MIGRATION BY: PRANAY MEGCHIANI

WHAT IS MIGRATION “The movement of persons from one country or locality to another.”

Push and pull Migration occurs due to either “push” or “pull” factors from their current region of residency. Push factors: poverty, war, violence, medical treatment and other personal issues. Pull factors: a better lifestyle, education, working opportunities, quality of life, housing, and citizenship benefits.

Drug violence A very recent push factor has been the violence between Drug lords and the police, which is wreaking havoc throughout Mexico. (11) (12)

These acts of violence have caused 6300 deaths in 2009 (2). (13)

Political Impacts

As of 2008, there are 12 million(5) illegal Mexican immigrants in the U.S. (15)

Tijuana, Mexico These people have a large choice to cross border, as the border is 3200km long. Tijuana (1) used to be a major crossing border, but now is heavily protected by military forces, causing more difficulty for Mexicans to sneak into America. (10)

Population Shift The shift of large populations up to 600,000 people a year affects both Mexico and America in various ways.(1)

Government at work There is always political tension between both country’s leaders as they are trying to prevent further illegal migration from occurring, and as most locals in America are upset about illegal immigrants taking their jobs.

About 880,000 Mexicans were arrested at the U.S./Mexico border in 2007, which would obviously cause arguments. 16

Deals between leaders A recent impact on politics has been a deal between Mexico, and the U.S. State of California (where the majority of illegal immigrants are) where the illegal Mexican prisoners are to be sent into jails in Mexico. 17

Weak links Another recent and recurring issue affecting both countries is the battles between the Drug lords and the Mexican government. As the violence continues in Mexico, drugs are being smuggled into America, addicting and spreading drugs among U.S. citizens. 20

Borders This is a problem that border protection are finding hard to face, where at the same time, these drug lords are smuggling weaponry and ammunition into Mexico (1). 18

Possible Solution A possible solution to these issues is to covering the entire border with security on both sides of the border and keep large flood lights covering the border so that people cannot illegally migrate at night (though this may be harmful to the environment). (19)

Economic Impacts

Migration affects the economy Most migrate due to lack of jobs, or better work opportunities. People illegally migrate to America, thinking that they will have a better job with higher wages in America.

Government Requirements Jobs in America equivalent to jobs in Mexico, pay more per hour. In Mexico you can get paid $4/day, where as you can minimally get paid $7.25/hour. This is due to the U.S. Government having a law that forces employers to pay a minimum of $7.25/hour. (7) 21

Shortages Illegal immigrants usually accept any job available; no matter how dangerous it may be, as they don’t have a high level of education. This causes vacated jobs in Mexico, where agriculture can suffer if farmers are constantly migrating to America. Taxes are also being raised as the U.S. population is increasing, forcing the government to spend more. 22

Illegal Immigrant Occupations (14)

Recession Increasing amount of illegal immigrant population can fill up a lot of heavy-labor jobs, which, over time, causes the entire American economy to depend upon the illegal factory workers. After the recession, where many labor jobs and farming jobs had decreased, the immigration of Mexicans had decreased dramatically, though immigrants, who were already in America, have remained there.

U.S./Mexico Border Another large economic issue towards the U.S. government is the border wall on the U.S./Mexico border. This wall costs $1300 to repair for every hole made (3600km). In 20 years, the total cost is predicted to be $6.3 billion(8), which is twice the budget set for Homeland Security. The cost of maintaining the border wall is too high, and the border seems ineffective, as more than 600,000 people cross the border every year. 23

Solution A solution to this is to use cheaper methods of keeping control of the border, such as using heat sensors, barbed wire, and large watchtowers with flood lights. Also, to help catch employers with illegal immigrants, auditors should be forced to catch the companies by finding out if any payments are being made without official transactions for each employee. If they are caught, then they should be sentenced to jail.

Social Impacts

The number of Mexican immigrants has influenced a lot of the society in parts of America, especially border states. As there are so many U.S. citizens with Mexican and other Central and South American heritage, Spanish is taught in all schools. Majority of the citizens of Border states (e.g. Texas, Arizona, California) speak Spanish to communicate with all the Hispanic workers(9). Society is also influenced by illegal immigration because of all the drugs being transported through Mexico into America. More drugs are flowing through America, which causes the possibility of having a person addicted higher. The addiction also causes more crime and murder as drugs are against the law (illegal immigration indirectly causes more crime in America).

Possible SOlution The only feasible solutions seems to be to warn citizens about drugs and their dangers, as enforcing law upon people can cause then to have more drugs. No other solution other than catching the drug smugglers remains; which happens to be very difficult to accomplish.

Concepts: “Place and Space”

Place and Space This issue relates to “place and space”, as human environments are being affected, as there is a population increase in America, which is causing jobs to be taken by illegal immigrant. People also adapt and copy some of the immigrant’s cultures, by speaking their language and eating their style of food. Human environments are also affected as drugs are being introduced to the local people, which is increasing crime rate and is increasing the number of addicted citizens, as more drugs are smuggled into America.

Bibliography Is attached to a separate “MS Word” file on my e-portfolio