it does encourage migration among the highly skilled (Dimant, Krieger, & Meierrieks, 2013 ). This is the case, the argument goes, because corruption causes the greatest relative harm to the utility of those who have invested in human capital, who migrate to escape the negative effect on their fixed investment. In contrast, others find that a high level of corruption does increase emigration at the aggregate level (Poprawe, 2015 ). More nuanced arguments take into account the intensity of corruption: low to moderate levels of corruption lead to increased emigration of all groups, and especially of the highly skilled. But at high levels of corruption, emigration begins to decrease, indicating that intense corruption can act as a mobility constraint (Cooray & Schneider, 2016 ). All of these existing accounts, however, employ state-level measures of corruption by non-governmental organizations, such as those produced by Transparency International. Scholars have yet to harness micro-level survey data to explore the influence of personal corruption perception on the individual’s decision-making process.

The Land of Hopes and Dreams

Given that an individual has decided to emigrate, the next decision point is to choose a destination country. Advanced industrial democracies, such as those in the OECD, are major migrant-receiving countries, but so are Russia and several Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (World Bank, 2016 ). A country’s constellation of political, economic, and social attributes is crucial to understanding an emigrant’s choice of destination. Potential migrants weigh all of these factors simultaneously when choosing a destination: will the destination allow political rights for the migrant and their children, is access to the labor market possible, and does the destination provide an opportunity for reunification with friends and family? In this section we focus on the non-economic factors that draw migrants to certain countries over others. In addition, we emphasize how skill level adds layers of complexity to a migrant’s calculus.

Political Environment, Both Formal and Informal

As noted earlier, traditional neoclassical models and their extensions place wage differentials and associated economic variables at the heart of a migrant’s choice. Gravity models posit that migrants choose a destination country based on their expected income—which itself is a function of the wage rate and the probability of finding employment in the destination—less the costs associated with moving (Ravenstein, 1885 ; Todaro, 1969 ; Borjas, 1989 ). A rigid focus on economic factors, however, blinds us to the empirical reality that a destination country’s political environment influences what destination a migrant chooses (Borjas, 1989 ). A country’s legal and political rights structure for migrants, as well as its level of tolerance for newcomers, is critical to migrants discriminating between an array of potential destinations. Fitzgerald, Leblang, and Teets ( 2014 ) argue, for example, that states with restrictive citizenship policies and strong radical right anti-immigrant parties will receive fewer migrants, while states with relatively liberal citizenship requirements and weak radical right political movements will receive more migrants. In the rational actor framework, migrants seek countries with hospitable political environments to maximize both their political representation in government and their access to labor market opportunities as a result of citizenship rights and social acceptance (Fitzgerald et al., 2014 ).

Using a broad sample of origin countries and 18 destination countries, they find that relative restrictiveness of citizenship policies and level of domestic support for the radical right are substantively important determinants of global migratory flows. Further, they find that these political variables condition a migrant’s choice of destination: the relative importance of economic factors such as the unemployment rate or the wage differential diminishes as a destination country’s political environment becomes more open for migrants. In other words, when migrants are choosing a destination country, political considerations may trump economic ones—a finding that is an important amendment to the primarily economics-focused calculus of the initial stage of the immigration decision.

However, prior to choosing and entering a destination country, a migrant must also navigate a country’s immigration policy—the regulation of both migrant entry and the rights and status of current migrants. While it is often assumed that a relatively more restrictive immigration policy deters entry, and vice versa, a lack of quantitative data has limited the ability of scholars to confirm this intuition cross-nationally. Money ( 1999 ) emphasizes that the policy output of immigration politics does not necessarily correlate with the outcome of international migrant flows. There are a number of unanswered questions in this field, including: is immigration policy a meaningful determinant of global flows of migration? Do certain kinds of immigration policies matter more than others? How does immigration policy interact with other political and economic factors, such as unemployment and social networks?

Only a handful of studies analyze whether or not immigration policy is a significant determinant of the size and character of migratory flows. Perhaps the most prominent answer to this question is the “gap hypothesis,” which posits that immigration rates continue to increase despite increasingly restrictive immigration policies in advanced countries (Cornelius & Tsuda, 2004 ). Some subsequent work seems to grant support to the gap hypothesis, indicating that immigration policy may not be a relevant factor and that national sovereignty as it relates to dictating migrant inflows has eroded significantly (Sassen, 1996 ; Castles, 2004 ). The gap hypothesis is not without its critics, with other scholars arguing that the existing empirical evidence actually lends it little or no support (Messina, 2007 ).

A more recent body of literature does indicate that immigration policy matters. Brücker and Schröder ( 2011 ), for example, find that immigration policies built to attract highly skilled migrants lead to higher admittance rates. They also show that diffusion processes cause neighboring countries to implement similar policy measures. Ortega and Peri ( 2013 ), in contrast to the gap hypothesis literature, find that restrictive immigration policy indeed reduces migrant inflows. But immigration policy can also have unintended effects on international migration: when entry requirements increase, migrant inflows decrease, but migrant outflows also decrease (Czaika & de Haas, 2016 ). This indicates that restrictive immigration policy may also lead to reduced circular migrant flows and encourage long-term settlement in destination countries.

Disaggregating immigration policy into its different components provides a clearer picture of how immigration policy may matter, and whether certain components matter more than others. Immigration policy is composed of both external and internal regulations. External regulations refer to policies that control migrant entry, such as eligibility requirements for migrants and additional conditions of entry. Internal regulations refer to policies that apply to migrants who have already gained status in the country, such as the security of a migrant’s legal status and the rights they are afforded. Helbling and Leblang ( 2017 ), using a comprehensive data set of bilateral migrant flows and the Immigration Policies in Comparison (IMPIC) data set, find that, in general, external regulations prove slightly more important in understanding migrant inflows (Helbling, Bjerre, Römer, & Zobel, 2017 ). This indicates that potential migrants focus more on how to cross borders, and less on the security of their status and rights once they settle. They do find, however, that both external and internal components of immigration are substantively important to international migrant flows.

The effects of policy, however, cannot be understood in isolation from other drivers of migration. Firstly, poor economic conditions and restrictive immigration policy are mutually reinforcing: when the unemployment rate is elevated, restrictive policies are more effective in deterring migrant flows. An increase in policy effectiveness in poor economic conditions suggests that states care more about deterring immigration when the economy is performing poorly. Secondly, a destination country’s restrictive immigration policy is more effective when migrants come from origin countries that have a common colonial heritage. This suggests that cultural similarities and migrant networks help to spread information about the immigration policy environment in the destination country. Social networks prove to be crucial in determining how much migrants know about the immigration policies of destination countries, regardless of other cultural factors such as colonial heritage or common language (Helbling & Leblang, 2017 ). In summary, more recent work supports the idea that immigration policy of destination countries exerts a significant influence on both the size and character of international migration flows. Much work remains to be done in terms of understanding the nuances of specific immigration policy components, the effect of policy change over time, and through what mechanisms immigration policy operates.

Transnational Social Networks

None of this should be taken to suggest that only political and economic considerations matter when a potential migrant contemplates a potential destination; perhaps one of the biggest contributions to the study of bilateral migration is the role played by transnational social networks. Migrating is a risky undertaking, and to minimize that risk, migrants are more likely to move to destinations where they can “readily tap into networks of co-ethnics” (Fitzgerald et al., 2014 , p. 410). Dense networks of co-ethnics not only help provide information about economic opportunities, but also serve as a social safety net which, in turn, helps decrease the risks associated with migration, including, but not limited to, finding housing and integrating into a new community (Massey, 1988 ; Portes & Böröcz, 1989 ; Portes, 1995 ; Massey et al., 1993 ; Faist, 2000 ; Sassen, 1995 ; Light, Bernard, & Kim, 1999 ). Having a transnational network of family members is quite important to destination choice; if a destination country has an immigration policy that emphasizes family reunification, migrants can use their familial connections to gain economically valuable permanent resident or citizenship status more easily than in other countries (Massey et al., 1993 , p. 450; Helbing & Leblang, 2017 ). When the migrant is comparing potential destinations, countries in which that migrant has a strong social network will be heavily favored in a cost–benefit analysis.

Note, however, that even outside of a strict rational actor framework with perfect information, transnational social networks still may be quite salient to destination choice. An interesting alternative hypothesis for the patterns we observe draws on theories from financial market behavior which focus on herding. Migrants choosing a destination observe the decisions of their co-ethnics who previously migrated and assume that those decisions were based on a relevant set of information, such as job opportunities or social tolerance of migrants. New migrants then choose the same destination as their co-ethnics not based on actual exchanges of valuable information, but based solely on the assumption that previous migration decisions were based on rational calculation (Epstein & Gang, 2006 ; Epstein, 2008 ). This is a classic example of herding, and the existing empirical evidence on the importance of transnational social networks cannot invalidate this alternative hypothesis. One could also explain social network effects through the lens of cumulative causation or feedback loops: the initial existence of connections in destination countries makes the act of migration less risky and attracts additional co-ethnics. This further expands migrant networks in a destination, further decreasing risk for future waves of migrants, and so on (Massey, 1990 ; Fussel & Massey, 2004 ; Fussel, 2010 ).

No matter the pathway by which social networks operate, the empirical evidence indicates that they are one of the most important determinants of destination choice. Potential migrants from Mexico, for example, who are able to tap into existing networks in the United States face lower direct, opportunity, and psychological costs of international migration (Massey & Garcia España, 1987 ). This same relationship holds in the European context; a study of Bulgarian and Italian migrants indicates that those with “social capital” in a destination community are more likely to migrate and to choose that particular destination (Haug, 2008 ). Studies that are more broadly cross-national in nature also confirm the social network hypothesis across a range of contexts and time periods (e.g., Clark et al., 2007 ; Hatton & Williamson, 2011 ; Fitzgerald et al., 2014 ).

Despite the importance of social networks, it is, again, important to qualify their role in framing the choice of destinations. It seems that the existence of co-ethnics in destination countries most strongly influences emigration when they are relatively few in number. Clark et al. ( 2007 ), in their study of migration to the United States, find that the “friends and relatives effect” falls to zero once the migrant stock in the United States reaches 8.3% of the source-country population. In addition, social networks alone cannot explain destination choice because their explanatory power is context-dependent. For instance, restrictive immigration policies limiting legal migration channels and family reunification may dampen the effectiveness of networks (Böcker, 1994 ; Collyer, 2006 ). Social networks are not an independent force, but also interact with economic and political realities to produce the global migration patterns we observe.

The Lens of Skill

For ease of presentation, we have up to now treated migrants as a relatively homogeneous group that faces similar push and pull factors throughout the decision-making process. Of course, not all migrants experience the same economic, political, and social incentives in the same way at each stage of the decision-making process. Perhaps the most salient differentiating feature of migrants is skill or education level. Generally, one can discuss a spectrum of skill and education level for current migrants, from relatively less educated (having attained a high school degree or less) to relatively more educated (having attained a college or post-graduate degree). The factors presented here that influence destination choice interact with a migrant’s skill level to produce differing destination choice patterns.

