Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Across the world, hundreds of thousands of migrants have fl ed their home-
lands by boat, train, car, or foot for opportunities in North America, Australia,
China, and Europe. Immigrants are sometimes welcomed and sometimes turned
away. In the 1970s, the United States government welcomed Haitian immigrants
because most were educated and able to afford travel to the United States. In
1980, 25,000 Haitian and 125,000 Cuban immigrants reached south Florida by boat.
The U.S. government considered this massive fl ow of migrants a humanitarian cri-
sis because of the repressiveness of the governments in Haiti and Cuba at the time.
President Carter admitted the Haitians and Cubans into the United States using
the discretionary parole authority of the attorney general. Later, Congress passed
legislation that allowed the 150,000 asylum-seekers who arrived from Haiti and
Cuba to gain legal permanent residence and later apply for citizenship.
In 1981, President Reagan established an interdiction program through an
agreement with the Haitian government. Since 1981, the United States Coast
Guard is authorized to board any Haitian vessel, even those on the high seas out-
side of the territorial sea of the United States. Once on board, the Coast Guard
can interrogate passengers to see if they have a well-founded fear of persecution
in Haiti. If so, the United States sends the immigrant to a third country in Latin
America to seek asylum; if not, the United States returns the migrant to Haiti by
Coast Guard vessel.
Governments greatly impact migration fl ows by opening and closing doors to
migrants. In some cases, the policy is not as simple as the door being open or shut.
In addition, governments can choose to treat two groups with similar claims dif-
ferently. The United States returns the vast majority of interdicted Haitians. In
2005, it interdicted 1850 Haitians and considered refugee status for 9 of them
through “credible fear hearings” at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The
United States granted refugee status to only 1 of the 9. Only 54 miles separate
Haiti from Cuba, but since the Clinton administration the U.S. government has had
a “wet foot, dry foot” policy toward Cuban immigrants that does not apply to
Haitians. If Cuban immigrants are intercepted at sea, they are deported (wet foot),
but if Cuban immigrants make it to land (dry foot), they have the right to stay.
Why are immigrants willing to risk their lives on overcrowded boats or by
crossing treacherous deserts across parts of the U.S.-Mexican border? Economics
provides part of the answer, but it does not explain the whole story. The Pew
Hispanic Center found in a 2005 survey that the vast majority of undocumented
(illegal) migrants from Mexico “were gainfully employed” in Mexico before they
left for the United States. Perception is an overwhelming factor in migration: as
long as migrants perceive a better life abroad, they will continue to migrate.
Migration fl ows vary by region, hometown (rural versus urban), gender, socio-
economic class, age, race, and ethnicity. Geographers who study gender and
migration realize that the dynamics of individual households in the sending coun-
tries determine who migrates, when they migrate, and where they go.
In 2007, the number of undocumented migrants in the United States peaked at
12 million. In 2010, the number fell to 11.2 million as a result of the economic reces-
sion in the United States. The goal of most undocumented migrants is to work in
the United States and send money home to family. Monies migrants send home to
family are called
remittances.
Haitians living in the United States, Canada, and the
Caribbean sent home over $1 billion in remittances in 2007, a fi gure equivalent to
30 percent of Haiti's gross domestic product and far outpacing the value of Haitian
exports. A 2006 census in Haiti estimated that half the country's population is
younger than 20 and less than half of the children of school age attend elementary
