Human Migration in the Industrialized Nations - Essay Example

Human migration is the movement from one locality, place or country to another. In more specific terms, emigration is the movement out of a place while immigration is the movement into one. Those people who move are collectively known as migrants. People can migrate periodically, seasonally or permanently. The various types of migration include international migration, mass migration and circular migration. International migration is the movement of people beyond country borders to host countries that they stay for a certain period. Mass migration is the movement of large groups of populations between different geographical areas, and circular migration refers to the movement of migrants from their original locations, back home and possibly back to the host country again, taking advantage of favorable transitional networks. According to studies, migrants moving longer distances are generally destined for bigger, urban cities while the rural inhabitants are often more migratory than the urban residents. This paper will discuss both the positive and negative effects migration has on the receiving countries. Depending on the types of migrants and their reasons for migration, their effects are different in developed and developing countries. Effects of Migration on the Receiving Country Introduction According to a United Nations’ study, more than three percent of the world’s population at the turn of the millennium was permanently living out of their birth countries (UN 6). There are many contributing factors for people to migrate out of their countries. Migration has been analyzed by sociologists in terms of a push and pull example. The model shows the difference between pull factors in new locations that attract migrants and push factors in home countries that drive the people away. Pull factors are in the receiving countries while push factors are in the countries that send migrants out. The reasons could be unfavorable or unbearable conditions in their own home areas or more appealing conditions in their preferred host destinations. People are driven out of their areas and countries by there not being enough life opportunities like education and enough jobs. Desertification, drought, forced labor, natural disasters and fear of political persecution are among the reasons that make people seek safer conditions elsewhere (Johnson & Zimmermann 78). They could also be as personal as lack of marriage chances, seeking religious fulfillment or simply adventure. On the other hand, migrants may be attracted to new areas by better medical care, family links, industry, better climate and better housing. However, whatever the reason for the migration, the migrants significantly impact all aspects of life in their destination countries (Bauder 34). They include political, social, economic, cultural and educational levels. Although the effects are distinct in their own individual rights, they are intertwined in their impacts on the receiving country (Torre 31). Economic Effects Economic theories suggest that wage differences are part of the causes of international labor movements, with laborers tending to move to areas with better wages (Molina 62). Similarly, there is a movement of students from developing countries to advanced economies for either long or short studies. Most of the privately sponsored students are involved in the labor market as well to earn extra money. Eventually, the assimilation of immigrants into the labor market of their host country impacts its economy. Research has shown that receiving countries benefit economically from immigrants although the gains may be marginal in certain circumstances (Stalker 86). Owners of business have a flexible labor force at their disposal as immigrants flood the labor market. The unskilled market is the biggest beneficiary as the unskilled labor is generally seasonal and sensitive to the fluctuation cycles of business. Having a large labor resource implies that owners of business are able to add or reduce employees as required in accordance with business conditions. This results in more profitability and efficiency for the owners and higher productivity towards the economy. The business owners are also advantaged because the larger labor pools will bring down wages needed to attract workers. Furthermore, fewer incentives are demanded from the businesses to make jobs more appealing in order to retain workers. Immigrants have a tendency of working for lower wages, enabling the business owners to cut down on costs of labor. This also affects the native workers because the immigrants’ readiness to accept lower wages brings theirs down too. With lower labor costs, business owners are in a position to reduce prices of goods and products, extending the benefits to consumers. This has a twofold advantage because it benefits both native and migrant consumers in the same manner, giving them buying power of goods they may not have otherwise afforded (Alesina & Ferrara 93). The business, in turn, gains from a steady flow of the business cycle. If the receiving countries facilitate the staying of gifted foreign students upon completion of their studies, their entry into the skilled labor market has more positive contributions to the country’s economy (Douglas et al 71). The skilled immigrants are generally an entrepreneurial group. They