A migrant’s level of education, or human capital, often serves as a filter for the political treatment he or she anticipates in a particular destination country. For instance, the American public has a favorable view of highly educated migrants who hold higher-status jobs, while simultaneously having an opposite view of migrants who have less job training and do not hold a college degree (Hainmueller & Hiscox, 2010 ; Hainmueller & Hopkins, 2015 ). Indeed, the political discourse surrounding migration often emphasizes skill level and education as markers of migrants who “should be” admitted, across both countries and the ideological spectrum. 6 While political tolerance may be a condition of entry for migrants in the aggregate, the relatively privileged status of highly educated and skilled migrants in most destination countries may mean that this condition is not as salient.

While it is still an open question to what extent immigration policy influences international migration, it is clear that not all migrants face evenly applied migration restrictions. Most attractive destination countries have policies that explicitly favor highly skilled migrants, since these individuals often fill labor shortages in advanced industries such as high technology and applied science. Countries such as Australia, Canada, and New Zealand all employ so-called “points-based” immigration systems in which those with advanced degrees and needed skills are institutionally favored for legal entry (Papademetriou & Sumption, 2011 ). Meanwhile, the United States maintains the H-1B visa program, which is restricted by educational attainment and can only be used to fill jobs in which no native talent is available (USCIS). Even if destination countries decide to adopt more restrictive immigration policies, the move toward restriction has typically been focused on low-skilled migrants (Peters, 2017 ). In other words, even if immigration policy worldwide becomes more restrictive, this will almost certainly not occur at the expense of highly skilled migrants and will not prevent them choosing their most preferred destination.

Bring It on Home to Me

This article began by asserting that international labor migration is an important piece of globalization, as significant as cross-border flows of capital, goods, and services. This section argues that migrant flows enhance flows of capital and commodities. Uniquely modern conditions such as advanced telecommunications, affordable and efficient international travel, and the liberalization of financial flows mean that diasporas—populations of migrants living outside their countries of origin—and home countries often re-engage with each other (Vertovec, 2004 ; Waldinger, 2008 ). This section reviews some of the newest and most thought-provoking research on international labor migration, research that explores diaspora re-engagement and how that re-engagement alters international flows of income, portfolio and foreign direct investment (FDI), trade, and migratory flows themselves.

Remittances

As previously argued, migration is often driven by the prospect of higher wages. Rational, utility-maximizing migrants incur the cost of migration in order to earn increased income that they could not earn at home. But when migrants obtain higher wages, this additional increment to income is not always designated for individual consumption. Often, migrants use their new income to send remittances, direct transfers of money from one individual to another across national borders. Once a marginal financial flow, in 2015 remittances totaled $431 billion, far outpacing foreign aid ($135 billion) and nearly passing private debt and portfolio equity ($443 billion). More than 70% of total global remittances flow into developing countries (World Bank, 2016 ). In comparison with other financial flows such as portfolio investment and FDI, remittances are more impervious to economic crises, suggesting that they may be a countercyclical force to global downturns (Leblang, 2017 ).

Remittances represent one of the most common ways in which migrants re-engage with their homeland and alter both global income flows and distribution. Why do migrants surrender large portions of their new income, supposedly the very reason they migrated in the first place, to their families back home? New economics of labor migration (NELM) theory argues that immigration itself is motivated by a family’s need or demand for remittances—that remittances are an integral part of a family’s strategy for diversifying household financial risk (Stark & Bloom, 1985 ). Remittances “are a manifestation of informal contractual agreements between migrants and the households from which they move,” indicating that remitting is not an individual-level or purely altruistic action but rather occurs in a larger social context, that of one’s immediate or extended family (European Asylum Support Office, 2016 , p. 15).

The impact of migrant remittances on countries of origin is multifaceted yet somewhat ambiguous. Most scholarly work focuses on whether remittances positively or negatively influence existing economic conditions. A number of studies find that remittances modestly reduce poverty levels in developing countries (Adams & Page, 2005 ; Yang & Martinez, 2006 ; Acosta, Calderon, Fajnzybler, & Lopez, 2008 ; Lokshin, Bontch-Osmolovski, & Glinskaya, 2010 ). On other measures of economic well-being, such as growth, inequality, and health, the literature is quite mixed and no definitive conclusions can be drawn. For instance, some studies find that remittances encourage investment in human capital (Yang, 2008 ; Adams & Cuecuecha, 2010 ), while others find no such effect and suggest that families typically spend remittances on non-productive consumption goods (Chami, Fullenkamp, & Jahjah, 2003 ). Here we can only scratch the surface of the empirical work on remittances and economic outcomes. 7

Some of the most recent research in the field argues that remittances have a distinct political dimension, affecting regime support in developing countries and altering the conditions in which elections are held. Ahmed ( 2012 ), grouping remittances with foreign aid, argues that increased remittances allow autocratic governments to extend their tenure in office. These governments can strategically channel unearned government and household income to finance political patronage networks, which leads to a reduced likelihood of autocratic turnover, regime collapse, and mass protests against the regime. More recent research posits nearly the exact opposite: remittances are linked to a greater likelihood of democratization under autocratic regimes. Escriba-Folch, Meseguer, and Wright ( 2015 ) argue that since remittances directly increase household incomes, they reduce voter reliance on political patronage networks, undermining a key tool of autocratic stability.

Remittances may also play an important role in countries with democratic institutions, yet more research is needed to fully understand the conditions under which they matter and their substantive impact. Particularly, remittances may alter the dynamics of an election as an additional and external financial flow. There is evidence of political remittance cycles : the value of remittances spikes in the run-up to elections in developing countries. The total value of remittances to the average developing country increases by 6.6% during election years, and by 12% in elections in which no incumbent or named successor is running (O’Mahony, 2012 ). The effect is even larger in the poorest of developing countries. Finer-grained tests of this hypothesis provide additional support: using monthly and quarterly data confirms the existence of political remittance cycles, as well as using subnational rather than cross-national data (Nyblade & O’Mahony, 2014 ). However, these studies do not reveal why remittances spike, or what the effects of that spike are on electoral outcomes such as vote share, campaign financing, and political strategy.

Remittances represent a massive international financial flow that warrants more scholarly attention. While there are numerous studies on the relationship between remittances and key economic indicators, there remains much room for further work on their relationship to political outcomes in developing countries. Do remittances hasten the downfall of autocratic regimes, or do they contribute to autocratic stability? In democratic contexts, do remittances substantively influence electoral outcomes, and if so, which outcomes and how? Finally, do remittances prevent even more migration because they allow one “breadwinner from abroad” to provide for the household that remains in the homeland? While data limitations are formidable, these questions are important to the study of both international and comparative political economy.

Bilateral Trade

The argument that migrant or co-ethnic networks play an important role in international economic exchange is not novel. Greif ( 1989 , 1993 ) illustrates the role that the Maghrebi traders of the 11th century played in providing informal institutional guarantees that facilitated trade. This is but a single example. Cowen’s historical survey identifies not only the Phoenicians but also the “Spanish Jews [who] were indispensable for international commerce in the Middle Ages. The Armenians controlled the overland route between the Orient and Europe as late as the nineteenth century . Lebanese Christians developed trade between the various parts of the Ottoman empire” (Cowen, 1997 , p. 170). Rauch and Trindade ( 2002 ) provide robust empirical evidence linking the Chinese diaspora to patterns of imports and exports with their home country.

A variety of case studies document the importance of migrant networks in helping overcome problems of information asymmetries. In his study of Indian expatriates residing in the United States, Kapur ( 2014 ) documents how that community provides U.S. investors with a signal of the work ethic, labor quality, and business culture that exists in India. Likewise, Weidenbaum and Hughes ( 1996 ) chronicle the Bamboo Network—the linkages between ethnic Chinese living outside mainland China and their homeland—and how these linkages provide superior access to information and opportunities for investment.

Connections between migrant communities across countries affect cross-national investment even when these connections do not provide information about investment opportunities. In his work on the Maghrebi traders of the 11th century , Greif argues that this trading network was effective because it was able to credibly threaten collective punishment by all merchants if even one of them defected (Greif, 1989 , 1993 ). Grief shows that this co-ethnic network was able to share information regarding the past actions of actors (they could communicate a reputation)—something that was essential for the efficient functioning of markets in the absence of formal legal rules. Weidenbaum and Hughes reach a similar conclusion about the effectiveness of the Bamboo Network, remarking that “if a business owner violates an agreement, he is blacklisted. This is far worse than being sued, because the entire Chinese networks will refrain from doing business with the guilty party” (Hughes, 1996 , p. 51).

Migrants not only alter the flow of income by remitting to their countries of origin, but also influence patterns of international portfolio investment and FDI. Most existing literature on international capital allocation emphasizes monadic factors such as the importance of credible commitments and state institutional quality, failing to address explicitly dyadic phenomena that may also drive investment. Diaspora networks, in particular, facilitate cross-border investment in a number of ways. They foster a higher degree of familiarity between home and host countries, leading to a greater preference for investment in specific countries. Diaspora networks can also decrease information asymmetries in highly uncertain international capital markets in two ways. Firstly, they can provide investors with salient information about their homeland, such as consumer tastes, that can influence investment decision-making. Secondly, they can share knowledge about investment opportunities, regulation and procedures, and customs that decrease transaction costs associated with cross-border investment (Leblang, 2010 ). This place of importance for migrants suggests to the broader international political economy literature the importance of non-institutional mechanisms for channeling economic activity.

Although the hypothesized link between migrants and international investment has only recently been identified, the quantitative evidence available supports that hypothesis. Leblang ( 2010 ), using dyadic cross-sectional data, finds that diaspora networks “have both a substantively significant effect and a statistically significant effect on cross-border investment,” including international portfolio investment and FDI (p. 584). The effect of bilateral migratory flows correlates positively with the degree of information asymmetry: when informational imperfections are more pervasive in a dyad, migrants (especially the highly skilled) play a disproportionately large role in international capital allocation (Kugler, Levinthal, & Rapoport, 2017 ). Other quantitative studies find substantively similar results for FDI alone (e.g., Javorcik, Özden, Spatareanu, & Neagu, 2011 ; Aubry, Rapoport, & Reshef, 2016 ).

Many questions still remain unanswered. Firstly, does the effect of migrants on investment follow the waves of the global economy, or is it countercyclical as remittances have been shown to be? Secondly, how does this additional investment, facilitated by migrants, affect socioeconomic outcomes such as inequality, poverty, and economic development (Leblang, 2010 )? Does the participation of migrants lead to more successful FDI projects in developing countries because of their ability to break down information barriers? Within portfolio investment, do migrants lead to a preference for certain asset classes over others, and if so, what are the effects on bilateral and international capital markets? These are just a few directions in an area ripe for additional research.

