Migration: A case study: Mexico to the USA

There are 4 types of migration:

rural to rural: this is generally small scale and might be the farmers who move from one arear to another, or perhaps someone marrying into another farming family.

rural to urban: this is typical of what happened in the UK as we industrialized 100-200 years ago. People moved from the villages to the major cities due to employment opportunities, this is also typical of any N.I.C (Newly Industrialising Country) now, such as Brasil or China. We call the rapid growth and development of cities in this way Urbanisation

urban to rural: Think MEDC country where people are escaping the city for a cleaner lifestyle. This is typical in the UK where company directors, proffessionals and senior managers who are able to afford to commute or with flexi-time able to work from home. (think Kirsty and Phil Relocation Relocation...I can't believe I just admitted to that...Mr B)

urban to urban: when people move from city to city, again relatively smaller scale, but typical when a business relocates from somewhere like London to another town or city like Oxford or Bristol.

Below is a case study of Migration from Mexico to the USA (This is an example of migration from rural LEDC to an urbanised area of an MEDC):

The reasons people leave a place (Mexico in this case): PUSH factors These might be:
• Poor medical facilities - 1800 per doctor
• Low paid jobs - (GNP = $3750)
• Adult literacy rates 55% - poor education prospects
• Life expectancy 72 yrs
• 40% Unemployed

The things that attract someone to a new place (USA): PULL factors These might be:
• Excellent medical facilities - 400 per doctor
• Well paid jobs - GNP = $24,750)
• Adult literacy rates 99% - good education prospects
• Life expectancy 76 yrs
• Many jobs available for low paid workers such as Mexicans

There are a number of Postive and Negative impacts of the migration on both the Host economy (USA) and the donor economy (Mexico) You should be able to not only describe positives and negatives of the migration, but also to say whether is is an impact on the Host or the Donor economy.

Impacts on the Host economy:
• Illegal migration costs the USA millions of dollars for border patrols and prisons
• Mexicans are seen as a drain on the USA economy
• Migrant workers keep wages low which affects Americans
• They cause problems in cities due cultural and racial issues
• Mexican migrants benefit the US economy by working for low wages
• Mexican culture has enriched the US border states with food, language and music
• The incidents of TB has been increasing greatly due to the increased migration

Impacts on the Donor economy:
• The Mexican countryside has a shortage of economically active people
• Many men emigrate leaving a majority of women who have trouble finding marriage partners
• Young people tend to migrate leaving the old and the very young
• Legal and illegal immigrants together send some $6 billion a year back to Mexico
• Certain villages such as Santa Ines have lost 2/3 of its inhabitants



The video on the blog also outlines some of the reasons why people do the risky border jump, as well as some of the background information. Cheers Mr B