Immigration

Immigration is the relocation of people to new countries, typically with the hope of becoming long-term residents or citizens. Movements of people to new lands has been a staple of the human experience for hundreds of thousands of years and is the primary mechanism by which the great majority of the world has been populated. In modern times, immigrants seek to not only reach new lands but also to overcome or escape challenges in their homeland and pursue new opportunities abroad. To immigrate legally, they must satisfy the requirements of the countries to which they hope to immigrate. This may involve preparing and providing the necessary paperwork, passing tests of knowledge, and pledging allegiance to the new country. Immigrants often face obstacles, including anti-immigrant legislation and discrimination by already settled citizens.

Throughout history, people have immigrated for countless reasons. However, most of these reasons fall into three main categories. The first is immigration for family purposes. In this case, families that are split between two countries may immigrate to one country to reunite; when immigrants help their family members relocate to join them in a new country, this process is sometimes called chain migration. The second main category relates to employment purposes. Millions of people immigrate in search of new jobs or economic opportunities. The third, and often most pressing, category includes humanitarian reasons. Refugees and asylum seekers attempting to escape war, famine, disasters, and oppression may immigrate to new lands for safety reasons. According to an estimate from the United Nations (UN), in the early 2020s 280.6 million people—3.6 percent of the world's population—were living as migrants outside their country of nationality. This figure included immigrants as well as refugees.

Background

The motion of people across lands has been a part of the human experience since the earliest times. Many early humans were nomads who traveled from place to place in search of resources, such as game animals, vegetation, and water. Their movements proved difficult to trace later due to the scarcity of surviving evidence from so long ago. However, archaeologists have found artifacts and remains that suggest significant human migration in the prehistoric era.

The dispersion of humans around the world is, in fact, the result of persistent human exploration and migration over many millennia. Scientists believe that the earliest modern humans originated millions of years ago in Africa. From there, over time and through the course of ongoing genetic and scientific development, these early people explored and settled in ever-more-distant lands.

Due to differing interpretations of the little evidence that has been discovered, researchers disagree on the paths taken by early people within and out of Africa. Theories and proposed models of their migrations abound. Some models suggest that humans traveled out of Africa in single large waves, which then forked in different directions as some groups moved toward Europe, Asia, or what is modern-day Australia. Other researchers follow a model showing early humans leaving Africa in multiple smaller waves, some turning north, northeast, northwest, or southwest. Some models also propose that groups of these early voyagers, after exploring in Europe or Asia, eventually returned to Africa to settle. Ultimately, humans spread even farther and reached the Americas and other lands.

Movements of people have remained enormously impactful across the world and throughout history. Many historians view the United States as a model example of a “nation of immigrants,” due to the essential role immigrants played in its development. The nation was established on land originally inhabited by a diverse population of Indigenous groups; as European colonists from Great Britain, France, Spain, and other nations began settling North America in the sixteenth century, many Indigenous peoples were displaced, killed, or died of disease. Since the establishment of an independent nation following the American Revolutionary War (1776–83), ongoing waves of immigrants, refugees, and other migrants from all continents continued to arrive in the United States to create a highly pluralist society representing the world’s main races, ethnicities, religious groups, and language groups. In that country, new waves of immigrants generally struggled to fit in and assimilate upon arriving in the US. They often faced obstacles in the form of anti-immigrant legislation, as well as discrimination by Americans with nativist, or anti-immigrant, beliefs. In the United States and elsewhere, immigrants have generally taken difficult, dangerous, and low-paying jobs, and lived in poor, cramped, and underserved neighborhoods at higher rates than citizens born in a respective country.

Multiple large-scale waves of immigration transformed the ethnic and religious makeup of the US throughout the nineteenth and into the twentieth centuries; however, in 1924, the Johnson-Reed Act sharply reduced immigration, particularly from countries outside western Europe. Four decades later, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 once again opened the US up to large-scale immigration, particularly from Asia, Latin America, Africa, and other areas previously discriminated against under the 1924 laws. However, immigration, particularly the status of undocumented immigrants, remained a contentious political issue in the US well into the twenty-first century. Despite these challenges, large numbers of immigrants continued to move to the United States every year, providing invaluable contributions to the American economy and society as a whole.

