Geography (unit 6)

Migration and mobility

Mobility

Ability to move from one place to another

Two basic types of movement

Cyclic Movement

Migration

Cyclic Movement

Leaving a home base for a defined amount of time and then returning home.

Ex: work commutes, snowbirds(For example, you leave during the colder months for somewhere warmer), pastoralism

It can be a very short distance; you could even walk to the other place.

Migration (human history)

Movement from a home location to a new place with an intent to stay in the new place long-term, likely permanently

Pastoralism

Breeding and herding animals to satisfy human needs for food and clothing.

Pastoralism: Most pastoralists practice transhumance:

Seasonally moving livestock to new pastures (often between mountain and lowland pastures)

Moving your animals is important because they could eat everything. So, following food is important. Also water.

Following the seasons is important. If you live in the mountains, it will get too cold in the mountains during the colder months, so you have to move them to somewhere warmer.

Relocation diffusion

Occurs when migrants bring their cultural values and practices with them to their new location, and they are taken up in the new space.

Ex: Buddhism. It’s practiced differently in different areas.

Often merged/shifted cultural practices to fit in with new societal norms and local customs.

Internal Migration

Occurs when migrants move within one country.

International Migration

Two big factors: Safety and economic opportunity

Immigration

Moving TO a country

Emigration

Moving FROM a country

Net Migration

Difference between Immigration and Emigration

Total number of immigrants minus the number of emigrants.

Top 5 states by absolute growth

-California

-Texas

-New York

-Florida

-Illinois

Top 5 states by percent growth

-North Carolina

-Georgia

-Nevada

-Arkansas

-Utah

Rights and responsibilities that other forms of migration don’t

Not all International migrants attempt to gain citizenship in their new countries.

For example, a US citizen can:

-Vote

-Hold certain government jobs

-Serve on juries

-Receive many federal or state grants, scholarships, or benefits which are reserved for citizens

-Petition for family members to immigrate

And they cannot be deported under most circumstances

Becoming a US citizen

One can become a US citizen through:

-Being born on US territory

-Having US citizen parents

-parents becoming citizens(“citizenship through derivation”)

-The process of naturalization(after gaining Lawful Permanent Residency)

US Citizenship vs. Lawful Permanent Residency

A lawful permanent resident is granted the right to live and work in the US indefinitely, but doesn’t have the full rights of a citizen. They remain citizens of another country.

Major limitation:

-Can’t vote in US elections

-If you leave the US to live somewhere else (more than 365 days), you give up your LPR status.

-LPRs are subject to the grounds of deport ability that citizens are not

-lower priority than citizens when helping family gain LPR status

Citizenship eligibility

Be at least 18 years old

Green card for at least 5 years—Be a LPR for 5 years (3 years sometimes)

Understand and speak basic English

Married for 3 years 

You need to meet with an immigration officer

Good moral character

Live in the same state for at least 3 months

Getting Lawful permanent residency

Common ways to acquire LPR status:

-Through a family member

-Through employment

-Through investment

-Through refugee/asylum status

Push and pull factors impact migration choices

Pull: What is it about the place that you want to go to that makes you want to go there?

Push: What is it about that place that you are currently in that it’s pushing you out?

Ex: Job opportunities, weather, healthcare, and entertainment. Something attractive about a place

Remittances: money migrants send back to others, like family and friends in their country of origin

$589 billion in global remittances sent to middle-and low-income countries in 2021

The 2008 economic downturn generated reverse remittances: money flowing from other countries to the US.

Amenity Migration

Form of migration in which the migrant seeks cultural, environmental, or social benefits in a new place.

Ex: weather, healthcare

Push factors

War

lack of rights or freedom

weather

low levels of job opportunities

Natural disaster

Major causes of displacement

Conflict-induced displacement

Disaster-induced displacement

Development-induced displacement

Conflict-induced displacement

People forced to flee their homes as a result of armed conflict (civil war, generalized violence, persecution)

Disaster-Induced Displacement

People are displaced as a result of natural disasters, environmental change (deforestation, desertification, land degradation, climate change) and human-made disasters (industrial accidents, radioactivity)

Development-induced displacement

Forced Migrants

Refugees

Internally displaced persons(IDPs)

Political asylum

Victims of trafficking

Refugees

Individuals who cross the national boundaries to seek safety and asylum (similar but procedurally different from an asylee)

Internally displaced persons (IDPs)

Individuals who are uprooted within the boundaries of their own country because of conflict or human rights abuse

Political asylum

Occurs when a person who is persecuted by their own country is protected by another sovereign authority.

Victims of trafficking

Force, fraud, or coercion to control and transport a person; often in the service of slavery

Receiving asylum/refugee status

-Race/Ethnicity

-Religion

-Nationality

-Political opinion

-Membership in a particular social group