International Migration. Migration to Developed Countries. Guest Workers

Throughout history, millions of persons have migrated across international boundaries. Some, like Africans captured into slavery and shipped to the Americas, were forced migrants. Others have moved in response to political and religious persecution. Still others have moved in response to poverty and unemployment, seeking out greater economic opportunities in a new country.

Migration to Developed Countries. Throughout the twentieth century, millions of people have moved from less developed countries of origin to more developed destinations. The processes and impacts of migration from less developed to more developed countries are illustrated by current migration from Mexico into the United States.

Nowhere else in the world does a land boundary divide two countries with such different standards of living. Although Mexico has made rapid strides in industrial development during recent years its income, gross national product, and standard of living remain far below that of its northern neighbor. Not surprisingly, the United States has long been a magnet for Mexican nationals eager to better their economic situations.

Since the nineteenth century, millions of Mexicans have migrated northward across the border. Where, from within Mexico, do migrants to the United States come? And once across the border, where do they go? Mexican migrants come from throughout that country, although a majority come from places in northern and central Mexico relatively close to the border. Similarly, the American states near the border receive the preponderance of Mexican immigrants. California and Texas alone account for nearly three-quarters of all migrants from Mexico into the United States.

Economic opportunity is an important pull factor for Mexican immigrants. Even though many Mexicans work for very low wages by American standards, their pay is considerably higher than they could earn in Mexico. From the American point of view, however, immigration has been regarded as a mixed blessing. Employers welcome Mexican nationals as a cheap labor force. At the same time, some American workers resent the presence of Mexicans, and hold them responsible for depressing wage levels by increasing the size of the labor force.

Although American policy concerning migration from Mexico has changed over the years, not all Mexicans moving into the United States come legally. An estimated 5 million illegal immigrants from Mexico now make the United States their home. Most are young adults who have come in order to find work. This is seldom difficult, for employers do not have to pay them minimum wages nor do they require fringe benefits.

Recently, the United States has attempted to crack down on illegal immigration. Revised immigration laws imposed penalties on employers who knowingly hired illegal immigrants. In 1987 the establishment of an amnesty program enabled illegal immigrants who had been in the country for more than five years to achieve permanent resident status. However, the number of illegal immigrants who took advantage of this provision in the law was lower than expected. Many refused to accept legal status for fear of political or economic reprisals. Critics continue to point to widespread abuse of convoluted laws prohibiting the hiring of illegal immigrants. In 1 993 the first woman to be nominated to the position of attorney general was forced to withdraw after admitting to having hired illegal Peruvian immigrants for house-keeping and childcare duties.

The recent immigration experience of North America is typical of migration from less developed to developed countries throughout history. For many residents of less developed countries, migration to another country provides economic opportunity that may be lacking at home. Rapid population growth, poverty, and a lack of economic opportunity are push factors for these people. Pull factors in the developed countries include demands for industrial and service-industry labor.

Guest Workers. Large numbers of workers from southern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and elsewhere have moved to the highly developed and prosperous countries of western and central Europe (Figure 3-11). These migrants are known as guest workers. Unskilled labor is in short supply in much of Europe, partly because of low birth rates. Guest workers provide a cheap labor force for European industries. Most guest workers take either low-paying, menial jobs or higher paying but arduous and dangerous ones.

Figure 3-11. The Migration of Guest Workers. Imbalances in personal income between the developed countries of western and central Europe and the less developed countries of southern Europe, the Middle East. North Africa, and Asia have triggered the northward migration of hundreds of thousands of workers. Although these guest workers make up much of the low-skill labor force in Germany, Switzerland, France, and the United Kingdom, conflict over their economic and political status lingers

Guest workers also migrate regularly within Southwest Asia. Oil-rich countries, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, import tens of thousands of guest workers from Jordan. Egypt. Syria. Yemen, and other non-oil-producing countries such as India. Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Nearly half of Kuwait's population consists of guest workers. In Australia, most guest workers come from Asia and the Pacific Islands.

The presence of guest workers has created political controversy in many European countries. Although they provide a cheap labor force for European industry and alleviate unemployment elsewhere, there is still considerable debate about whether they should be permitted to obtain European citizenship and to enjoy full economic and political rights. From a legal standpoint most European countries consider guest workers to be temporary employees. Policies discourage them from remaining for long periods of time, and often it is difficult for them to attain citizenship in the host country.

Problems involving guest workers tend to intensify during periods of economic recession. During recessionary periods, poverty and unemployment increase in less developed countries but economic problems in the developed countries mean greater competition for jobs. As a result, some developed countries crack down on illegal immigration during these periods. In the mid-1980s, for example. Nigeria expelled hundreds of thousands of guest workers from neighboring West African countries following a significant decline in the world market price of petroleum products. In newly reunified Germany, former East German workers are now in competition with guest workers from Greece, Turkey, and other foreign countries for low-skill jobs.

The French experience with guest workers since World War II typifies how government policy concerning foreign labor tends to vary in accordance with prevailing economic conditions. During the 1950s and 1960s, rapid industrial expansion in France coupled with a declining birth rate created substantial demand for industrial workers. Although workers from Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Portugal had been recruited to work in French industries since the beginning of the nineteenth century, the 1950s witnessed a rapid expansion of the foreign labor force. French colonies in North Africa—Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco—became a principal source of guest workers. Large industrial corporations recruited workers from these countries aggressively.

As long as demands for labor were high, the French government made little effort to restrict immigration. What restrictions to entry did exist were seldom enforced, and employers who attempted to circumvent regulations were not prosecuted. As the French economy slowed down in the 1970s, however, France became less hospitable to foreign workers. Between 1973 and 1976, nearly twenty thousand foreign workers were laid off in the automobile industry alone. At the same time, the government began to enforce controls on legal immigration. By the late 1980s, some French politicians and corporation executives were actively promoting the repatriation of guest workers.