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Migration & Immigration

Holocaust survivors on the ship Exodus of the coast of Israel in July of 1947

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Migration and Immigration

•Migration – moving from one place to another.•Immigration – moving from one country to another.•All immigration is actually a migration as well.

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Early Human Migrations

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Migrations or Invasions?

It might be better to think of the “invasion” of the Roman Empire as a “migration.”

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What countries are receiving immigrants today?

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Push – Pull Theory

• Certain factors “push” people to move; these are present in the place of origin.

• Other factors “pull” people; these are present in their destination

Demographers use the Push-Pull Theory to explain why people migrate.

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Push Factors

•Not enough jobs •Few opportunities •Political fear or war•Religious Persecution•Natural Disasters•Loss of wealth •Poor housing

Civil War in the Balkans in the 1990’s led to migration from Southeastern Europe.

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Pull Factors

• Job opportunities

• Better living conditions

• Political and/or religious freedom

• Enjoyment

• Education

• Better medical care

• Security

• Family links

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The Golden Door• Statue of Liberty is the symbol of

immigration to America.• Sits on Ellis Island in New York

Harbor• Gift from France in 1886 to

commemorate American independence

• Base to torch 151 feet

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door. -- Emma Lazarus, 1888.

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Immigration in America

• Many immigrants came for political and religious freedoms.

• The U.S. offered unrivaled economic opportunity – both for workers and entrepreneurs.

Freedom, opportunity & liberty

U.S. Steel Mill

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Opposition to Immigration is nothing new

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Three Periods of Immigration• 1st: Early 1800’s to

Civil War 1860• 2nd: Late 19th century to

1920’s• 3rd: Mid to late 20th

century to present

Latin American Immigrants in the 1990s.

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Period One Early 1800’s to 1860

Geographic Origin: Western & Northern Europe Primary Immigrant Groups:•English & Scottish•Irish•Scandinavian•German 

Push and Pull Factors

•Pull Factors – land, jobs and economic opportunity•Push Factors – famine – Irish Potato Famine

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Sometimes called the “Old Immigrants”

• English, Scotch, Irish: mostly colonial settlers who were English citizens or lived in English territories

• Dutch, German, Swedish, Scandinavians: Western and northern European nations.

• Mostly all were Protestants like the Pilgrims and Puritans.

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Potato Famine of the late 1840’s

• In the 1840’s, over 1 million people died in Ireland due to the Irish Potato Famine

•Ireland actually lost population because of starvation and immigration

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The Irish were not always welcomed with open arms

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Nativism - 1850 style

A cartoon from the 1850s by the "Know-Nothings" accusing the Irish and German immigrants of negatively affecting an election.

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Irish Immigrants

Irish immigrants were Catholics in a country that was overwhelmingly Protestant.

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Period II – Late 1800s to 1920

• Primarily Southern & Eastern Europe

• Russians, Italians, Jews & Poles• Also included Chinese to the

western U.S. • Free land to farm was a pull

factor.• U.S. had plentiful living space. Polish Immigrants settled in

growing U.S. cities such as Chicago

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Chinese Immigration in the 1800s

• Chinese Immigration started around the same time as the California Gold Rush.

• Mostly young male peasants, left their rural villages to become laborers in the American West.

• They worked extracting metals and minerals, constructing the railroad network and as as migrant agricultural laborers. Chinese Immigrants working

on the railroad

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The “Yellow Peril”

• The post Civil War economy declined by the 1870s.

• Unemployment in the west grew and people blamed the Chinese “coolies” for taking jobs.

• Chinese were not white and were not Christians.

• The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first significant restriction on free immigration in U.S. history

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Italian Immigration

• Pushed out by an agricultural crisis that Italy suffered in the 1880s.

• Increasing amounts of American food products that invaded Italian markets and drove prices down.

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The Golden Age of Immigration Late 1800’s and early 1900’s

• Farming in Europe was in decline.

• Economy in the U.S. was becoming increasingly industrial.

• America was becoming a dominant world power.

• America became world symbol for freedom, liberty and opportunity. Immigrants going through a health

inspection at Ellis Island

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The Land of Opportunity

Dear Babushka, Everyone wants to come to America, so I can't believe I'm actually here.  Here in America, they have things we never had, like electricity.  I was real nervous about coming here,and also sad to leave you, but it's just something that had to be done.  Immigrants here are not always treated well. But school is free, and I'm learning English.  Dad's getting paid and everything is ok.

Russian immigrant in America

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Xenophobia – fear of foreigners

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End of the Immigration Era – 1920’s

• After World War I America became more isolationist and fearful.

• Increase in racism and problems with minorities.

• Era of Prohibition.

• In 1924, the Immigration Quota Law was passed, limiting the number of immigrants.

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Third Period – mid 20th century to present day

Primary Immigrant Groups:

•South and Central Americans

•Mexicans

•Dominicans

•Cubans

•Southeast Asians

•Southeastern Europeans

•Arabs and Muslims

Geographic Origin: Primarily Asia & Latin America

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Push and Pull Factors

• Economic opportunity but not usually desperately poor.

• Jobs to send money back home.

• Political strife and warfare.

• Escape despotic government. Vietnamese Immigrants

Immigration laws began to be relaxed in 1965.

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Mariel Boatlift of April 1980

• Castro offers people a chance to leave because of political dissent and economic hardship in Cuba.

• Boats from Cuban community in Florida came to Mariel Harbor, to claim their friends and relatives for transport back to the U.S.

• 125,000 Cuban exiles arrive in U.S.• Castro emptied some prisons and

hospitals for mentally ill.• Detention camps were set up in

America to handle the massive influx of refugees.

Cuban migrants arrive in Key West aboard the fishing boat Big Bruce.

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The New Know Nothings?

• Illegal immigrants import deadly diseases.

• Rampant crime and international terrorism.

• They live off welfare.

• Destroy public schools.

• Burden hospitals.

• Most haven't even learned to speak English.

Lou Dobbs of CNN, an anti-immigration advocate

Some of the criticisms today against immigrants

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Welcome to America!

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Map of Border Fencea symbol of the third period of American immigration

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Diagram of Fence

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Who has benefited from Immigrant labor?

Cartoon of Border Fence