Migration Project - Research Paper Example

It is difficult for Muslims to immigrate to America at present. Same way many of the gulf countries also started to control immigration in recent times because of the demographic imbalances it created in gulf countries. In short, migration is a controversial subject at present and that is why I decided to research more about this subject. Immigration is a difficult process now, especially to America. “Illegal immigration into the United States is massive in scale. More than 10 million undocumented aliens currently reside in the U.S., and that population is growing by 700,000 per year”(Kane & Johnson).

Terrorism is causing big problems to America at present and therefore they are keen in reducing immigration as much as possible. This paper is written based on an interview I conducted with my own wife Amani Shami. I met her in 2009 at Saudi Arabia and married her in the same year. She is a student at Kent state university now. She came to America in 2010 after our marriage. Before coming to America, she has completed her graduation in Geography at the University of King Khalid, Saudi Arabia.

As a new immigrant to America, I do believe that my wife can definitely help me to prepare this paper with respect to migration. Saudi Arabia, the country which Amani belongs is a periphery country. Countries can be classified as periphery, semi-periphery or core countries based on development, share of global wealth, strength of institutions, dependency on other countries etc. Even though Saudi Arabia is a rich country in the Middle East, it is periphery in nature when we compare it with America.

Push and pull factors can affect immigration from one country to another. Land scarcity in home country, Political and/or religious persecution, Revolutions and Poverty are some of the push factors whereas Promise of freedom (religious and political), Hope for a new life, Industry Jobs, etc are some of the pull factors of immigration. In Amani’s case, Hope for a new life (Pull factor) forced her to migrate to America. It should be noted that America is the most developed and wealthiest country in the world and no other country offers the same freedom and liberties that America offers for human life.

Apart from these factors, another factor which motivated Amani to migrate to America is the opportunity to live with her husband and complete her studies in America. The quality of education in America is comparatively higher than that in Saudi Arabia. Amani was actually failed to receive a job in Saudi Arabia because of stiff competition from others. It should be noted that majority of the Saudi youths are going abroad for getting quality education and when they return, companies often appoint them at the expense of domestically graduated students.

Even though, Amani came to America as a student, the family reunion program helped her in a lot in visa processing. Even though she applied for green card first, the delay in processing green card applications forced her to apply for a student visa. Getting a student visa in America is much easier than getting a green card now. Green card application processing may take 1 to 2 years whereas student visa processing may take less than 6 months in America. Amani faced little problems in entering America even though there are many complaints about the treatment of immigrants, especially Muslim immigrants at American airports.

The authorities did not ask any confusing or