Immigration and Migration in America: Social Impact and Social Response*
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2435.1988.tb00663.x |
| Date | 01 October 1988 |
| Author | P. W. Dail |
| Published date | 01 October 1988 |
Immigration and Migration in America:
Social Impact and Social Response*
P.
W.
DAIL**
CHARACTERISTICS
OF
THE IMMIGRANT AND MIGRANT POPULATIONS
Defining the terms immigrant and migrant is somewhat difficult when discussing these
populations as they exist in the United States, because some populations, such as the
Hispanics, are both immigrants and migrants. However for purposes of this discussion,
immigrants refer to those who enter into the country from outside the borders, and
migrants refer to those who move from place to place inside the country. Because
Hispanics immigrate into the U.
S.
before they migrate internally, they are referred to as
immigrants. Those who are not immigrants, such as the southern Appalachian or Black
populations, are considered to be migrants.
The newest population of immigrants comes primarily from southeast Asia, and
commonly enter the country as political refugees, under the 1980 Refugee Act which
permits legal entry into the U.
S.
of persons meeting certain criteria established through
the United Nations which would place them in a special category outside of the
270,000
ordinary persons permitted to immigrate each year. Usually these individuals are able to
become permanent residents after one year, and once having achieved this status, are
permitted to have family members join them, without regard for ability to be self
supporting. Often multi-generational, these families most commonly have been located
in the western or eastern regions of the United States.
The largest (and oldest)
group
of immigrants are the Hispanics who enter the United
States, either legally or illegally, from Mexico, with the intent of doing manual and/or
domestic labor. Most of these live in the Spanish-American border states and are farm
workers, migrating within the U.
S.
to harvest crops. In the beginning, this population
generally was composed of young men who either were unmarried
or
who had left their
families behind. As time has passed, the migrant worker population has evolved into
a,
sub-culture of its own, and today is composed of complete families, sometimes having
more than one generation. This population has assumed both immigrant and migrant
traits.
A smaller percent ofthe total migrant population consists ofwhites who move about in
search of employment opportunities, and blacks who tend to move back and forth
*
Revised version
of
the Plenary Session Address at the
53rd
Annual Groves Conference, San
Antonio,
TX,
April
1987.
**
Department
of
Family and Child Development, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University, Blacksburg, (U.S.A.).
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