pass on productive motivations to the natives. They are usually at the front of innovation in technology and thus create jobs. For example, in the mid 1990s, a third of the businesses in the Silicon Valley, including Google, were initiated by Indian and Chinese immigrants. The unskilled immigrants also contribute by opening family ventures and businesses, particularly the Indians (Meilander 101). It is beneficial to a country as a whole when jobs considered by natives as difficult, dangerous or dirty are taken up by immigrants. In recent times, job positions filled up by immigrants in Europe are not considered attractive by the natives and yet, the developed countries’ economies rely on the service sector’s jobs and manual labor. They include construction workers, healthcare workers in homes and custodians. By occupying the low ranking jobs, immigrants free up the natives to get into the higher end jobs. With longer stay of the immigrants, the return on immigration grows for the society. Generations drawn from the initial immigrants, according to a United Nations study, are averagely better academic performers compared to the natives (Cristóbal 49). For the second and third generations who get into employment, their welfare benefits are low, hence they are not a burden to the state. Furthermore, they pay taxes and plough back to the community. On the negative side, even though business owners might gain short lived profits occasioned by an abundance of a flexible labor pool, the profitability may not be sustainable in the long run (Faist 8). It generates lower wages and unemployment for the natives. This increases the host countries’ population of the low income earners. The natives, therefore, end up paying a price for the immigrants’ cheap labor. Although the immigrants’ social benefits and use of welfare are generally lower than the natives, they overburden social services offered by the state if their numbers soar (Molina 143). This is made more complex in the periods of negative business cycles typified by contraction of the economy. Business organizations get used to not being needed to modernize, implement reforms or invest in their workers’ productivity. When the businesses are not in competition for labor, the need to put in job attracting incentives is also not there. Trade unions will also lose ground to push for better working conditions when the laborers themselves are fighting for the scarce jobs in the flooded market. On the global marketplace, the businesses will be compromising on their long term competitiveness. For example, a study conducted by The Economist reveals that the raisin industry in California has been reluctant to adopt automated methods in harvesting because of the availability of cheap labor from immigrants, unlike the grape industry which has become more profitable since automation (Bauder 131). Since economic gains are never on a linear scale, rampant immigration may also reduce various aspects of domestic spending. A large portion of the income earned by the immigrants is sent as remittance back to their home countries, so not all the money they generate is spent in the host countries. This may impact on the Gross Domestic Product of the host country because not all of the money generated is circulated within the country (Molina 142). Cultural Effects A country’s culture defines the characteristics of its people, which can also be broken down to particular groups in multi ethnic countries. Culture reflects their language, political and social values, religious beliefs and their perception of what is wrong or right. All these values can be impacted upon and changed by the introduction of a foreign culture. During migration, migrants bring their cultures, knowledge and beliefs to the receiving states (Cristóbal 61). Upon settling down, there will be a noted change in both their culture and that of the receiving state. This is either in an attempt of the different cultures to accommodate each other or conflict. The results are both positive and negative impacts on the receiving states’ culture, which cannot be ignored. It is with this knowledge that some countries either open up their borders to accept immigrants, or restrict their influx by more stringent policies. For example, the United States in its 1965 Immigration Act, allowed immigration from all countries in the world on equal basis, unlike the past where only European immigrants were favored (Cristóbal 113). This means they have a larger influx of foreign cultures that impact on their own. On the other hand, Britain and several other European countries either restrict or oppose immigration, arguing that it will give rise to the submersion of their civilization, people and country. However, immigration can promote the exchange of rich cultural values, perspectives and expertise when diverse cultures are within reach of the host nation (Bauder 99). It exposes the receiving country’s people to diverse languages adding to their world perspective and social wealth. More immigrants coming in create more ethnic restaurants where natives can sample international cuisines. Products that could only be available from other countries become easily available to the natives. Once immigrants are settled and accepted in the new society, a culture of tolerance and understanding develops amongst the natives. In present times, developed receiving