Return Migration and Dual Citizenship

Besides financial flows, migrants themselves directly contribute to global flows of capital by returning to their countries of origin in large numbers. This phenomenon of return migration—or circular migration—can come in a few temporal forms, including long-term migration followed by a permanent return to a country of origin, or repeat migration in which a migrant regularly moves between destination and origin countries (Dumont & Spielvogel, 2008 ). While comparable data on return migration is scarce, some reports suggest that 20% to 50% of all immigrants leave their destination country within five years after their arrival (e.g., Borjas & Bratsberg, 1996 ; Aydemir & Robinson, 2008 ; Bratsberg, Raaum, & Sørlie, 2007 ; Dustmann & Weiss, 2007 ). An independent theoretical and empirical account of return migration does not yet exist in the literature and is beyond the scope of this paper. But in the rational actor framework, motivations to return home include a failure to realize the expected benefits of migration, changing preferences toward a migrant’s home country, achievement of a savings or other economic goal, or the opening of additional employment opportunities back home due to newly acquired experience or greater levels of economic development (Dumont & Spielvogel, 2008 ).

While most migration literature treats the country of origin as a passive actor that only provides the conditions for migration, new literature on return migration gives home country policies pride of place. Origin countries can craft policies that encourage diaspora re-engagement, incentivizing individuals to return home. Dual citizenship, for example, is an extension of extraterritorial rights, allowing migrants to retain full legal status in their home country. Dual citizenship “decreases the transaction costs associated with entering a host country’s labor market and makes it easier for migrants to return home” (Leblang, 2017 , p. 77). This leads migrants to invest their financial resources in the form of remittances back home as well as their valuable human capital. When states provide such extraterritorial rights, expatriates are 10% more likely to remit and 3% more likely to return home. Dual citizenship is also associated with a doubling of the dollar amount of remittances received by a home country (Leblang, 2017 ). These striking results suggest that in addition to the power of migrants to affect cross-border flows of money and people, countries of origin can also play a significant role.

Conclusion and Future Directions

This brief article has attempted to synthesize a broad range of literature from political science, economics, sociology, migration studies, and more to construct an account of international labor migration. To do so, the migratory process was broken down into distinct stages and decision points, focusing particularly on the decision to migrate, destination choice, and the re-engagement of migrants with their homeland. In doing so, the article also discussed the interlinkages of international migration with other fields of study in international political economy, including cross-border financial flows, trade, and investment. Through a multiplicity of approaches, we have gained a greater understanding of why people decide to move, why they decide to move to one country over another, and how and why they engage with the global economy and their homeland. Despite this intellectual progress, there remain many paths for future research at each stage of the migratory process; we highlight just a few of them here.

We know that income differentials, social ties, and local political conditions are important variables influencing the migration process. Yet the question remains: why do a small but growing number of people choose to leave while the overwhelming majority of people remain in their country of birth? Here, individual- or family-level subjective characteristics may be significant. There are a handful of observational studies that explore the relationship between subjective well-being or life satisfaction and the intention to migrate, with the nascent consensus being that life dissatisfaction increases the intention to migrate (Cai, Esipova, Oppenheimer, & Feng, 2014 ; Otrachshenko & Popova, 2014 ; Nikolova & Graham, 2015 ). But more research on intrinsic or subjective measures is needed to understand (a) their independent importance more fully and (b) how they interact with objective economic, political, and social factors. For instance, do those who are more optimistic migrate in larger numbers? Do minority individuals who feel they live in an environment in which diversity is not accepted feel a greater urge to leave home? Synthesizing these types of subjective variables and perceptions with the more prominent gravity-style models could result in a more complete picture of the international migration process.

For the “typical” migrant, one who is relatively less educated than the population in the chosen destination and does not have specialized skills, social networks are key to minimizing the risk of migrating and quickly tapping into economic opportunities in destination countries. Does this remain true for those who are highly educated? Although little empirical research exists on the topic, greater human capital and often-accompanying financial resources may operate as a substitute for the advantages offered by social networks, such as housing, overcoming linguistic barriers, and finding gainful employment. This would indicate that the “friends and family effect” is not as influential for this subset of migrants. Economic considerations, such as which destination offers the largest relative wage differential, or political considerations, such as the ease of quickly acquiring full citizenship rights, may matter more for the highly skilled. Neoclassical economic models of migration may best capture the behavior of migrants who hold human capital and who have the financial resources to independently migrate in a way that maximizes income or utility more broadly.

Since we have focused on international migration as a series of discrete decision points in this article, we have perhaps underemphasized the complexity of the physical migration process. In reality, migrants often do not pick a country and travel directly there, but travel through (perhaps several) countries of transit such as Mexico, Morocco, or Turkey along the way (Angel Castillo, 2006 ; Natter, 2013 ; Icduygu, 2005 ). There is little existing theoretical work to understand the role of transit countries in the migratory process, with much of it focusing on the potential for cooperation between destination and transit countries in managing primarily illegal immigration (Kahana & Lecker, 2005 ; Djajic & Michael, 2014 ; Djajic & Michael, 2016 ). Another related strand of the literature focuses on how wealthy destination countries are “externalizing” their immigration policy, encompassing a broader part of the migratory process than simply crossing a physically demarcated border (Duvell, 2012 ; Menjivar, 2014 ). But many questions remain, such as the following: how do we understand those who desire to enter, say, the United States, but instead relocate permanently to Mexico along the way? How do countries of transit handle the pressure of transit migrants, and how does this affect economic and political outcomes in these countries?

Finally, the focus of nearly all literature on international migration (and this article as a byproduct) implicitly views advanced economies as the only prominent destinations. However, this belies the fact that 38% of all migration stays within the “Global South” (World Bank, 2016 ). While there is certainly some literature on this phenomenon (see Ratha & Shaw, 2007 ; Gindling, 2009 ; Hujo & Piper, 2007 ), international political economy scholars have yet to sufficiently tackle this topic. The overarching research question here is: do the same push and pull factors that influence the decision to migrate and destination choice apply to those who migrate within the Global South? Do we need to construct new theories of international migration with less emphasis on factors such as wage differentials and political tolerance, or are these sufficient to understand this facet of the phenomenon? If we fail to answer these questions, we may miss explaining a significant proportion of international migration with its own consequences and policy implications.

