While on the topic of Mexican immigrants, what makes these groups of people have such a strong incentive in moving to United States, many of which do it illegally, risking arrest. The United States offer a lot of opportunities for both legal and illegal immigrants. Many illegal immigrants move to United States for work and sending home remittances while others move with their whole families, in search of a new life. Either way, there are always jobs for these, both illegal and legal, immigrants to work in. Although illegal immigrants cannot legally work, they provide a source of cheap labor, thus, luring many profit-driven corporations to hire them. Their status makes the subject to in humane and unfair treatment, but nevertheless, they are often able to find work. In Oxnard, California, countless strawberry pickers are illegal Mexicans, working on collecting strawberries and earning money based on the number of boxes they fill. On the other hand, legal immigrants are still excluded in the American society, nevertheless, they are able to work legally and start a new life, earning a much higher wage than they do in Mexico. This financial stability is a major factor in luring Mexicans. Another, which is not as important, compared to the economic incentive, is political instability and constant violence. The Drug War has been ongoing in Mexico for years and has cost countless lives, many of which are innocent civilians. The two factors added together push more and more Mexican out of their country and into the imagined sanctuary that is the United States. Finally, many US universities also accept illegal immigrants. They do not care about their status and offer them an equal chance of enrolling, even though their chances of getting in are significantly lower as many illegal Mexican children may not receive proper education due to, again, their status. But, in general, the United States offer equal opportunities to both illegal and legal Mexican immigrants.
The United States, Canada, Russia, China, and Brazil all have experienced some form of interregional migration. Excluding China, all of the countries listed above have seen a pattern of migration in which people move from more populated areas where it is already urbanized, to unexplored frontiers. The United States and Canada experienced this during the Gold Rush in which people were moving from the East to West seeking for a fortune. The incentive to get wealthy opened these two countries up in the west, starting a new hub for people to live in. In the case of Russia and Brazil, the government of these two countries purposefully incentivized their people to move towards less populated areas, in Russia, the Eastern, unexplored barren tundra, and for Brazil, the tropical rainforest. Brazil decided to build a new capital, Brasilia, 1000 kilometers from the Atlantic Coast while Russia got many people to begin building rail lines towards Siberia, in an attempt to spark new industries in those areas. China, however, saw a different phenomenon in which over 100 million people emigrated from rural areas from the interior of the country to the urban areas by the east coast, looking for jobs and better lives.
In many ways, the migration transition of the world mirrors the stages within the Demographic Transition, or the trend of the population growth of humans. When in stage 1, where the population is relatively low and human civilizations have not undergone major changes within technology, there is high mobility during changes of seasons, or sometimes even daily, in search of food. However, as countries begin to industrialize and medical advancements achieved, the urban areas begin to be populated as people search for better opportunities. A country going through this stage sees high international emigration in which the booming population is pushing people out into more developed countries and some people living in rural areas, who can’t afford to leave, move to urban areas. As for countries in stage 3, they receive high international immigration from people coming from countries in stage 2. In addition, the increase of population in urban areas forces people to leave and move towards suburbs in an intraregional movement. When countries finally reach Stage 4 of the demographic transition, the migration transition stays pretty much the same as the previous step.
After looking at several examples of migration, its causes, and other global phenomenon that reflect it, it’s time to address the issue of the advantages and disadvantages of migration itself. However, it is important to look at this from two different perspectives; one from the view of the host countries, and another from the view of the home countries, in which people are emigrating out of. For the host countries, migration can bring a larger work force, at a cheaper price. In addition, these people who move to the host countries don’t only bring their strength, but also their culture. A host country such as the United States, receive people from all around the world and this diversifies their country as a whole, brining in new ideas, new creative minds, and more. However, for every advantage, there is always a disadvantage. With more and more people entering these countries, jobs for their own people are often taken. In addition, especially if these immigrants arrive illegally, they are subject to low pay, dreadful treatment, and are often exploited. Their ease of movement also helps with human trafficking, the largest organized crime currently. For the home countries, seeing as many people are leaving to work in other countries but sending money home, remittances largely increase the GNP of the home countries themselves, assisting their development. Also, after experiencing the outside world, people who are willing to return to their home countries, bring in new ideas from the developed world. Yet, there are also downsides for the emigration trend. This means that they are losing a large part of the labor force. Not only is the labor force disappearing, but the thinkers of a country are also leaving, contributing to the serious issue of brain drain.
Last but not least are the obstacles that exist, limiting migration. The United States is famous for its strict regulations with the Mexican-US border, trying to block out illegal immigration. This makes it increasingly difficult for people to cross the borders if they cannot afford to enter America legally. Iron monuments and barbed wire walls have been erected to block out people attempting to enter. Secure border patrol makes it very difficult for people to be smuggled in. Nevertheless, the most common way of entering America is still through the trunk of different cars as it is impossible for every car to be inspected. Contrary to popular belief, what makes it arguably more difficult for illegal immigrants to pass the border is the cultural view on immigrants. For example, Western Europeans have a strong animosity towards Eastern European immigrants. Americans tend to see the least of Mexican immigrants as well, making it very difficult for these people to rise in status. After coming to America, it is difficult for many to increase their rights and raise themselves in the social hierarchy. These are the different conflicts the immigrants face, despite the millenniums of experience we’ve had with immigrations.