countries are usually faced with a demographic struggle to maintain their age structure and numbers of the population. Low fertility levels and longer life spans present the danger of skewed ratios of dependency on the future. The population of the workforce does not match that of the ones too old or too young to work (Molina 212). Since immigrants are mostly of childbearing and working ages, they provide an easy solution to this problem. They ensure a steady growth of the population while driving the dependency ratio in directions favorable to the conditions. Diverse, multicultural societies are more innovative and stimulating intellectually and culturally than single cultural societies. Many human race advances can be attributed to the contacts made by different people in both scientific and artistic fields. Pooling together diverse talents in geographical hubs generates efficiency. International immigration is necessarily accompanied by urbanization. Whether populations move across international borders or not, the migration is basically oriented from rural to urban centers, promoting the growth of cities. The cities bring together highly innovative talents that are conducive to innovation, growing a country’s social and economic vibrancy (Cristóbal 65). Countries that facilitate the steady movement of legal migrants cut down on the motivation for illegal immigration. With minimal illegal immigration, a safe society is maintained and crime rates kept under control. Immigration has, however, also negatively transformed some of the receiving states into multicultural societies by bringing in new languages. For example, in some United States districts, English has been replaced by Spanish as the key language of education, politics and commerce (Torre 77). In the state of Miami, Spanish is the primary television language. In some cases, permanent affirmative action programs have been established for the immigrants basing on their race. The religious front is also affected by some cultures introduced by immigrants that change the native religious foundations. For example, in the Western world, immigrants come with religions that are non Judeo-Christian. On the other hand, Hispanic populations are growing Catholic membership within Christian communities. Other family practices cause fear among the receiving country’s natives. For instance, the Asian society’s inclination towards male children may not be welcome in some societies that may believe that modern technologies in reproduction may assist in altering their native gender balance. Following many years of immigration, some states accept and preserve the immigrants’ unique cultures by allowing them the option of not assimilating. This poses a threat to that state’s national identity, internal stability and peace. The state soon becomes home to a mixture of many nationalities, each preserving its own cultural values. The moment there exist a complex society pieced up of diverse languages, religions, ethnicities and loyalties that uphold their identities over the national identity, the political and moral fabric of the whole society weakens (Cristóbal 69). This is bound to give rise to fierce religious, racial and ethnic divisions. A culture of crime is likely to grow out of such divisions. Groups will form up under the umbrella of secure feelings among their own people, or join gangs to acquire shelter and food. In such times, new immigrants are bound to embrace gangs as their surrogate families with crime becoming an occupation. This trend is more common among illegal immigrants. Political Effects Political effects are perhaps the most complex, with the impacts felt on all the other effects. The political dilemmas created by high rates of immigration could be more challenging to resolve than those brought forth by cultural, security or economic ones (Meilander 253). Since governments will not be able to disseminate and realize economic or cultural policies without authoritative political policies in place, it calls for giving priority to harmoniously settling political ripples arising from immigration. A significant effect immigration has had on the politics of receiving countries is the creation and implementing of policies (UN 48). However, immigration and immigrants become a polarized issue when different politicians having different interests support different, and often contradicting, ideologies. The Unites States provides an easy to understand and practical example of how immigrants affect the politics of a host nation because it is one of the largest receivers of immigrants. For example, the Human Rights Watch in New York released reports of how the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the United States handles immigration captives like they already are criminals and jailing them indefinitely (Meilander 97). Politicians have formulated policies, particularly during the 1990s economic boom, that are strategically designed to let in immigrants possessing prescribed types and levels of education in order to economically enhance the nation. This step was initially reasonable enough, but it gave room for significant drawbacks. A lopsided depiction of a particular ethnic population easily makes itself a component of the American culture. Most of the time this ends up affecting the image stereotypically accorded to such minorities as hard and competent workers while