• Abreu, A. (2012). The New Economics of Labor Migration: Beware of Neoclassicals Bearing Gifts. Forum for Social Economics , 41 (1), 46–67.
• Acosta, P. , Calderon, C. , Fajnzybler, P. , & Lopez, H. (2008). What Is the Impact of International Remittances on Poverty and Inequality in Latin America? World Development , 36 (1), 89–114.
• Adams, R., Jr. (2011). Evaluating the Economic Impact of International Remittances on Developing Countries Using Household Surveys: A Literature Review. Journal of Development Studies , 47 (6), 809–828.
• Adams, R., Jr. , & Cuecuecha, A. (2010). Remittances, Household Expenditure and Investment in Guatemala. World Development , 38 (11), 1626–1641.
• Adams, R., Jr. , & Page, J. (2005). Do International Migration and Remittances Reduce Poverty in Developing Countries? World Development , 33 (10), 1645–1669.
• Ahmed, F. Z. (2012). The Perils of Unearned Foreign Income: Aid, Remittances, and Government Survival. American Political Science Review , 106 (1), 146–165.
• Akerman, S. (1976). Theories and Methods of Migration Research. In H. Runblom & H. Norman (Eds.), From Sweden to America: A History of the Migration . Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
• Angel Castillo, M. (2006). Mexico: Caught Between the United States and Central America . Migration Policy Institute.
• Aubry, A. , Rapoport, H. , & Reshef, A. (2016). Migration, FDI, and the Margins of Trade. Mimeo . Paris School of Economics.
• Aydemir, A. , & Robinson, C. (2008). Global Labour Markets, Return, and Onward Migration. Canadian Journal of Economics , 41 (4), 1285–1311.
• Böcker, A. (1994). Chain Migration over Legally Closed Borders: Settled Immigrants as Bridgeheads and Gatekeepers. Netherlands Journal of Social Sciences , 30 (2), 87–106.
• Borjas, G. J. (1989). Economic Theory and International Migration. International Migration Review , 23 (3), 457–485.
• Borjas, G. J. , & Bratsberg, B. (1996). Who Leaves? The Outmigration of the Foreign-Born. Review of Economics and Statistics , 41 (4), 610–621.
• Bratsberg, B. , Raaum, O. , & Sørlie, K. (2007). Foreign-Born Migration to and from Norway. In Ç. Özden & M. Schiff (Eds.), International Migration, Economic Development and Policy . New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Brücker, H. , & Schröder, P. J. H. (2011). Migration regulation contagion. European Union Politics , 12 (3), 315–335.
• Cai, R. , Esipova, N. , Oppenheimer, M. , & Feng, S. (2014). International Migration Desires Related to Subjective Well-Being. IZA Journal of Migration , 3 (8), 1–20.
• Castles, S. (2004). Why Migration Policies Fail. Ethnic and Racial Studies , 27 (2), 205–227.
• Cazzuffi, C. , & Modrego, F. (2018). Place of Origin and Internal Migration Decisions in Mexico. Spatial Economic Analysis , 13 (1), 1–19.
• Chami, R. , Fullenkamp, C. , & Jahjah, S. (2003). Are Immigrant Remittance Flows a Source of Capital for Development ? IMF Working Paper 03/189.
• Clark, X. , Hatton, T. J. , & Williamson, J. G. (2007). Explaining US Immigration, 1971–1998. Review of Economics and Statistics , 89 (2), 359–373.
• Clemens, M. A. (2014). Does Development Reduce Migration ? IZA Discussion Paper No. 8592.
• Collier, P. , & Hoeffler, A. (2014). Migration, Diasporas and Culture: An Empirical Investigation . Unpublished manuscript.
• Collyer, M. (2006). When Do Social Networks Fail to Explain Migration? Accounting for the Movement of Algerian Asylum-Seekers to the UK. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies , 31 (4), 699–718.
• Constant, A. , & Massey, D. S. (2002). Return Migration by German Guestworkers: Neoclassical versus New Economic Theories. International Migration , 4 0(4), 5–38.
• Cooray, A. , & Schneider, F. (2016). Does Corruption Promote Emigration? An Empirical Examination. Journal of Population Economics , 29 , 293–310.
• Cornelius, W. A. , & Tsuda, T. (2004). Controlling Immigration: The Limits of Government Intervention . Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
• Cowen, R. (1997). Global Diasporas: An Introduction . London: Routledge.
• Czaika, M. , & de Haas, H. (2016). The Effect of Visas on Migration Processes. International Migration Review , 51 (4), 893–926.
• Dao, T. H. , Docquier, F. , Parsons, C. , & Peri, G. (2018). Migration and Development: Dissecting the Anatomy of the Mobility Transition. Journal of Development Economics , 132 , 88–101.
• Dao, T. H. , Docquier, F. , Parsons, C. , & Peri, G. (2016). Migration and Development: Dissecting the Anatomy of the Mobility Transition . IZA Discussion Paper No. 10272.
• De Haas, H. (2007). Turning the Tide? Why Development Will Not Stop Migration. Development and Change , 38 , 819–841.
• Dimant, E. , Krieger, T. , & Meierrieks, D. (2013). The Effect of Corruption on Migration, 1985–2000. Applied Economics Letters , 20 (13), 1270–1274.
• Djajic, S. , & Michael, M. S. (2014). Controlling Illegal Immigration: On the Scope for Cooperation with a Transit Country. Review of International Economics , 22 (4), 808–824.
• Djajic, S. , & Michael, M. S. (2016). Illegal Immigration, Foreign Aid, and the Transit Countries. CESifo Economic Studies , 572–593.
• Dumont, J.-C. , & Spielvogel, G. (2008). Return Migration: A New Perspective. International Migration Outlook 2008 . OECD, 166–212.
• Dustmann, C. , & Okatenko, A. (2014). Out-Migration, Wealth Constraints, and the Quality of Local Amenities. Journal of Development Economics , 110 , 52–63.
• Dustmann, C. , & Weiss, Y. (2007). Return Migration: Theory and Empirical Evidence from the UK. British Journal of Industrial Relations , 45 (2), 236–256.
• Duvell, F. (2012). Transit Migration: A Blurred and Politicized Concept. Population, Space and Place , 18 , 415–427.
• Easterlin, R. A. (1961). Influences in European Overseas Emigration Before World War I. Economic Development and Cultural Change , 9 (3), 331–351.
• Epstein, G. (2008). Herd and Network Effects in Migration Decision-Making. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies , 34 (4), 567–583.
• Epstein, G. , & Gang, I. (2006). The Influence of Others on Migration Plans. Review of Development Economics , 10 (4), 652–665.
• Escriba-Folch, A. , Meseguer, C. , & Wright, J. (2015). Remittances and Democratization. International Studies Quarterly , 59 (3), 571–586.
• European Asylum Support Office . (2016). The Push and Pull Factors of Asylum-Related Migration: A Literature Review .
• Faist, T. (2000). The Volume and Dynamics of International Migration and Transnational Social Space . New York: Oxford University Press.
• Fitzgerald, J. , Leblang, D. , & Teets, J. C. (2014). Defying the Law of Gravity: The Political Economy of International Migration. World Politics , 66 (3), 406–445.
• Fussel, E. (2010). The Cumulative Causation of International Migration in Latin America. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science , 630 , 162–177.
• Fussel, E. , & Massey, D. (2004). The Limits to Cumulative Causation: International Migration from Mexican Urban Areas. Demography , 41 (1), 151–171.
• Gindling, T. H. (2009). South­–South Migration: The Impact of Nicaraguan Immigrants on Earnings, Inequality, and Poverty in Costa Rica. World Development , 37 (1), 116–126.
• Gould, J. D. (1979). European Inter-Continental Emigration 1815–1914: Patterns and Causes. Journal of European Economic History , 8 (3), 593–679.
• Greif, A. (1989). Reputation and Coalitions in Medieval Trade: Evidence on the Maghribi Traders. Journal of Economic History , 49 (4), 857–882.
• Greif, A. (1993). Contract Enforceability and Economic Institutions in Early Trade: The Maghribi Traders’ Coalition. American Economic Review , 83 (3), 525–548.
• Grogger, J. , & Hanson, G. H. (2011). Income Maximization and the Selection and Sorting of International Migrants. Journal of Development Economics , 95 , 42–57.
• Gupta, S. , Davoodi, H. , & Tiongson, E. (2001). Corruption and the Provision of Healthcare and Education Services. In A. Jain (Ed.), The Political Economy of Corruption . New York: Routledge.
• Hainmueller, J. , & Hiscox, M. J. (2010). Attitudes toward Highly Skilled and Low-Skilled Immigration: Evidence from a Survey Experiment. American Political Science Review , 104 (1), 61–84.
• Hainmueller, J. , & Hopkins, D. J. (2015). The Hidden Immigration Consensus: A Conjoint Analysis of Attitudes toward Immigrants. American Journal of Political Science , 59 (3), 529–548.
• Harris, J. R. , & Todaro, M. P. (1970). Migration, Unemployment and Development: A Two-Sector Analysis. American Economic Review , 60 (1), 126–142.
• Hatton, T. J. , & Williamson, J. G. (1994). What Drove the Mass Migrations from Europe in the Late Nineteenth Century? Population and Development Review , 20 (3), 533–559.
• Hatton, T. J. , & Williamson, J. G. (2011). Are Third World Emigration Forces Abating? World Development , 39 (1), 20–32.
• Haug, S. (2008). Migration Networks and Migration Decision-Making. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies , 34 (4), 585–605.
• Helbling, M. , Bjerre, L. , Römer, F. , & Zobel, M. (2017). Measuring Immigration Policies: The IMPIC-Database. European Political Science, 16 (1), 79–98.
• Helbling, M. , & Leblang, D. (forthcoming). Controlling Immigration? European Journal of Political Research .
• Hirschman, A. O. (1970). Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and Sates . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Hirsh, A. O. (1978). “Exit, Voice, and the State.” World Politics , 31 (1), 90–107.
• Hujo, K. , & Piper, N. (2007). South–South Migration: Challenges for Development and Social Policy. Development , 50 (4), 1–7.
• Icduygu, A. (2005). Transit Migration in Turkey: Trends, Patterns, and Issues . Euro-Mediterranean Consortium for Applied Research on International Migration Research Report 2005/04.
• Javorcik, B. , Özden, C. , Spatareanu, M. , & Neagu, C. (2011). Migrant Networks and Foreign Direct Investment. Journal of Development Economics , 94 , 231–241.
• Kahana, N. , & Lecker, T. (2005). Competition as a Track for Preventing Illegal Immigration. Economics of Governance , 6 , 33–39.
• Kapur, D. (2014). Political Effects of International Migration. Annual Review of Political Science , 17 , 479–502.
• Kugler, M. , Levinthal, O. , & Rapoport, H. (2017). Migration and Cross-Border Financial Flows . World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 8034.
• Leblang, D. (2010). Familiarity Breeds Investment: Diaspora Networks and International Investment. American Political Science Review , 104 (3), 584–600.
• Leblang, D. (2017). Harnessing the Diaspora: Dual Citizenship, Migrant Return, and Remittances. Comparative Political Studies , 50 (1), 75–101.
• Lewis, A. W. (1954). Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labor. The Manchester School , 22 (2), 139–191.
• Lichter, D. T. (1983). Socioeconomic Returns to Migration among Married Women. Social Forces , 62 (2), 487–503.
• Light, I. , Bernard, R. B. , & Kim, R. (1999). Immigrant Incorporation in the Garment Industry of Los Angeles. International Migration Review , 33 (1), 5–25.
• Lokshin, M. , Bontch-Osmolovski, M. , & Glinskaya, E. (2010). Work-Related Migration and Poverty Reduction in Nepal. Review of Development Economics , 14 (2), 323–332.
• Massey, D. S. (1988). Economic Development and International Migration in Comparative Perspective. Population and Development Review , 14 (3), 383–413.
• Massey, D. S. (1990). Social Structure, Household Strategies, and the Cumulative Causation of Migration. Population Index , 56 (1), 3–26.
• Massey, D. S. , Arango, J. , Hugo, G. , Kouaouci, A. , Pellegrino, A. , & Taylor, J. E. (1993). Theories of International Migration: A Review and Appraisal. Population and Development Review , 19 (3), 431–466.
• Massey, D. S. , & Garcia España, F. (1987). The Social Process of International Migration. Science , 237 (4816), 733–738.
• Mauro, P. (1998). Corruption and the Composition of Government Expenditure. Journal of Public Economics , 69 , 263–279.
• Menjivar, C. (2014). Immigration Law Beyond Borders: Externalizing and Internalizing Border Controls in an Era of Securitization. Annual Review of Law and Social Science , 10 , 353–369.
• Messina, A. M. (2007). The Logics and Politics of Post-WWII Migration to Western Europe . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Mincer, J. (1978). Family Migration Decisions. Journal of Political Economy , 86 (51), 749–773.
• Miller, M. K. , & Peters, M. E. (2018). Restraining the Huddled Masses: Migration Policy and Autocratic Survival . British Journal of Political Science .
• Mo, P. H. (2001). Corruption and Economic Growth. Journal of Comparative Economics , 29 , 66–79.
• Money, J. (1999). Fences and Neighbors: The Political Geography of Immigration Control . Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
• Morrison, D. R. , & Lichter, D. T. (1988). Migration and Female Employment. Journal of Marriage and Family , 50 (1), 161–172.
• Natter, K. (2013). The Formation of Morocco’s Policy Towards Irregular Migration (2000–2007): Political Rationale and Policy Processes. International Migration , 52 (5), 15–28.
• Nikolova, M. , & Graham, C. (2015). Well-Being and Emigration Intentions: New Evidence from the Gallup World Poll. Unpublished manuscript.
• Nyblade, B. , & O’Mahony, A. (2014). Migrants Remittances and Home Country Elections: Cross-National and Subnational Evidence. Studies in Comparative International Development , 49 (1), 44–66.
• O’Mahony, A. (2012). Political Investment: Remittances and Elections. British Journal of Political Science , 43 (4), 799–820.
• Ortega, F. , & Peri, G. (2013). The Effect of Income and immigration Policies on International Migration. Migration Studies , 1 (1), 47–74.
• Otrachshenko, V. , & Popova, O. (2014). Life (Dis)satisfaction and the Intention to Migrate: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe. Journal of Socio-Economics , 48 , 40–49.
• Papademetriou, D. , & Sumption, M. (2011). Rethinking Points Systems and Employer-Based Selected Immigration . Migration Policy Institute.
• Peters, M. (2017). Trading Barriers: Immigration and the Remaking of Globalization . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
• Poprawe, M. (2015). On the Relationship between Corruption and Migration: Evidence from a Gravity Model of Migration. Public Choice , 163 , 337–354.
• Portes, A. (Ed.). (1995). The Economic Sociology of Immigration . New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
• Portes, A. , & Böröcz, J. (1989). Contemporary Immigration: Theoretical Perspectives on its Determinant and Modes of Incorporation. International Migration Review , 23 (3), 606–630.
• Rapoport, H. , & Docquier, F. (2006). The Economics of Migrants’ Remittances. In S.-C. Kolm & J. M. Ythier (Eds.), Handbook on the Economics of Giving, Altruism and Reciprocity . New York: Elsevier-North Holland.
• Ratha, D. , & Shaw, W. (2007). South-South Migration and Remittances . World Bank WP 102.
• Rauch, J. E. , & Trindade, V. (2002). Ethnic Chinese Networks in International Trade. Review of Economics and Statistics , 84 (1), 116–130.
• Ravenstein, E. G. (1885). The Laws of Migration. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society of London , 48 (2), 167–235.
• Sassen, S. (1995). Immigration and Local Labour Markets. In A. Portes (Ed.), The Economic Sociology of Immigration . New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
• Sassen, S. (1996). Losing Control? Sovereignty in the Age of Globalization . New York: Columbia University Press.
• Schultz, T. W. (1961). Investment in Human Capital. American Economic Review , 51 (1), 1–17.
• Severin, T. , & Martin, M. (2018). German Parties Edge Closer to Coalition with Migration Deal . Reuters, February 2.
• Sjaastad, L. A. (1962). The Costs and Returns of Human Migration. Journal of Political Economy , 70 (5), 80–93.
• Stark, O. (1984). Rural-To-Urban Migration in LDCs: A Relative Deprivation Approach. Economic Development and Cultural Change , 32 (3), 475–486.
• Stark, O. , & Bloom, D. E. (1985). The New Economics of Labor Migration. American Economic Review , 75 (2), 173–178.
• Stark, O. , & Levhari, D. (1982). On Migration and Risk in LDCs. Economic Development and Cultural Change , 31 (1), 191–196.
• Stark, O. , & Taylor, J. E. (1991). Migration Incentives, Migration Types: The Role of Relative Deprivation. The Economic Journal , 101 (408), 1163–1178.
• Stark, O. , & Yitzhaki, S. (1988). Migration as a Response to Relative Deprivation. Journal of Population Economics , 1 (1), 57–70.
• Taylor, J. E. (1999). The New Economics of Labour Migration and the Role of Remittances in the Migration Process. International Migration , 37 (1), 63–88.
• Todaro, M. P. (1969). A Model of Labor Migration and Urban Employment in Less Developed Countries. American Economic Review , 59 (1), 138–148.
• Tomaske, J. A. (1971). The Determinants of Intercountry Differences in European Emigration: 1881–1900. Journal of Economic History , 31 (4), 840–853.
• Transparency International . (2018). What is corruption
• United Kingdom Independence Party . (2015). UKIP Launches Immigration Policy .
• United Nations Population Division . (2012). Trends in Total Migrant Stock .
• United Nations Population Division . (2013). International Migration: Age and Sex Distribution. Population Facts, September.
• United States Citizenship and Immigration Services . (2018). H-1B Fiscal Year 2018 Cap Season .
• USA Today . (2014) (20 November). Full Text: Obama’s Immigration Speech .
• Vanderkamp, J. (1971). Migration Flows, Their Determinants and the Effects of Return Migration. Journal of Political Economy , 79 (5), 1012–1031.
• Vertovec, S. (2004). Migrant Transnationalism and Modes of Transformation. International Migration Review , 38 (3), 970–1001.
• Waldinger, R. (2008). Between “Here” and “There”: Immigrant Cross-Border Activities and Loyalties. International Migration Review , 42 (Spring), 3–29.
• Weidenbaum, M. , & Hughes, S. (1996). The Bamboo Network: How Expatriate Chinese Entrepreneurs are Creating a New Economic Superpower in Asia . New York: Martin Kessler Books.
• World Bank . (2016). Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016 . 3rd ed. Washington, DC: World Bank Group.
• Yang, D. (2008). International Migration, Remittances, and Household Investment: Evidence from Philippine Migrants’ Exchange Rate Shocks. The Economic Journal , 118 (528), 591–630.
• Yang, D. , & Martinez, C. (2006). Remittances and Poverty in Migrants Home Areas: Evidence from the Philippines. In C. Ozden & M. Schiff (Eds.), International Migration, Remittances and the Brain Drain . Washington, DC: World Bank.
• Zaiceva, A. , & Zimmerman, K. (2014). Migration and the Demographic Shift. IZA Discussion Paper #8743 .
• Zelinsky, W. (1971). The Hypothesis of the Mobility Transition. Geographical Review , 61 (2), 219–249.

