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Moving Populations:

US-Mexico Border

Dr. Kevon Rhiney

Department of Geography & Geology University of the West Indies - Mona

GEOG1131: Population, Migration & Settlement Tuesday October 20, 2015

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Lecture Outline

— Introduction: Evolution of US Immigration Laws

—  Extent of Mexico USA migration

—  Understanding the border

— Push and pull factors

— Policy features

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Early years

— 

6,000 a year

(numbers are uncertain)

— 

French refugees (slave revolt in Haiti)

— 

After 1820 federal records were kept

- Irish (famine of 1845-1849) - .5 million Germans

— 

1850 first census to ask for “place of birth”

- 90% of population was native born

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Timeline of US immigration laws

—  1776 - Unrestricted

—  1795 - Naturalization Act - Citizenship limited to "free white persons" residing in the US who renounce allegiance to

former country

—  1850s - Emergence of "Know Nothing Party" seeking to

"purify" the nation by restricting immigration and altering citizenship requirements (lasted less than 10 years)

—  1882 - Chinese Exclusion Act - Fear of competition from Chinese workers led to prevention of any further Chinese entering the US

— 1892 - Ellis Island, NY set up to regulate immigration

—  1917 - Immigration Act of 1917 - Further restrictions on immigration, expanding the classes of foreigners excluded from US. It imposed a literacy test and designated an Asiatic Barred Zone.

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Evolution of US Immigration Laws:

1920s-1950s

—  Quantitative restrictions in the 1920s

-  First Quota law enacted in 1921 The Immigration Act of 1924

-  Restricted immigration levels to 150,000 person p.a. and had an explicit preference for certain nationalities (Western

Europeans)

-  reduced quotas of immigrants deemed "less desirable", such as Russian (Jews) and Italians (Catholics)

Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1952 eased the restrictions, while maintaining the national origins premise

-  Consolidation of immigration laws and abolished Asian Barred Zone.

-  Race was eliminated as a bar to immigration, all countries were allocated a minimum quota of 100 immigrants

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Evolution of US Immigration Laws:

1960s-1980s

—  National quotas were replaced in 1965 by a complex system granting priority to the following groups:

(i)Those with US relatives; (ii) People needed to fill vacant US jobs (iii) Refugees

—  Most immigrants came from LA and Asia instead of Europe

—  Economic Instability during the 1980s retriggered concerns about immigration

—  Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986: (i) increased enforcement along the Mexico-US border (ii) Employer sanctions (iii) Amnesty for long-term undocumented residents (granted lawful permanent

residency to over 2.7 mn undocumented immigrants) (iv) special legalization program for agricultural workers

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Evolution of US Immigration Laws:

Post-1980s

— Immigration levels: avg. 450,000 (1970s); 60,000 (1980s) and 1 million per year (1990s)

—  Legal Immigration Act of 1990: provisions for increased inflow of skilled immigrants to the US

-  Flexible cap of 675,000 immigrants/year beginning in 1995: (i) 480,000 allocated to family sponsored immigrants (ii) 140,000 for employment-based purposes and (iii) 55,000 to ‘diversity immigrants’

—  1990s focus shifted to illegal immigrants’ access to welfare e.g. Proposition 187 in1994

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Immigration policies since 9/11

—  Increased fear over border security; reconciling

labour market demand for immigration control and tightened border security

—  Responsibility for immigration and border control consolidated under the new Department of

Homeland Security (DHS)

—  2001 Provide Appropriate Toos Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (PATRIOT) Act: (i) expanded the range of offences for

deportation (ii) made it easier to detain non-US citizens

—  Controlling unathorized migration remains a major political issue (from no immigrants to no borders)

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Extent of Mexico USA migration

— 1990: 4.3 million ‘foreign born’ from Mexico in USA

—  2002: 9.9 million ‘foreign born’ from Mexico in USA

— 4 million in California, 2.1 million in Texas

— Mexicans = 3.3% of total US population

—  11.6% in CA; 9% in Texas; 8.5% in Arizona

— Est. 11 million illegal immigrants in the USA in 2008 (Centre for Immigration Studies)

— Approx. 56% were from Mexico

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What  is  the  Situa+on?  

•  There is a 2000km border between USA and Mexico.

•  1 million + Mexicans migrate to the USA every year.

•  Illegal migration is a huge problem for USA and Mexico

•  US Border Patrol guard the border and try to prevent illegal immigrants

•  850,000 were caught in 1995 and were deported

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Foreign-born from Mexico as percentage of

total US population (2000)

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Push factors

— 

Complex and interlinked

— 

Striking disparity in income levels between Mexico and the USA

— 

GNP : > $24,750 in USA cf. $3,750 in Mexico

— 

Poor medical facilities

— 

Limited job opportunities (40% unemployed)

— 

Gender inequality

— 

Occasionally: fear of persecution

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Caution! Do not expose your life to the

elements.

It's not

worth it.

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Tijuana, Mexico

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People will do anything to

cross the

border....

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Pull factors

— 

Strength of US economy; many low paid jobs

— 

Relatives and friends (provide social network)

— 

Improved accessibility to health care

— 

Improved educational opportunities

(although illegal migrants might find it extremely

difficult to access such services)

(18)

Understanding the border

—  Treaty if Guadeloupe Hidalgo (1848): Mexico lost 40% of its territory; border formalized in current location

—  “We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us”

— Many transnational linkages: political, economic, social

— Borders as barriers

— Borders as sites of connection

—  Borders as sites of tension (e.g. Zoot Suit Riot circa 1940s)

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Key policy features I

— 

Proposition 187

-  Californian initiative (1994)

-  Limits access to social services for undocumented migrants

-  Increased surveillance and policing by local authorities (e.g. school teachers, nurses etc.)

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Key policy features II

— 

Operation Gatekeeper (1994)

-  Intensified surveillance of the San Diego section of the border

-  Increased number of US Border Patrol agents -  Increased surveillance equipment and different

structures

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Useful sites

Migration Policy Institute

-  http://www.migrationpolicy.org/

US Census Bureau - www.census.gov/

References

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