at the same time they are only considered to be in pursuit of gaining financially. Politicians take advantage of the new, stereotyped crop of immigrants to push for the standards they believe the immigrants who have stayed in the United States for longer need to follow. Another group of politicians uses such grounds to further argue for cuts in welfare subsidies and unfairly blame the immigrants for the country’s economic woes. As a result of this, for instance, Asian Americans in the south are, unfortunately, negatively regarded by most Latino and Black communities and vice versa. Political policies in liberal Western democracies ardently encourage the movement of services, goods and information freely, if not slightly restricted, but do not accord the same to people (Cristóbal 70). The policies do not surrender control over the flow of immigrants. Some have been formulated, like any rational state would do, to achieve the correct balance of the natives’ loyalties and skills with the maximum benefits the country can reap from immigration at minimum costs. Different countries have different and relevant choices to achieve these objectives. This has made political landscapes in many countries dynamic because alterations in circumstances, or the coming in of new leadership, necessitate changes to previous choices made over time. Policy matters are further compounded by the diversity presented by immigrants from different countries in need of diverse values and demands. Politicians and policy makers of the receiving countries are, therefore, faced with an array of issues (Johnson & Zimmermann 73). They need to: figure out the repercussions of multinational legal statuses in their political system; develop and coordinate internal policies addressing immigrants and immigration; regularize present and future status of immigrants who are not documented; redesign party structures and electoral systems to grant the immigrants a legitimate political voice; prevent alienation among the isolated, ideologically motivated and poor youth in native communities; empower and monitor civic organizations, advocacy groups, mosques and churches to peacefully and fairly incorporate immigrants into local communities; prevent alienation among the isolated, ideologically motivated and poor youth in native communities and; integrate the immigrants into jobs, and their children into schools and generally into neighborhoods. Immigration increases levels of corruption in the political systems of receiving countries. Most governments are defensive in their reaction about immigration. They are susceptible to pressure from the native population to reduce immigration, and may end up acting in a bid to calm emotions by feigning hostility towards illegal immigration (UN 82). However, they keep on letting in immigrants in considerable numbers while ignoring those not documented. Politicians recognize the critical significance immigrants have on the demographic health, economy and fiscal well being of a country once they arrive. In that sense, they are not ready to lock them out even if their governments have the power to do so. Policies on immigration and those towards immigrants are usually on unstable foundations when viewed from a victory seeking political party’s perspective. Such weaknesses in politics bear consequences in all policies related to immigration. Biases are bound to run high among the lawmakers when making policies on the sending countries’ large interest groups of ethnic immigrants. For example, politicians in the United States will tend to make policies regarding Mexico bearing in mind the American Hispanic communities (Cristóbal 81). Likewise, not many of them will formulate policies on the Middle East, or Israel, without considering the American Jewish groups’ sentiments. Policymaking does not take place in a vacuum. The processes are intrinsically political, reflecting modern democracies’ electoral cycles of the receiving countries. During economic turmoil, sentiments against immigrants are prevalent as politicians contemplate on the distribution of national wealth. For example, Spain welcomed immigrants to mitigate a labor shortage that had persisted in previous decades. However, once the market stabilized, the immigrants found themselves in adverse unemployment and unwelcome to a country that had recently been open to them. Another political effect of immigrants on receiving countries is the development of membership structures (Johnson & Zimmermann 117). The immigrants’ presence in organizations causes structural changes varying in intensity depending on preexisting circumstances. A crucial factor is the legal structure regulating residential statuses of the immigrants. For instance, in Germany, the laws determine the possibility of immigrants’ participation in politics and in what form. However, regardless of the significance attached to citizenship as membership in politics by individuals, the increasing number of non members, and hence non voters, in political groups ends up in conflicting fields for the free legitimization of the groups in the long run. Citing this reason, the policies on naturalization in Germany may remain on the political and migration agenda for much longer. The policies, at the same time, establish those groups’ significance, if they are viewed as prospective groups of voters or as non voters with little or