By the 2020s, the world population had reached an estimated eight billion people. Up to that point, humans had permanently settled heavily on every continent except Antarctica (whose climate remained inhospitable) and formed approximately two hundred countries. Their cultures may use any of thousands of languages, ascribe to dozens of religious perspectives, and observe countless customs and ways of life. Most historians, political scientists, and sociologists agree that immigration is a largely positive force that allows new ideas and lifestyles to be sown in new places, thus expanding global knowledge, capability, and diversity.

Millions of years of human movement have contributed to the great diversity of human life present in modern times. This process continued as well, with immigration between countries and continents creating endless new variations in populations and cultures every year; trends such as globalization and climate change also made it likely that population movement would only increase as time went on.

Overview

Immigration refers to the peaceful movement of people to new countries to become residents or citizens. It is closely related to the movements of prehistoric people that spread the human population globally. However, early humans likely did not create or observe any official countries or national boundaries. Their movements did not cross any such geopolitical borders, and therefore are technically referred to as “migration” rather than “immigration.” The concept of immigration developed around the 1600s as modern nation states began to form in Europe and elsewhere.

In modern times, instances of immigration usually involve one or more of three main components. The first component relates to family relationships. The second has to do with the search for employment or other economic interests. The third involves humanitarian purposes, including resettling refugees and people seeking asylum.

In family-related immigration, a citizen may have family members in a foreign country, such as parents, spouses, children, or other close relatives. These family members may move to the citizen’s country to settle. That way, the family can be reunited and live closer together. This type of immigration may occur in many situations. Often, a young person may move to a new country alone to become a resident or citizen. After finding a job and earning sufficient money, that person may help other family members move to that new country. In other cases, this form of immigration may relate to residents or citizens who begin families while overseas. For example, a soldier temporarily serving in a foreign country might marry and have a child. Later, the spouse and child might move to that soldier’s home country to keep their family together.

The process of family-related immigration may vary greatly based on the individuals and countries involved. In some cases, it may proceed with ease. Other times, variations in international policies or disagreements relating to marriage laws or the custody of children may result in significant delays and disputes.

Employment or economic opportunities is another major cause of immigration in the modern world. This area of immigration has many variables. In most cases, people from economically depressed countries may attempt to immigrate to countries where they believe they can find better jobs. Often, they plan to support their families in their home countries by sending money back home in the form of remittances. In many cases, these people are unskilled workers who become laborers, often in agriculture or manufacturing, in their new host country. They are commonly referred to as migrant workers. Some migrant workers are able to gain stable employment and establish comfortable lives in their new countries, though many work in difficult conditions and are vulnerable to exploitation, especially if they are undocumented. Other times, these people are highly trained or educated in a particular field. They may immigrate to a new country for better employment opportunities than those available domestically. Sometimes, people with plans to invest in a promising business in another country may also immigrate, though this wealthier group makes up a far smaller portion of immigrants.

The final main component of immigration relates to the movement of people for humanitarian purposes. The word “humanitarian” refers to activities that promote the well-being of humans. In the area of humanitarian immigration, people often move to other countries in search of safety from danger or the bare necessities of life. In countries that are stricken by floods or droughts, people may leave in large numbers to seek new homes in other lands; worsening extreme weather due to climate change has already turned some people into climate refugees. People from impoverished countries where famine is common may leave in hopes of resettling in more affluent places. Wars, terrorism, disease, and oppression are also common triggers for immigration, and refugee crises in the twenty-first century have arisen from conflicts such as the Syrian Civil War, which began in 2011 and eventually forced roughly 3.6 million Syrians out of the country, and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which triggered an initial exodus of 7.5 million Ukrainians. While there had long been a conflict between Israel and Palestine, leaving many Palestinians displaced and forced to migrate over the years, the eruption of a new war following Hamas's attack on Israel in late 2023 only further increased the number of Palestinian refugees.

