#mexican migration

[cavalier165]

[tinypersonapeanut-blog]

[thesociologicalcinema]

Mexicans wait to be bathed and deloused at the Santa Fe Bridge quarantine plant, 1917. Mexican border crossers were not considered illegal in the United States until 1917, when a new law imposed formidable barriers to entry: a literacy test, a head tax and a prohibition against contract labor. Mexican nationals for the first time needed a passport to enter the United States. Photo credit: National Archives. — in El Paso, Texas.

[the-gneiss-blog]

Migration

Economic Migration

Case 1: Mexican migration (scale: international, usually cross-border to the USA)

In 2002, about 30% of foreign-born US population was Mexican

About 5.3 million legal Mexican immigrants are living in the US + an additional 5.9 million illegal immigrants, according to the US government

Annually, about 500,000 illegal Mexican immigrants make their way into the US --> concentrated at the Southern US border as shown in the 2000 US census (Zipf’s inverse distance law)

In 2003, Mexican immigrants sent some $13 billion back to Mexico in remittances 

Push factors (from Mexico)

High crime rates --> 14 per 1000

High unemployment --> 5.37% in 2010, about 40% of Mexicans living below the poverty line

Undesirable climate --> arid, frequent water shortages and volcanic eruptions

Pull factors (in the US)

Better SOL and QOL --> Mexico has the 10th highest poverty rates, about 6% of Mexicans don’t have access to basic necessities like clean drinking water 

Better education opportunities --> average Mexican finishes school at 14 vs 16 in America

Existing migrant communities --> in Texas and California

Economic impacts

Many Mexican immigrants work in low-skilled, low-paying jobs (in a sense, they serve as job-fillers); a report by businessinsider also revealed that that are many Mexicans in the tourism, manufacturing and construction industries

But in terms of economic contribution, they contribute the most in agriculture, accommodation, construction (13% of output) and food services (11.7% of output)

Mexican immigrants contribute to 4% of US’ GDP; if second and third generation immigrants are factored in, the number rises to 8%

Social impacts

(-) Majority of the immigrants are males --> could be the reason for Trump’s remarks on Mexican immigrants causing higher incidences of rape in the US + lack of males for Mexican women to marry at home

(-) Problem of social integration & assimilation --> Many Mexicans cannot speak fluent English + tend to interact within their closed communities --> ethnic segregation 

(+) Adds diversity to American culture --> common for American schools to teach Spanish; Mexico-themed food and restaurants e.g. burritos and tacos being the more popular foods

Migratory flows have changed (largely reduced)

Arizona Effect: thanks to anti-immigration laws first slated in Arizona which were extended to other states such as Georgia, Tennessee and Indiana--> nearly 230,000 Mexicans lost their jobs in the year following the passing of the law

Economic crisis --> 500,000 immigrants lost their jobs during the downturn; in fact, other than central Americans, Mexican immigrants were the worst hit group of people during the economic downturn

Discrimination and stereotypes about illegal Mexican immigrants in the US

Refer to Republican Donald Trump’s comments: “druggies, drug-dealers, rapists, killers”

Refer to this article for more information: http://www.businessinsider.com/mexican-immigration-us-economy-2012-7?IR=T&op=1

Case 2: Migration in The Gambia (scale: internal; rural-urban)

Example of rural-urban migration

Pull factors:

Better-paid regular work in the cities in contrast to jobs in the agricultural sector wherein pay is irregular and employment is seasonal --> many migrants work in peanut-, fish- or hide-processing plants in the cities 

Tourism opens up a wide range of opportunities for migrants (Note: the tertiary sector dominates 64% of The Gambia’s GDP)

Tourists come mainly from the UK and european countries

Tourism activities are concentrated along the coasts where the urban centres are located 

However, there is a general decline in the benefits to be reaped from the tourism industry for rural-migrants as the trend seems to be shifting away from going out of hotels to experience the local culture due to the rise of the all-inclusive holiday

Push factors:

Seasonal rural-urban migration due to the seasonal decline in rainfall (dry season) --> agricultural productivity is reduced

Sometimes, such seasonal migration eventually leads to permanent migration, especially for males 

Social impacts:

(-) An ageing population left behind

(-) Unbalanced gender ratio due to males migrating to the cities, leaving mothers/females behind to look after the family 

(-) A decline in the population but at the same time a boost in the urban population has induced the re-channelling of economic resources from the villages to the cities --> apparent reduction in the quantity and quality of social services and amenities provided for the villagers 

Governmental policies to ease pressure on the cities (an the nation as a whole) and overcome the challenges of rural-urban migration posed to the villages 

Population control: anti-natal policies

Decentralisation of services from the urban areas to the villages

Healthcare: improved training regimes for nurses and midwives 

Education: incentives provided to encourage teachers to teach in rural areas; free primary education BUT it still isn’t made compulsory; cooperation with the World Bank to provide secondary education free

Improvements in the standard of living: NGOs such as ActionAid have made efforts to alleviate poverty and improve opportunities for villagers in the Gambia --> has moved out from some communities which it has successfully helped make self-sufficient 

Economics & micro-finance: The Credit Union provides small loans at low interest rates for individuals and communities to empower the setting up of local enterprises etc.

Case 3: Polish migration (scale: global, regional, within the EU, mostly to the UK)

Context:

April 2004: Poland was one of the 10 countries that joined the EU

The EU allows free mobility of labour and other factors of production between its member states 

Naturally, migration into the more prosperous states like Germany and the UK occurred 

According to the Polish embassy, there are between 500,000 and 600,000 Polish migrants in the UK now, making Poles the third largest minority group in the UK after Pakistanis and Indians

Push factors:

High unemployment rate in Poland, averaging at 18% as of 2005 --> it has the highest unemployment rate out of the 25 OECD; certain rural areas in Poland has unemployment rates of 40%; Youth unemployment in Poland is about 40%

Pull factors

Relatively low unemployment in the UK: 5%

Demand for unskilled and semi-skilled labour in the UK, job vacancies was at 600,000

Better standard of living in the UK --> $30,000 GDP per capita vs Poland: $12,000 GDP per capita

The UK, alongside Sweden and Ireland are the only 3 countries who did not restrict immigration from the A8 countries after their accession into the EU

Opening of low-cost airlines (budget airlines)

from 9 Polish airports to 18 UK airports

Poland has the second most air traffic after China and most of the flights are to the UK (migration)

Distribution of Polish migrants

Jobs:

Many work in unskilled or semi-skilled jobs --> cleaners, maids, farmworkers, kitchen assistants and labourers (37%), factory workers make up another 25% of the occupations of polish migrants 

Location:

Capital cities like Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, Leicester and Sheffield

However, migratory flows were not restricted to just the urban centres, a substantial amount of them were to the rural areas --> a total of 120,000 migrant workers registered in rural district like Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire 

Impacts:

Economic

(+) Migrants contributed half of Britain’s 1% GDP growth from 2005-2006

(+) 80% of migrants are of working age (18-33 years old) --> addresses economic problems generated by the UK’s ageing population such as a shrinking tax base and slowing economic growth 

(+) Migrants are hardworking, enthusiastic, skilled and flexible (on the other hand, these traits exposed some of the shortcomings of the British workforce)

(-) British youths who have just graduated face stiff competition when it comes to finding jobs as employers have a preference for Poles due to their positive work attitudes 

(-) Economic exploitation of migrants: while migrant workers are paid the minimum wage, their earnings have been greatly diminished by higher than usual payments for things like accommodation and transport 

Social:

(-) Misunderstanding and social tensions

The migration of Poles occurred across a large spread, affecting areas which were previously alien to migration --> Polish graffiti appeared on several streets of the UK, people who are unpleased with their behaviour or expression assaulted them

Working class British Protestants threw bricks at Polish Catholics due to the perception that the Poles were stealing their jobs