Mexico to USA migration
Population change and migration featured in many news events during this 2011 summer. This issue looks at some of these and brings you up-to-date reports on some of your textbook's case studies.
The changing balance of the Mexico to USA migration
The migration of young Mexicans to the USA, hoping to find work and a better way of life, has been taking place for almost a century. Millions of people have attempted the crossing both legally and illegally. At the end of the 20th century the migration reached 'epidemic' numbers with hundreds of thousands attempting the crossing in the border each year, usually at night and at great risk of losing any money they have, personal injury from dangerous environment and also capture by the USA border patrols leading to deportation back to Mexico.
The case study of the Mexico to USA, is easy to understand because a rich and attractive nation has a border with a much less-economically-developed country with a rapidly growing population.
It has become one of the most used migration case studies in Welsh schools. This Year's A level students were still choosing it as their preferred case study in the summer exams, but were they correct to be still using it?
Did you know?
Mexico migration is now old news - This is about a new migration much closer to home!
Have you ever heard of Lampedusa? It is a small island that is part of the State of Italy, located in the Mediterranean half way between the coast of North Africa and the Italian mainland.
Lampedusa has a small population of approximately 6,000 people and an area of 25 square kilometres. It as hit the headlines as a serious migration headache for Italy and the EU. The EU has become a very desirable destination for potential economic migrants from poor north African countries where there are conflicts oe where there is a much lower quality of life than that in Europe. Economic migrants make the extremely hazardous journey across the Sahara to the Mediterranean Coast. Many don't make it across . A growing and criminal industry has now developed to ship these poor and hopeful people across the Sahara and then over the Mediterranean Sea to Lampedusa, usually at night and in very dangerous overloaded boats. In August, Italian coastguards have found the bodies of 25 men on a boat overcrowded with refugees fleeing Libya.The 15-metre boat landed carrying 271 survivors and the bodies of 25 men were then found in the boat's engine room. They died from lack of oxygen or engine fumes. The migrants came from countries like Somalia, Nigeria and Ghana.
Thousands of refugees from North Africa have arrived on the island in recent weeks and some estimate 1 in 10 die on the way. Italians are very unhappy that they seem to have been left to sort out this European Union problem all on their own. Emergency immigration centres have been set up in various parts of Italy to deal with the new influx of refugees but the problem is likely to get a lot worse in the future.
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But what was the pull towards the USA? What has changed? See some of the push and pull factors below.
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