1. Our use of the term international labor migration follows academic and legal conventions; we use the term migration to refer to the voluntary movement of people across national borders, either in a temporary or permanent fashion. This excludes any discussion of refugees, asylum seekers, or any other groups that are forced to migrate.

2. We do not have space in this article to delve into the theoretical and empirical work unpacking the effect of demographic characteristics—age, gender, marital status, household size, and so forth on the migration decision and on subsequent flows of migrants. For comprehensive reviews, see Lichter ( 1983 ), Morrison and Lichter ( 1988 ); United Nations Population Division ( 2013 ); and Zaiceva and Zimmerman ( 2014 ).

3. Zelinsky ( 1971 ) originally identified this relationship and termed it mobility transition curve . A wealth of empirical work supports Zelinsky’s descriptive theory in a number of contexts (see Akerman, 1976 ; Gould, 1979 ; Hatton & Williamson, 1994 ; and Dao et al., 2016 ).

4. For a review of the arguments as well as some empirical tests, see Miller and Peters ( 2018 ) and Docquier, Lodigiani, Rapoport, and Schiff ( 2018 ).

5. Transparency International. “What is corruption?”

6. For example, former United Kingdom Independence Party leader Nigel Farage has called for the United Kingdom to adopt an immigration system that only allows in highly skilled migrants (“UKIP launches immigration policy”). In 2014, US President Barack Obama emphasized that he wanted to attract international students to American universities and that they “create jobs, businesses, and industries right here in America” (USA Today: “Full text: Obama’s immigration speech”). A key issue in Germany’s 2018 government formation was the creation of skill-based migration laws (Severin & Martin, 2018 ).

7. For a more comprehensive review, see Rapoport and Docquier ( 2006 ); and Adams ( 2011 ).

Related Articles

• Space, Mobility, and Legitimacy
• Immigration and Foreign Policy

Printed from Oxford Research Encyclopedias, Politics. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice).

date: 29 August 2024

• Cookie Policy
• Privacy Policy
• Legal Notice
• Accessibility
• [162.248.224.4]
• 162.248.224.4

Character limit 500 /500

Essay on Immigration Causes And Effects

Students are often asked to write an essay on Immigration Causes And Effects in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Immigration Causes And Effects

Why people move.

People move from one country to another for many reasons. Some look for better jobs to earn more money. Others want to be safe if their home country is at war or has other dangers. Many are drawn to places with better schools and hospitals. Families often move to be closer to relatives who live far away.

Good Things from Immigration

Immigration can bring new ideas and cultures, which make a place more interesting. Immigrants often start businesses, creating jobs for everyone. They also work in important jobs that need more people, like doctors or farmers.

Challenges of Immigration

Sometimes, when many people move to a new place, it can be hard for that place. Schools and hospitals may become too crowded. Finding a home can be harder, and wages might go down if there are too many workers. Some people worry about their culture changing too much.

Immigration is when people move to a new country. It can help by bringing new ideas and helping the economy. But it can also create challenges like crowded schools and lower wages. It’s important to find a balance that helps everyone.

250 Words Essay on Immigration Causes And Effects

Why people move to new places, looking for work.

One big reason for immigration is to find work. In some countries, jobs are hard to find, and the pay is very low. Other countries have lots of jobs that pay more money. People go to these places so they can make a better living and help their families.

Running from Trouble

Sometimes, people leave their homes because it’s not safe. Wars, crime, or leaders who treat people unfairly can make life very hard. These people move to other countries to find peace and safety.

Joining Family

Often, people will move to be with family members who already live in a new country. They might feel lonely or want to be close to their loved ones.

Changes in the New Place

When people move to a new country, it can change that place. The new people can help the economy by working and buying things. They can also bring new foods, music, and ideas which make the culture richer.

But, immigration can also bring challenges. Sometimes there are not enough jobs for everyone, and this can make people unhappy. Also, if too many people come too quickly, it can be hard for the new country to handle.

500 Words Essay on Immigration Causes And Effects

People move from one country to another for many reasons. Some people leave their homes to find work. They might not have a job, or they might want a better job that pays more money. Other people move because they want to be safe. There might be fighting or danger in their country, and they need to go somewhere peaceful. Some parents move because they want their kids to go to good schools and have a better life. Also, some people just want to live in a new place where the weather is nicer or the cities are cleaner.

Good Things That Happen Because of Immigration

When people move to a new country, they bring their cooking, music, and stories with them. This makes the new place more interesting and fun because there are more different things to see and learn. Immigrants also work hard. They can start new businesses, like restaurants or shops, which helps the economy. This means there’s more money for the country and jobs for people. Immigrants might also do jobs that are very important but hard to find workers for. Because they help the country in these ways, the places they move to can become richer and better for everyone.

Challenges People Face When They Move

Problems in the original and new countries.

The countries people leave might have problems because of immigration. If many young and smart people move away, there’s no one left to do important jobs like being doctors or teachers. This can make life harder for the people who stay. In the new country, if lots of people arrive at the same time, it can be hard to find enough houses or schools for everyone. This can make some people in the new country feel upset or worried.

Immigration is when people move from one country to another. There are many reasons why they do this, like finding work or being safe. Immigration can make the new place better because it brings different cultures and helps the economy. But it can also be hard for the immigrants and cause problems in both the old and new countries. It’s important to remember that immigrants are just people trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. By understanding why people move and what happens when they do, we can help everyone get along and make our communities stronger.

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

New name, same mission! LIRS is now Global Refuge. Learn more.

New name. Same mission.

LIRS is now Global Refuge .

Welcoming newcomers since 1939.

The browser you are using is not supported. Please consider using a modern browser .

News // Immigration and Asylum

Why do People Immigrate? – The Different Causes of Immigration

• X (formerly Twitter)
• Copy to Clipboard Copied!

Global Refuge Staff

July 14, 2021

Immigration — and its dynamic effect on global development — has been the subject of many reports, studies, and debates. Its economic implications have shaped global industries for years and are changing the world for the better.

Global migration is a large-scale topic. Currently, there are an estimated 272 million international migrants, which account for 3.5% of the world’s population. While the percentage may seem relatively low, the number of migrants already surpasses some projections for 2050.

In a 2020 report by United Nations (UN), it was revealed that one in every 30 people is an international migrant. Europe and Asia alone host around 82 to 84 million immigrants.  These regions were followed by North America, which houses almost 52 million international migrants.

Every year, the percentage of international citizens traversing borders increases and drastically impacts a country’s population size, cultural diversity, and economic productivity.

With the constant wave of settlers and refugees around the world today, a significant question arises — what exactly are the causes of immigration?

The Roots of Immigration

Immigration, in its simplest definition, is the movement of people from one place or country into another one. It is a simple yet fundamental aspect of human history.

Immigration is a concept that pre-dates existing laws. Long ago, nomadic tribes traveled from place to place to find fresh and fertile lands, pastures for their livestock, and rich areas for hunting and fishing.

In modern times, immigration still continues all over the world. In the past decade , the demographic composition of people traversing borders has significantly changed. This can be attributed to a wide range of factors that we can categorize into two groups — push and pull factors.

It is essential to examine these factors in order to perfectly understand the increase of global migration throughout the years.

Push and Pull Factors

To reach well-developed immigration and foreign policy solutions, it is important to recognize the driving factors that prompt individuals to migrate.

People around the globe immigrate for a wide array of reasons that we conceptualize as “push” and “pull” factors.

Push factors are reasons that compel or push people to leave the area of where they reside and settle someplace else. Common factors can include armed conflict, disaster exposure, gender inequality, lack of job opportunities, political corruption, and lack of access to competent healthcare and education. In simple terms, push factors are negative reasons that prompt individuals to leave.

Pull factors are, on the other hand, the exact opposite of push factors. They attract or pull people to move and settle in a particular area. Common pull factors may include better work opportunities, greater security, and access to adequate healthcare and education. Simply put, pull factors are positive reasons that prompt individuals to move.

Immigration, however, is not as simple as being pulled and pushed for merely a few reasons. The push and pull framework is a combination of factors that encourage a person to leave a place of origin and factors that draw a person to a destination.

Push and pull factors are never the same for everyone, and the reasons for immigration are unique to each individual.

However, even though factors can change depending on age, gender, health, social class, and ethnicity, a push or pull factor may describe a pattern that can be attributed to many different reasons.