People who are uprooted by wars and other disasters, and flee because they need protection, are called refugees. Large masses of refugees may leave stricken countries in a short time, surging toward neighboring lands in search of assistance or new homes. This process may lead to refugee crises, as other countries struggle to help the massive influx of people in need, or attempt to close their borders and deny access to these people. Asylum seekers are other people who attempt to immigrate due to dangers in their home country.

Refugees and asylum seekers are closely related, though due to the involuntary nature of their departures from their home countries, they are not always classified as immigrants. Refugees are fleeing from a danger that has been widely recognized and legally acknowledged by the world community, such as a military invasion. Asylum seekers, on the other hand, are fleeing from danger that has not yet been legally evaluated, such as political persecution. Their desire to enter a new country searching for help and protection is less clear than that of official refugees. However, many major organizations have noted that safety is a human right and both refugees and asylum seekers deserve assistance. Despite international protocols on the treatment and settlement of refugees, many refugees live in degrading or downright dangerous conditions, and some languish for years in refugee camps while waiting to be resettled elsewhere.

Immigrants form a link between two or more countries, the original country and the host country. Each country will likely have its own perspective on the act of immigration. The original country may encourage people to seek new homes elsewhere, due to overcrowding, lack of resources, or various dangers. Alternately, the original country may seek to limit or ban any departures from its borders. National leaders may not want to lose workers or be concerned that promising youths are leaving for better education and jobs elsewhere instead of staying to help their homeland prosper. Leaders may also be concerned that high rates of citizens leaving could be a sign of unrest or bring humiliation or condemnation on the land or its government. Brain drain, the term for highly educated people leaving their home countries for better opportunities elsewhere, can also place further economic strain on less-developed nations.

Host countries may also vary greatly in their response to immigration. Every country controls its own borders and has significant power over which and how many immigrants may enter and stay in the country. Policies may range from open-border to closed-border. In some international unions, such as the European Union, most borders are open to people from other countries in the union. In addition, some countries or communities embrace humanitarian goals and actively welcome refugees and others to live there. Alternately, other countries attempt to lock their borders and prohibit many or all people seeking to enter. Their leaders or citizens may believe that immigrants may take jobs from citizens born in that country, commit crimes, or dilute the existing national culture. Many countries change their policies over time, and may alternate between more open immigration systems and more restrictive systems. For example, US immigration policy has varied greatly since the country’s founding. Until the late nineteenth century, virtually no laws controlled the flow of immigrants, and millions of people immigrated to the US every decade. In modern times, events such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks have resulted in a backlash against immigrants, particularly those from Muslim countries. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic proved to have the same effect on Asian immigrants in many Western countries during the early 2020s.

Every immigrant has a unique experience. Their countries of origins, countries of destination, means of travel, reasons for immigrating, cultures, languages, and personal attributes may differ widely. Some immigrants are able to settle in new countries with few (if any) complications, while others will meet ongoing struggles and hardships at every stage of the process; this often depends on the laws and policies of the country they are immigrating to, along with their own specific circumstances. The process of immigration can be particularly difficult for undocumented workers and refugees, who are vulnerable to violence, exploitation, and other hardships during their journey, and who sometimes die or are murdered en route to a new country.

In general, immigrants have to undergo several tasks and meet various qualifications to legally move into and settle in a new country. Potential immigrants will likely have to acquire special permission before moving. This may take the form of a visa, or a document that allows a person to enter a foreign country for a temporary stay. People who intend to permanently live in the new country will have to prepare and provide the documentation required by that country. In the United States, a “green card” serves as permission to live there as a permanent resident, though it does not provide citizenship.

Some countries have few or no paths that allow immigrants to become citizens; in these countries, citizenship is determined by descent, that is, direct descent or connection to a citizen or national of the country in question. However, many countries, including the US, allow people to acquire citizenship through naturalization, a process that often includes further testing and evaluation. This evaluation may include quizzing immigrants on their knowledge of the host country’s history, government, political systems, and culture. They may teach immigrants about the rights and responsibilities of citizens and may require that immigrants pledge loyalty to the new country. These measures help to ensure that newcomers are committed to citizenship and knowledgeable enough to contribute positively to the society they are entering and eventually become fully functioning citizens.

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