Immigration

Immigration is a major issue throughout the world. It is important that we understand that it is not just a local issue. Immigration plays an important role in our society. It also affects other countries. Immigration does not apply to people coming to the United States; it is also the act of moving from the United States. Throughout this paper, we will discuss immigration both in and out of the United States. We will give reasons immigration occurs, discuss immigration as it relates to global, political, cultural, and business viewpoints. We will also explain some of the causes for immigration, and finally discuss strategies and solutions.

Immigration is the act of leaving one's country to take residence in another country on a permanent basis. Why do people leave a country to move to another country? There are many reasons. These reasons range anywhere from marriage to education (Krutz.1977). From an economic view point, it could be push and pull. An example of a push would be when job opportunities are more favorable in another country, people tend to move from their home country to the other. When looking at the pull situation, another country actively seeks new workers for a particular job. Of course, the opportunity must be sufficient to entice migration (Net Industries.2007).

Another reason for immigration is when a person flees a country because of persecution, famime, epidemic, disaster, or war. It is important to note that this type of immigrant is known as a refugee (Krutz.1977).

In the beginning people also immigrated because of religious reasons. The pilgrims came to United States on the Mayflower in hopes of finding a better life. They hoped for a life filled with the freedom to practice their own religion.

Although many people migrate to the United States, immigration from the United States also exists. Why would people immigrate from the U.S. if so many are coming to America? Again, there are many reasons. Just as people come the America in search of a better job, people also move to another country for the same reason. Many companies today are opening factories and offices in foreign countries and sending over executives from America to run these new locations. We also see people immigrating to foreign countries because they are in trouble with the law. Although, this is illegal, it is a reason for immigration.

In the next section of this paper, we will discuss the global issue of immigration from political and economical viewpoints.

Immigration definitely has an impact on economics and politics globally. Immigration contributes to "internal conflicts and threats to international security." (Johnson & Johnson, 2004, p.107).

Throughout the world there are many who live in poverty and immigrate to other countries in hopes of finding work and building better lives. Problems such as war and political repression also cause many to leave their native countries.

In the United States, legal immigrants carry political influence, especially in southwestern states where legislators are painfully aware of the need of temporary workers for seasonal jobs. Many citizens fear foreigners are "taking American jobs" yet there are humanitarian concerns for illegal immigrants to be protected against exploitation while working.

In 2006, a nonprofit foundation in the Midwest conducted a study with regard to entrepreneurship and immigrants. The study found that 350 out of 100,000 immigrants started a business each month in 2005. Compared to the 280 out of 100,000 native-born Americans who to started a business, it is apparent that immigrants have a higher chance of success (DeBaise, 2007).

An example of immigration regulation that may harm American small business owners is a new regulation developed by the Homeland Security Department, which will take effect within the next month. The Social Security Administration will only notify "companies who submit more than 10 non-matching Social Security numbers on their W-2 forms. That means small business who submit 10 or fewer won't be aware." Companies will have 60 days to resolve any issue or terminate the employee. If the business fails to do this, they risk fines, which can range from $250 to $10,000. (Tozzi, 2007).

While those are just two examples one can see they have positive and negative impacts on the United States. What is the effect on the worldwide picture? Large corporations have seen the benefits of hiring migrant workers in order to cut costs. American and European service industries in particular have been seen a large increase in the number of immigrants who are willingly accepting the jobs native citizens may not accept.

Global migration has also created an underground economy of sorts. The money that migrants sent to their homelands totaled nearly $276 billion in 2006, according to the World Bank. Remittances have doubled since 2000 and the expectation is that this trend will continue (Kole, 2007). India is the leader in sending money home to families. Immigrants from India sent $23.7 billion in 2005. Some leaders fear this trend will continue to grow and the population of young adults residing in their homeland will dwindle. Others believe the money migrants send to their families boosts the local economies.

The political and economic issues related to global immigration are many. It is also apparent this topic will continue to grow in importance in the 21st century. In addition to these issues, global immigration also affects cultural and business aspects. The next section will discuss these viewpoints.

As more immigrants come to the United States, they continue to bring a variety of culture with them. Immigrants typically bring their cuisine, holiday, and religious traditions. This allows them to have a part of their home country with them when they move to a new country. However, the immigrants are not the only ones who benefit from this; we also enjoy the addition of cultures and traditions to our American culture. For instance, many of the holiday traditions we currently enjoy were previously brought to our country from immigrants many years ago. We now consider such things as the advent calendar, Christmas cards and Christmas cookies as a part of our culture. However, German and Scandinavian immigrants (Wipf & Wipf, 2007) brought these traditions to the United States in the 1700's and 1800's.

Another familiar tradition during the Christmas season is the nativity scene. Many Christian homes and churches are adorned with these to celebrate the birth of Christ. Christians can enjoy this tradition because the Italians brought it along with cuisine such as pasta and pizza (Wipf & Wipf, 2007). Italians began immigrating