Quality of Life Factors

Conditions that influence an individual’s quality of life vary from person to person, but may be the leading factors leading to immigration. These can include labor standards, poverty, and the overall state of a country to provide a quality life.

In most cases, people are pulled by work opportunities in a certain area which aren’t available in their place of origin. Data analysis has even shown that there is an increase in the immigrant’s quality of life due to migration that is reflected in financial status and job satisfaction.

People from places like Syria (which has a high unemployment rate of 50%) often immigrate to escape poverty and lack of work opportunities. Numerous developed countries, including the United States, provide a network or social platform that proves to be advantageous for people hailing from less developed countries.

Immigrant workers (people who migrate to pursue work) represent nearly two-thirds of the international migrants in 2017 — standing at roughly 164 million worldwide.

Another large factor involving an individual’s quality of life is access to a proper education and to medical services that are otherwise inaccessible in their country.

War-Torn Country Factors

A major socio-political factor pushing individuals to leave their place of origin is the presence of war and conflict.

Oppression because of one’s ethnicity, religion, gender, race, and culture poses a significant risk to quality of life, which increases the odds of an individual settling elsewhere.

People fleeing conflict zones, human rights violations, and government persecution are asylum seekers that desire international protection and a safer region. Individuals who are forcibly displaced because of external factors, such as war, are refugees.

In recent times, a large number of people have fled to Europe to escape conflict, persecution, and terror in their homeland. Over a quarter of asylum seekers from Syria were granted protection status, with those from Afghanistan and Iraq following respectively.

Environmental Factors

Natural disasters and climate change are environmental factors that disproportionately affect impoverished families, especially in less developed countries.

Individuals that experience regular occurrences of floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes are most likely to immigrate. Additionally, climate change is expected to worsen weather events, leading to an increase in immigration flow.

Environmental immigrants are obliged to leave their point of origin, be it temporarily or permanently, and either move within their country or abroad to avoid the adversities of nature.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme ’s statement on climate change and immigration, these are the three environmental factors that can affect immigration in a significant way:

• Effects of Warming: Constant warming in certain areas will slowly bring down agricultural productivity which may lead to a lack of fertile soil and clean water.
• Increase in Extreme Weather Events: Extreme weather events caused by the change in climate, such as violent storms and resulting flash floods, may displace millions of people.
• Rising of Sea Level: The constant sea level rise poses an extreme environmental danger to low-lying coastal areas and may result in the permanent displacement of more than a million individuals.

Why Do People Immigrate to the US?

According to the UN’s World Migration Report of 2020 , the United States of America has been the primary destination for foreign migrants since 1970.

In less than 50 years, the number of foreign-born residents of the country has more than quadrupled — from less than 12 million to close to 51 million.

The reasons why so many people immigrate to the US have changed throughout the years, but the country’s core pull factors are what make it the leading destination for immigration.

The United States ranks as one of the most desirable countries to immigrate to because of the better living conditions provided.

The country has an active economy with a wide array of work opportunities for everyone. Wages are higher than most countries, with a relatively low cost of living. Individuals coming from a more collective society prefer American individualistic values.

People that are employed in the United States who have long-distance families are great examples of what compels families to immigrate. When these people gain their green cards, they want their children to move from their native country to the United States to be with them.

Moreover, the United States has access to healthcare and quality education that is not available in many countries.

The Impacts of Immigration

As the number of immigrants increases by the year, the patterns and factors involved become harder to analyze and evaluate. With the dynamic change and demands that immigration brings, it is important to take note of its impacts.

So what exactly are the causes and effects of immigration?

• Economic Output Growth: Net immigration can lead to an increase in the labor force and productive capacity of the economy. When this happens, there is an increase in living standards with a decline in the dependency ratio . Immigration leads to stronger economic growth and, as a result, higher tax revenues, allowing for more national spending options.
• Better Workforce: Because of immigration, the economy of certain countries, like the UK , attracts highly skilled professionals that fill job vacancies, which contributes even more to higher tax revenues. This is due to the fact that immigrants are more likely to have higher educational and skill levels.
• A Flexible Labor Market: Immigrants move to economies when the wages are high, which increases labor demands. The immigrants’ high mobility keeps a booming economy from overheating by providing labor to meet expanding demand.
• Filling In for Undesirable Job Opportunities: Due to low earnings or the lack of prestige associated with some positions, native-born individuals have a tough time filling them. Businesses and employers who rely on flexible labor to fill job vacancies profit from immigration. Furthermore, when low-skilled positions are filled by migrants, native-born people can seek higher-skilled work elsewhere.

A growing scarcity of workers is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s most critically significant barriers to sustained economic growth amidst increasingly tight labor markets.

Immigration, without fail, is the reason behind the development and prosperity of most businesses and fills the increasing shortage of workers in labor markets.

There are numerous drivers behind an individual’s immigration, and such a complex process needs good research, political will, and most importantly, collective action from the citizens.

Immigrants are breathing new life into rural and urban communities, shaping labor markets, and building a dynamic society — all of which begins with a simple “push” and “pull”.

• Immigration and Asylum

Press Release

August 19, 2024

Global Refuge urges thoughtful immigration discussion at DNC

We hope to hear a robust commitment to policies that respect the rights and dignity of immigrants and refugees, prioritize family unity, and reflect the enormous contributions these newcomers make

August 15, 2024

Afghan anniversary offers opportunity to end uncertainty for Afghans

Today marks the three-year anniversary of Afghanistan falling under Taliban control and the beginning of the U.S. military withdrawal from the country.

August 14, 2024

Global Refuge receives grant from Truist Foundation supporting New American Lending

Global Refuge today announced it received a two-year, $1 million grant from Truist Foundation supporting New American Lending, an economic empowerment initiative.

August 9, 2024

Texas Governor orders hospitals to collect immigration status data

Governor Greg Abbott of Texas issued an executive order directing the state’s hospitals and health care centers to question patients about their immigration status beginning on November 1, 2024

July 8, 2024

Timeline: Our Advocacy for Afghan Allies

In early 2021, Global Refuge joined veterans’ groups and resettlement agencies to form the Evacuate our Allies coalition, and we advocate for the continued evacuation of at-risk Afghans and the integration of Afghans already in the United States.

Related Posts

News · Immigration and Asylum

Jesus Was a Refugee

December 21st

News · Foster Care

Looking Back on 2023

December 20th

Unsung Heroes: Immigrants in the U.S. Military

November 10th

• Essay Samples
• College Essay
• Writing Tools
• Writing guide

↑ Return to College Essay

Cause and Effect Essay: Immigration – What Is Happening In Key Countries?

No matter what country you are a resident of, the hot topic for the majority of politicians in the Western world in 2017 seems to be immigration. The rise in incidences of terrorism around the globe has lead to a spreading of fear amongst the populations of immigration destinations such as France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. In the last few years, these three countries in particular have been hit hard by acts of terrorism, and we have seen a reaction to this in their immigration policies that the leading politicians have set out. With Donald Trump recently winning the US Presidential election and general elections coming in the near future for both France and the United Kingdom, immigration is more at the forefront of policy making and public consciousness than ever before. The question is, however, what exactly are these three nations pledging to to do about immigration? Let’s take a look at each country individually.

The United States Of America

President Trump has vowed to take a hard line approach on immigration to the United States. He has pledged to find and deport millions of Mexican immigrants who are living in the country illegally, but many news stories have already highlighted instances of Mexicans being deported who were legally allowed to be residing in the States. In terms of Muslim asylum seekers, Trump promised in his campaign to impose a total ban of all Muslims entering in to the country, but this has proved unsuccessful and deemed unlawful by several different judges. Seemingly only popular with his core support base, President Trump has been criticised across the world for what many deem to be overly aggressive stances that border on blind racism.

Marine Le Pen, former leader of the French National Front but now running as an independent, is set to go head to head with Centrist Emmanuel Macron for the French presidency in May. A woman known for her right wing viewpoints, Le Pen’s stance on immigration can be likened to that of Donald Trump’s. Among Le Pen’s key campaign promises are to cut legal immigration entrants in France to 10,000 a year, vastly speed up the deportation process for those found to be illegal and to narrow the opportunities to gain French citizenship, claiming that right to be “either inherited or merited”. Nearly all experts are predicting a strong Macron win in the French election, but one could argue that the same was said for Hillary Clinton at times during 2016, and therefore these types of candidates cannot be disregarded completely.

United Kingdom

Though the United Kingdom is set for a surprise general election in June 2017, current Prime Minister, Conservative leader Theresa May. Generally considered to be traditionally right wing with her views on immigration, May pledged to cut immigration to the United Kingdom by “tens of thousands”. The Prime Minister has in fact been quotes as saying that matters of immigration are more important than matters of the British economy, a belief challenged by many. However, should the Labour party snatch a surprise win in the upcoming general election, party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s views could not be more different. Corbyn does not believe that immigration in to the country is too high. Corbyn holds none of the nationalist traits that those in the Conservative party do, and a United Kingdom under his leadership would be in remarkable contrast to that of Donald Trump’s United States and Marine Le Pen’s France.

With a general fear of terrorism gripping the world, it can be very easy to see immigration as a cold topic rather than contemplating those who are making the effort to make a new life somewhere else.

Follow Us on Social Media

Get more free essays

Send via email

Most useful resources for students:.

• Free Essays Download
• Writing Tools List
• Proofreading Services
• Universities Rating

Contributors Bio

Find more useful services for students

Free plagiarism check, professional editing, online tutoring, free grammar check.

Free IELTS lessons signup

• Academic practice
• General practice
• Task 1 Academic
• Task 1 General
• Task 2 (essay)

IELTS band 9 essay: immigration

Here you can find advice how to structure IELTS essay and IELTS model answer for immigration topic. Question type: reasons and consequences .

Here is the question card:

Immigration has a major impact on the society.

What are the main reasons of immigration?

To what consequences can it lead?

To write a band 9 essay you should first of all choose your arguments to answer the questions from the topic. You don't have to find some complicated ideas. Remember: you won't be judged upon the quality of your thoughts, you will be judged upon the quality of your writing. So even simple, but well-written arguments can often give you a band 9 writing .

• Reasons why people immigrate
• Results of immigration

Some of the possible arguments :

• Reasons of immigration :
• People want to live in a safe country
• People search better jobs with higher salaries
• People escape from wars/disasters
• Results of immigration :
• People’s expectations come true / don’t come true
• Immigrants face other difficulties
• Countries of destination have to give money to support refugees
• Overpopulation

How to structure my answer?

Of course, there are a lot of ways to organise this essay. But here is one possible way of structuring the answer to produce a band 9 essay :

Introduction : simply rephrase the topic and say what this essay is about. When your essay question asks you about reasons/consequences or causes/solutions, you shouldn’t try to describe all that in your introduction. Instead, state that you’ll describe them later in your essay.

Body paragraphs :

• paragraph 1: main reasons of immigration
• paragraph 2: main consequences of immigration

Conclusion : sum up the ideas from body paragraphs and briefly give your opinion.

Band 9 essay sample (immigration)

Immigration has a significant impact on the contemporary society. Each year, more and more people from all over the world decide to leave their home countries and move to another place. This essay will examine the reasons and the consequences of immigration.

