Role Of Immigration In American Culture

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MULTICULTURALISM AND IMMIGRATION TODAY Throughout the history of the United States, immigration has not been limited to individuals from those countries which made up the majority of immigrants during a given period; there have been time spans of relatively high emigration from various parts of the world that may not be obvious in a list of the countries from which most immigrants arrive. . Additionally, the United States has had a history of forced immigration. This practice began early in the settlement of the Americas with the system of indentured servitude for poor Europeans, who, while "choosing" to emigrate from their homes, were forced to choose between likely death by starvation, and relocation, which ultimately represents an obligation…show more content…
Since the 1980s, the United States, Canada and Australia have set up privileged entry systems to attract entrepreneurs, executives, scientists, professionals and technical specialists. More recently, Western European and some East Asian countries have followed suit (Findlay, 1995). Attracting Indian IT professionals has become a global competition, while the health services of countries like Britain could not run without doctors and nurses from Africa and Asia. This type of migration can represent a 'brain drain' - that is a transfer of human capital from poor to rich countries - but may also bring about technology transfer and cultural innovation for areas of origin. Since poor countries continue to turn out more graduates than they can employ, while rich countries continue to prune their education budgets, such migration looks certain to grow (Findlay,…show more content…
This type became prominent with regard to Hong Kong in the period preceding re-integration into the People's Republic of China (Pe-Pua et al., 1998), but continues today affecting increasing numbers of countries. * Return migration, though obviously not new, seems to be growing in volume as a result of trends towards temporary or circulatory migration. Return migrants are important agents of economic, social and cultural change, and increasing attention is being paid to their possible role in development processes (Castles, 2000). * Retirement migration is an emerging type of mobility closely linked to improvements in transport and communications. Increasing numbers of people from rich countries with relatively high living costs and unattractive climates are seeking to spend their twilight years in more con- genial surroundings. Western Europeans are moving to Southern Europe (King et al., 2000), Japanese to Australia and New Zealand and North Americans to Latin America and the Philippines. This has considerable cultural impacts and also provides the basis for new service industries (Castles,
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