Immigration patterns

Canada and Australia currently have a higher percentage of immigrants in relation to population.

Canada has a diverse population. The country promotes “multi-culturalism.

Australia also has a large percentage of immigrants.

At times Australia has had a vigorous immigration program that leans toward workers.

There are millions of “guest workers” in the Middle East. In some countries (UAE) guest workers outnumber the native population.

U.S. immigration patternsPrior to independence, some one million Europeans immigrated to the U.S. with another million arriving before 1840.

This doesn’t include the roughly 400,000 slaves that were brought to the U.S.

The majority came from Great Britain, but many came from all over northern Europe.

Emigration from Europe to the America’s in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Among the most significant migrations in recent centuries

Most went to the USA but the Spanish and Portuguese settled in Central and South America

Although many came from all over northern Europe, from 1607 to 1840, the majority of immigrants came from Great Britain.

More than 90% of immigrants from the 1840’s to 1850’s came from Northern Europe, but most were from Ireland and Germany.

Second peak of immigration

1840’s & 1850’s-The two largest groups of European immigrants were from Ireland and Germany.

They were fleeing economic conditions in Ireland and political unrest in Germany.

Thousands of Irish immigrants and civil war veterans built the Transcontinental Railroad from the East while Chinese immigrant laborers built the railroad from the West.

Late 1800’s

After a lull during the Civil War, immigration picked up again with most immigrants being from northern Europe. A large number of Scandinavians arrived.

The pull factor was the booming Industrial Revolution occurring in the USA.

After a long and arduous ocean voyage, The debarkation point for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Europe was Ellis Island. Their first view of America.

Third Peak: 1890’s - 1914

Most immigrants arrived from Russia, Southern, and Eastern Europe.

What was happening in these countries at the time?

Immigration declined again during the Great Depression.

Immigration picked up again after World War II when we made changes in laws allowing more people in.

The mix of immigrants also continued to change. Asian quotas were lifted in the 1960’s.

How did the USA actually have an issue with “emigration” in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s?

A small group of Americans’ fled to Canada for asylum to avoid the draft. They would be arrested if they returned. They were granted full amnesty by Jimmy Carter.

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After the fall of Vietnam in 1975, tens of thousands of Vietnamese were allowed into the country.

The first “wave” consisted of many of those who had worked with the Americans as well as professionals.

Subsequent Vietnamese immigrants took a more circuitous route, escaping into Thailand or becoming “Boat People.”

Many ended up picked up in the South China Sea and were relocated to refugee camps in Thailand.

Today the USA has an active refugee and asylum program that allows people from conflict areas to enter the U.S.

This includes people from such diverse countries as Sudan, El Salvador, and Iraq.

Family reunification accounts for approximately two-thirds of legal immigration to the US every year.[8]

As of 2006, the United States accepts more legal immigrants as permanent residents than all other countries in the world combined. Since the liberalization of immigration policy in 1965, the number of first- generation immigrants living in the United States has quadrupled, from 9.6 million in 1970 to about 38 million in 2007. 1,046,539 people were naturalized as U.S. citizens in 2008..

The leading emigrating countries to the United States were Mexico, India, and the Philippines

The immigration reform laws of 1965 changed the face of America.

It eliminated the preference for European immigrants and established legal guidelines for immigrants from all parts of the world.

“Remittances” account for a large part of the national income in a number of “source” immigration countries.

Immigration is a “hot button” topic to most Americans and will play a large role in the next presidential elections.