In my view, the main reason of immigration is a strong desire of better life quality and safe future. A lot of people from so-called Third World move to developed countries in search of better employment opportunities, and therefore, higher incomes. Moreover, living in a wealthy country implies living in a country with stable economy, so risks of losing their savings also lessen. For example, labour migration from Mexico to the USA is caused by these facts. Other reasons that force whole families to cross borders are wars and various cultural conflicts in their homeland. Many people migrate, seeking security and safe future for their children. For instance, most of the refugees who arrived in the European Union were escaping from wars.

However, sometimes immigration causes more problems than it solves, resulting in negative consequences for both immigrants and their countries of destination. First of all, most of the refugees can’t find jobs because of the lack of language skills and difficulties in adaptation. That’s why the countries have to run various refugee assistance programs to help those people. But disproportionate burden of maintaining the immigrants leads to tension in the society. Secondly, not all of the refugees receive proper asylum, food and medical care. So they are at risk even after crossing the border. Finally, even highly qualified specialists, who seek better employment, often don’t get what they are looking for.

In conclusion, I think that people immigrate to have better life prospects. However, life after immigration may not always meet people’s expectations. So it’s very important to consider all the possible outcomes and decide whether leaving your homeland is worth it.

(315 words)

Useful vocabulary

better employment opportunities – opportunity to find a better job

burden of maintaining immigrants – difficulties in helping immigrants faced by the governments

country with stable economy – rich and safe country

to cross the border – immigrate

labour migration – when people migrate to find better jobs

refugee – person who is forced to leave his birth place because of war

refugee assistance programs – when the government gives to the refugees asylum and food

to seek better employment – look for better job

Third World – developing countries

to meet expectations – if something doesn’t meet your expectations, it’s not as good as you have thought

• Skip to main content
• Skip to secondary menu
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

Study Today

Largest Compilation of Structured Essays and Exams

Essay on Immigration | Causes & Effects

December 4, 2017 by Study Mentor Leave a Comment

Table of Contents

What do you mean by immigration? 

Immigration refers to the movement in which people from one country move to another country for various reasons. They go to another country where they do not have the right to citizenship. This means that they are not the natives of that country.

They move to a new country so that they can settle there, become the citizens of that country, be a worker there and many other reasons. In the history we can see that even animals have moved to another place along with the humans on the early age.

The terms migration, immigration and emigration revolve around the same thing but have different meanings. There has been an increase in the count of people involved in immigration. US has been the destination of most immigrants. Mostly these immigrants have come from Europe or Asia.   

The factors which encourage immigration come under two categories. These two categories are known as push and pull factors. From the terms itself, it can be easily understood what they mean. The push factors mean the people are going away from their place to another because of these factors.

These factors may be like low wage, unemployment, illegal activities, oppression, no technology, improper facilities of life and many other factors. Due to factors like these people leave their country. While the pull factors are the ones which bring people towards them.

These countries may have more facilities than the people’s own country. The country might have advanced facilities and technology. Even though these factors may affect a person’s decision to move to another place, there may be many barriers which a person has to face while moving.

These can be legal and political problems which one has to face. Moreover, a person will take time to get habituated with the new place.  

Reasons responsible for immigration  

Immigration takes place because of the push and pull factors. They are the positive and negative factors respectively. Immigration has been taking place from the time human first came on this planet. During that time people used to migrate in search of food and new places.

After this they wanted better place like for example better lands for settlement and cultivation. After this they started to move to another place for better facilities of their life. In order to have a proper happy life they have been moving from one place to another.

Sometimes people even move to other places due to natural disasters. They may not feel safe because these natural disasters. That is why for their safety they shift to another place. Very often some of the countries face a lot of political and religious problems.

In order to be free from all these problems they decide to shift to another place. Mostly the young and middle adulthood are the ones who are the subject of immigration. They want to get better jobs, earning opportunities and good life. They move to such a place where they think their life will be stable and they will get all the facilities necessary for their life.   

How does immigration affect the society  and economy ?  

Immigration affects the society and economy. It has both positive and negative impacts. When the people move to another country, they are referred there as immigrants. The citizens of that country feel that these immigrants are a burden for them.

This is because these new people in their country can take away their job opportunities and other facilities. According to them these immigrants act as a threat to them. But due to immigration there is economic growth, existence of dynamic and variety society and also the skills for various types of work is met.

When people with enough skills move to another country, that particular country gets a benefit because of them. Due to the payment of the taxes by the immigrants, there is increase in the collection of taxes by the government for their country. The immigrants are always ready to pay these taxes to get many services benefits in return. There is an increase in the different workplace as well.

More people are there for a particular job. This helps to increase the production in a short period of time. The economic growth of the country will increase if there are more immigrants. But if that country has problems in its borders and there are problems for outsiders to enter that country, there will not be so much of economic growth there.

Moreover, the country from where these people are shifting incurs loss in all areas. There is a fall in the economic growth and workforce diversity as well. But when people from low productivity areas shift to the areas which have high productivity the overall impact is a positive one for both the countries.   

Most often the countries where these immigrants shift get all the benefits. When people who possess a lot of skills shift to another country, there is a variety in the production of goods in that country. This variety of production will satisfy the citizens of that country.

Moreover, people who have good education qualification and work experience get the best jobs of the country. But it does not mean that the other immigrants do not get jobs. Even they get jobs but that is according to their qualification and work experience.

When the immigrants start working in a new place, they are not paid in a high amount. As the different workplaces are not spending so much on labor for the various types of work, they start to reduce the price of the goods. This acts as a benefit for the consumers. But when people shift to another country because of easily accessible facilities, that country faces problems in providing services to the public.

The ability to give service and support the people of the country reduces. Moreover, when the society becomes heterogeneous because of immigrants there might be a variety of goods for the people. But this leads to a fall in the production of the public goods of that particular country.

But despite the advantages and disadvantages of immigration, people will not stop from moving to a new place. This is a continuous cycle. Every single day at least one person shifts to a new place. This process of immigration will not be stopping ever. No matter how many problems are there with immigration still this process will continue.   

What is the difference between immigration, emigration and migration? 

People often confuse what are immigration, emigration and migration. But there is more confusion between immigration and emigration. Both these words have a very similar meaning. This is the reason why people make mistakes while using these words. But before moving into immigration and emigration, it is important to know what migration is. Migration means to move from one place to another in order to settle there.

Migration is the bigger term to define immigration and emigration. Immigrate means a person is entering to a new country while emigrate means a person is leaving country. Immigration can also be referred as inward migration and emigration can be known as outward migration. In a simpler way to explain this, immigration means “in” and emigration means “out”.

A person can be called as immigrant and emigrant at the same time. This because when he leaves his country he will be called as an emigrant. But when he enters to a new country he will called as an immigrant. This means he is emigrant for the origin country and immigrant for the destination country. Even though these two terms have different meanings, the reasons due to which these takes place are the same.

But people who are entering into a new country have to face more problems because of the rules of the new country. It is not at all easy for a person to shift to a new place. The most common problem is the language. It will be very difficult for a person to reside at a place whose language one does not know.

They will not be able to converse with the people around them. Social interaction will be very less. Knowing the language of the new country is very important because it will be helpful to get a job in that place. No matter how advanced the place is, any person will take time to get habituated to that new place.

Reader Interactions

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Top Trending Essays in March 2021

• Essay on Pollution
• Essay on my School
• Summer Season
• My favourite teacher
• World heritage day quotes
• my family speech
• importance of trees essay
• autobiography of a pen
• honesty is the best policy essay
• essay on building a great india
• my favourite book essay
• essay on caa
• my favourite player
• autobiography of a river
• farewell speech for class 10 by class 9
• essay my favourite teacher 200 words
• internet influence on kids essay
• my favourite cartoon character

Brilliantly

Content & links.

Verified by Sur.ly

Essay for Students

• Essay for Class 1 to 5 Students

Scholarships for Students

• Class 1 Students Scholarship
• Class 2 Students Scholarship
• Class 3 Students Scholarship
• Class 4 Students Scholarship
• Class 5 students Scholarship
• Class 6 Students Scholarship
• Class 7 students Scholarship
• Class 8 Students Scholarship
• Class 9 Students Scholarship
• Class 10 Students Scholarship
• Class 11 Students Scholarship
• Class 12 Students Scholarship

STAY CONNECTED

• About Study Today
• Privacy Policy
• Terms & Conditions

Scholarships

• Apj Abdul Kalam Scholarship
• Ashirwad Scholarship
• Bihar Scholarship
• Canara Bank Scholarship
• Colgate Scholarship
• Dr Ambedkar Scholarship
• E District Scholarship
• Epass Karnataka Scholarship
• Fair And Lovely Scholarship
• Floridas John Mckay Scholarship
• Inspire Scholarship
• Jio Scholarship
• Karnataka Minority Scholarship
• Lic Scholarship
• Maulana Azad Scholarship
• Medhavi Scholarship
• Minority Scholarship
• Moma Scholarship
• Mp Scholarship
• Muslim Minority Scholarship
• Nsp Scholarship
• Oasis Scholarship
• Obc Scholarship
• Odisha Scholarship
• Pfms Scholarship
• Post Matric Scholarship
• Pre Matric Scholarship
• Prerana Scholarship
• Prime Minister Scholarship
• Rajasthan Scholarship
• Santoor Scholarship
• Sitaram Jindal Scholarship
• Ssp Scholarship
• Swami Vivekananda Scholarship
• Ts Epass Scholarship
• Up Scholarship
• Vidhyasaarathi Scholarship
• Wbmdfc Scholarship
• West Bengal Minority Scholarship
• Click Here Now!!

Mobile Number

Have you Burn Crackers this Diwali ? Yes No

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• We're Hiring!
• Help Center

Outcomes of Immigration - Cause-and-Effect Essay

Related Papers

Rickard Sandell

bitchukha dickson

winfred mutheu

Immigration brings with it a host of diverse challenges to the host countries all across the world. In as much as some positive impacts of immigration abound, lately, immigration has been largely correlated with diverse negative issues. Among the positive effects of immigration is the availability of cheap labor for host countries which cuts down on labor costs and ultimately production costs. Furthermore, immigrants present a new market for produced goods and services. However, immigrants can also be a source of political instability in a country if the contemporary spate of immigrant related security concerns including terrorism are anything to go by. Furthermore, there is the real fear of immigrants growing exponentially in numbers and taking over the governance of their host nations. There is a broad based unanimity that the current observable immigration into Europe is evolving into a crisis. Various immigration issues bedevil Europe with an ever increasing influx of immigrants...