no consequence. Accordingly, the German political and migration dissertation was shaped by the long running absence of legal and political integration. In other words, there have been restrictive laws on naturalization with no voting rights for foreigners. Although the Nationality Act in Germany is restrictive when it comes to multiple citizenship, dual citizenship is on the rise, thanks to the concept of transnational space driven by increasing immigrants (Cristóbal 82). Social Effects The social aspect of receiving countries has also not been spared by the influx of immigrants. The capacity to provide support and the restrictions in place mirror a society’s willingness to accept immigration and hence determine the success of integration. Urbanization is the one taking the largest toll on social setups. This is signified by the mushrooming and rampant spread of slums in most global cities. In China, South Africa and India, general capacity in service delivery has not been able to maintain the pace of growing urban populations (UN 94). This, in effect, deteriorates the quality and standards of living of both native and immigrant residents. Due to such trends, states like New York, for example, are a representation of the great divide between the rich and the poor. Ironically, that divide is among the key motivators for migration in the first place. In such cities, it is common to find poor immigrants who can hardly make ends meet living alongside professionals who are highly paid in their career. The impoverished immigrants are the ones providing the labor in the service industry that sustain the high costs of life for the professionals. A European Union policy on immigrants seeking asylum or refuge has created an unlikely class of receiving countries that also feel the impacts in their social lives (UN 174). The policy stipulates that asylum and refuge seekers complete the application procedures in their first European Union country of landing that serves as a transit country. This has given rise to an immigrants’ backlog in the southern member countries of the European Union including Malta, Spain, Italy and Greece. Similarly, the restrictions and the interdicting process in the Mediterranean have caused another backlog of migrants in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, and Morocco which, primarily, are countries of transit (UN 175). Having a backlog of undocumented immigrants in any society has the potential to introduce socially inappropriate behaviors like crime and drug trafficking. A study established that the most violent criminals found in Los Angeles are illegal immigrants. It is home to gangs from South America, Latin America and Asia. The same study revealed that in 2004, homicide cases made up 95 percent of the outstanding warrants in the city (Torre 68). Another report showed that some Californian gangs worked with the Mexican Mafia on assassinations, extortion and drug trafficking schemes. The fact that the Mafia controlling the gangs were in prison implies another social vice; corruption. It is further complicated by the fact that those controlling the gangs are in jail for felonious reentry after previously being deported. Conclusion Regardless of it being legal or illegal, migration is a highly controversial subject especially among the industrialized nations such as the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada (Johnson & Zimmermann 183). The origin of migration might have had all the positive reasons, with some sociologists viewing it as an extension of natural selection whereby human populations move towards areas with better opportunities to enhance their survival. But not all survival enhancing opportunities are positive, hence the presence of both positive and negative effects of immigration on the receiving countries. Continuous, controlled and legitimate immigration is a crucial element for any receiving country’s development and growth economically, socially, culturally and politically. It is up to the governments to put in place enforceable and effective migration policies that will enable their countries to get the best of benefits from the immigrants. On the other hand, if the migration industry is not properly controlled, it can have adversely detrimental effects on all spheres of life in the receiving countries. Crime rates shoot up, corruption runs rampant in the political systems, labor markets become flooded dragging down working conditions, and social services are also degraded. Since immigrants cannot practically be stopped altogether from moving into the receiving countries, realistic balances need to be implemented to control the effects of their presence (UN 59). Works Cited Alesina, A., & Ferrara, E. Ethnic Diversity and Economic Performance. Cambridge: Harvard University, 2003. Print. Bauder, Harald. Labor Movement: How Migration Regulates Labor Markets. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. Print. Cristóbal, Blanes. Does Immigration Help to Explain Intra-Industry Trade? Evidence for Spain. California: University of California Press, 2004. Print. Douglas, Massey, Arango, Joaquin, Graeme, Hugo, Kouaouci, Ali, Pellegrino, Adela & Taylor, Edward. Worlds in Motion: Understanding International Migration at the End of the Millennium. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print. 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