American Sociological Review

OECD Economics Department Working Papers

ignazio visco

Anastasia Gorodzeisky , Moshe Semyonov

Journal of Sociology

Derya Ozkul

Dilan Kalabalik

Mircea Constantin Șcheau

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

RELATED PAPERS

M. Paserman

Robert Slayton

PRIZERN SOCIAL SCIENCE JOURNAL

dilshad S A B R I Ali

World Development

Timothy Hatton

Dr. Elena Paduretu (Sandor)

Ian Fitzgerald

numbersusa.net

Nishtha Jain

Migration, Social Inequality and Social Developments

muhsin yeniçerioğlu

Roger White

Ramiro Martinez

Lionel RAGOT

Rubén G. Rumbaut

Contemporary Globalism

Maud Oortwijn

Contemporary Sociology

Richard Freeman

American Economic Review

Salem Press eBooks

Carl L Bankston

EKHATOR GODFREY

The IZA World of Labor

Sholeh Maani

Erin Zavalza

RELATED TOPICS

•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024

• Research Paper
• Book Report
• Book Review
• Research Proposal
• Annotated Bibliography
• Answers Questions
• Multiple Choice Questions
• Dissertation
• Proofreading
• Powerpoint Presentation
• Poster Presentation
• Excel Exercises
• Thesis Proposal
• Discussion Board Post
• Dissertation Abstract
• Dissertation Introduction
• Dissertation Literature
• Dissertation Hypothesis
• Dissertation Methodology
• Dissertation Results
• Dissertation Discussion
• Dissertation Conclusion
• Movie Critique
• Literary Essay
• Article Critique
• Article Review
• Blog Writing
• Capstone Project
• Movie Review
• Response Paper
• Marketing Plan
• Reaction Paper
• Business Plan
• Grant Proposal
• IB Extended Essay
• Application Letter
• Literature Review
• Motivation Letter
• Questionnaire
• Scholarship Essay
• White Paper

Immigration: Causes and Effects

Immigration is an act of leaving a country of permanent residence for a new country for the purpose of establishing a new settlement. Citizens of a particular country migrate to other countries mostly for political, social and economic reasons. Therefore, immigration is an ancient concept in the history of all countries and a current affair in the modern globalization. Various natural disasters caused by changing environmental conditions have led to displacement and migration of people. People also immigrate from their countries of origin, because they seek safety and protection of their human rights.

The paper is an argumentative one, and, therefore, it will try to examine immigration from historical and current dimensions. The various causes that have led to immigration of people to a particular country will be analyzed in the paper, too. It will also look into the effects of immigration in terms of where immigrants originate and how they affect countries they settle in.

Causes of Immigration

Recent reports released by the International Organization of Migration (IOM) show that there are more than 200 million migrants globally. According to research, Europe hosted the largest number of immigrants, with 70 million people in 2005.. The second largest host of immigrants was South America, with 45 million. Asia was ranked the third with more than 25 million immigrants. A report by the United Nations shows that 3% of the world population is constantly migrating from one country another, and their number is expected to rise in the future. Immigration is caused by various factors, but the main ones include social, political, environmental and economic.

Social and Economic Causes

From antiquity and up to the present, immigration has been a common practice. Unfavourable social and economic conditions were primary reasons for immigrating to another country. Slavery commonly practiced by the British government led to immigration of Africans to the United States of America and resulted in the rise of the Afro-American community. African slaves used to work on the farms and industries owned by the Britons, they facilitated reduction of cost of production, which increased profits to the royal family (Perl, 2009).

The social factors include ethnicity, religion and poverty. If a community belongs to a minority group, they may immigrate to a safer place, in case there are any community wrangles that may cause ethnic animosity. A good example is Uganda of the late 1970s where Asians were forcefully expelled by the government of Idi Amin. The religious factors include persecutions, such as those of Jews in Pakistan, which caused them to seek refuge and safety in other countries. Poverty has been a major contributing factor to immigration since antiquity and up to the present. Many people have been immigrating to countries with stronger economies and more flexible labor laws. A lot of people in developing economies experience low living standards and high poverty levels. Therefore, they immigrate to developed countries to seek better living conditions. Strategies employed by modern multinational companies have also increased immigration. The need to include expertise in running foreign branches has led to immigration of employees to these countries. Some of these employees end up seeking permanent establishment in the countries they are stationed (Murrin, et al, 2008).

Family reunification has been one of the factors that have led to immigration of people in the world. Whenever a family member immigrates to another country, he/she may seek to reunite with his/her family by helping them immigrate to that country. Dynamic and ever-changing business conditions have led to increased immigration of people around the globe. Through international business travel, businesspersons find new opportunities in other countries, which prompt them to immigrate permanently to explore these opportunities (Jonas & Thomas, 2000).

Education has been one of the leading causes of immigration in the modern world. Constantly increasing demand for better education has led people from developing countries to seek better education in the developed economies where the level of education is believed to be of higher quality. Most people seeking education opportunities in these countries end up obtaining employment or permanent settlement there. Research has shown that the majority of people in developing countries would like to obtain education in developed economies. The majority preferred the United States of America, while Great Britain was ranked the second best in terms of education and work opportunities (Morrow, 2009).

Political and Environmental Causes

The political environment of a country is a critical determinant of its inhabitation. The recent global climatic changes have led to temporary and permanent displacement of people. Politics in a given country plays an important role in determining the level of democracy in the country. The level of democracy shows respect for human rights of the citizens residing in that country. The majority of developing countries used to be dictatorial and denied their citizens basic rights and freedoms. Those who held dissenting opinions were persecuted, jailed or murdered. The oppressive rule in their countries  caused the majority of human rights activists to seek political asylum in other countries. In the 1980s and 1990s, the number of people from Kenya, Algeria, Angola and Ghana, who sought asylum in Great Britain, increased sharply. Most of these asylum seekers have never returned to their countries of origin (Perl, 2009).

Elsewhere in the world, political instability leads to fighting and internal strife. Fear for their lives and lack of respect for human rights and freedoms prompts people to immigrate to safer places where their rights are observed. A good example is civil strife in Sudan that caused many people to immigrate to other countries. Even after the situation had stabilized, the majority of the people never returned to their country, since they had gained permanent residency in other countries. The issue of environmental displacement is currently a global one due to constantly happening climatic changes. The rising sea level increased floods and drought have led to temporary and permanent displacement of people, which in turn has led to immigration of the people to safer countries (Murrin, et al, 2008).

Effects of Immigration

Immigration has various effects on both a country of origin and a recipient country. As discussed above, people move from one country to another for various reasons. Immigration causes a number of effects for both countries, including social, economic and political ones. Though the reasons that make people move to other countries are different, the consequences of immigration are almost always the same. Massive immigration is in most cases caused by wars, diseases, famine or drought. People who try to escape the above have very basic needs, such as food, shelter and clothing. Therefore, they are willing to provide services or do jobs that residents of a host country consider less prestigious. Some of these odd jobs may include taking care of old people, washing toilets and bathrooms, providing security at night, taking care of small children, mining and loading and unloading vehicles. Through provision of these activities by immigrants, recipient countries’ economies benefit greatly (Purcell, 1995).

Immigrants are willing to work long hours and accept low wages or salaries. Despite being exploitive, controversial and violating human rights, this is very beneficial to a recipient country’s economy. According to an economic model by Sen. Byron Dorgan, low-skilled immigrants have increased the supply of workers in the United States, thus driving down wages at the expense of working class people. The large flow of cheaper labor has substantially displaced American workers and caused many problems in the development of technologies. Jobs in the manufacturing sector have also been substantially reduced, including a drop in the the number of trade union organizations. Therefore, apart from reducing wages and lowering employment rates, immigration has far-reaching effects on the labor market. Furthermore, lack of employment caused by immigration forces some workers to engage in antisocial activities, which ultimately lands them in prison (Morrow, 2009).

Immigration has also contributed to social integration of people. Social integration sometimes brings about improvement of culture and traditions of certain groups or races. If properly accepted in a recipient country, immigrants can contribute to social diversity and greatly improve social understanding and tolerance among people. When different communities are able to integrate and leave harmoniously, it expands social network and leads to cultural development and growth. People are able to exchange ideas that contribute to development of a community and economic growth of a country. Another major benefit of immigration is an increased pool of talents in the country. Well-educated immigrants can improve productivity and increase innovations and inventions. Increased inventions and innovations have a positive impact on the production capabilities of a country. More importantly, increased productivity in a country will mean that the living standards of people improve. Increased immigration leads to an increase in population, which  labor force and leads to increased productivity (Purcell, 1995).

Negative Effects of Immigration

Negative consequences of immigration for the country of origin and the recipient country far outweigh positive ones. One of the major effects is that immigrants are exploited in a recipient country. Immigrants are taken advantage of by being given hard jobs and paid very small wages and salaries. This does not only constitute exploitation of people, but also violates human rights. People in developing countries immigrate to other countries, especially developed ones, in search of better education. Therefore, immigration has caused brain drain in developing countries (Perl, 2009).

Developing countries are seriously affected by the issue of brain drain. The governments of these countries spend a lot of money on educating students, but this has very little impact, as the knowledge is used elsewhere. The UK, for instance, is blamed for employing medical staff from developing countries. Brain drain has resulted in stagnant development in developing countries despite their heavy investment in the education and research. Immigration has led to increased crime rates, drug trafficking and corruption .Some immigrants have ill motives, while others do not have any legal ways of earning their living. For example, Somali immigrants  caused a lot of insecurity and drug-related problems in the northern part of Kenya. In some countries, local residents have a perception that immigrants and refugees are getting more benefits from the government and other non-governmental organization. These kinds of feelings have created a lot of tension and hostility among the public making them feel neglected by their own government. Local residents are, therefore, less motivated to work and not willing to pay taxes, as they believe that their government will use that money to assist immigrants. Illegal immigration can lead to negative feelings among many law-abiding citizens, who always wish to contribute to the growth of their economy (Jonas & Thomas, 2000).

In conclusion, immigration results in a lot of consequences. People immigrate for various reasons, thus causing many implications for their country of origin and a host country. Countries must come up with policies that could curb the flow of immigrants and reduce implications of immigration. Some countries have put in place strict measures to fight the implications of immigration.

for more than

+1(888) 585-0586

+1(888) 216-9741

[email protected]

• Aptitude Test
• Multiple Choice Test
• Presentation and Speech Writing
• Powerpoint Presentation Poster
• Dissertation chapter – Abstract
• Dissertation chapter – Hypothesis
• Dissertation chapter – Literature review
• Dissertation chapter – Methodology
• Dissertation chapter – Results
• Dissertation chapter – Conclusion
• Literary Analysis
• Blog Article
• Business Report
• Motivation Letter for the University of East Anglia

Home / Essay Samples / Social Issues / Illegal Immigration / Causes and Effects of Illegal Immigration

Causes and Effects of Illegal Immigration

• Category: Social Issues
• Topic: Illegal Immigration , Immigration in America

Pages: 1 (467 words)

• Downloads: -->

Causes of Illegal Immigration

Effects of illegal immigration, complex interplay and solutions.

--> ⚠️ Remember: This essay was written and uploaded by an--> click here.

Found a great essay sample but want a unique one?

are ready to help you with your essay

You won’t be charged yet!

Immigration Reform Essays

2Nd Amendment Essays

Daca Essays

Gender Discrimination Essays

Migration Essays

Related Essays

We are glad that you like it, but you cannot copy from our website. Just insert your email and this sample will be sent to you.

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service  and  Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Your essay sample has been sent.

In fact, there is a way to get an original essay! Turn to our writers and order a plagiarism-free paper.

samplius.com uses cookies to offer you the best service possible.By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .--> -->