Caribbean Migration to the USA

1
Caribbean Migration to the USA

• Caribbean and the Migration Imperative
• US Immigration Policy (1900-post 1965)
• Socio-Economic Contributions of Caribbean
  Immigrants

2
Caribbean and the Migration Imperative

• The Caribbean as a Diaspora
• Post-slavery migration and the the US dollar
• - Panama Canal (approx. 130, 000
• workers 1904-14)
• - agricultural labor (Cuba, DR, Costa Rica,
• Honduras)
• Caribbean migration to Britain (230,000-280,000
  1951-1961)

3
Patrick Buchanan on US Immigration Policy (1991)

• I think God made all people good, but if we
• had to take a million immigrants in, say Zulus
• next year, or Englishmen, and put them in
• Virginia, what group would be easier to
• assimilate and would cause less problems for
• the people of Virginia? (This Week with David
• Brinkley,ABC-TV)

4
Caribbean Migration to the US 1900-1924

• Steady increase in immigrants from less than
  1,000 in 1899 to over 12,000 by 1924
• Motivated by economic reasons (push factors)
• Belonged largely to the Caribbean middle-class
• Most went to northern cities, esp. NYC
• Paralleled by movement of African Americans out
  of the South.

5
US Immigration Policies Quotas of the 1920s

• In 1921, a per-country cap was set at 3 of
  foreign-born persons of a given nationality
  living in the US as of 1910
• limited the world visa quota to 350,000
• In 1924, the National Origins Act reduced cap to
  2 of foreign-born persons living in the US in
  1890
• Reduced worldwide quota to 175,000, giving
  preference to Western European migration

6
Caribbean Migration to the US 1924-1960

• Caribbean immigrants leaving exceeded those
  arriving during this period
• Immigrants were mainly family members(children
  and spouses) joining families and students on
  visas
• 1952 McCarran-Walter Act
• Cuban refugees 1959-1961 over 100,000

7
Caribbean Migration to the US 1965-present

• 1965 Hart Cellar Immigration Reform Act
• Eliminated national quota system and set uniform
  country quotas of 20,000
• Prioritized family reunification over education
  and skill
• Economic and political contributions to the US

8
Black Diversity in Metropolitan America
(Washington Post, March 2003)
9
Skilled Worker Program

• permit Canada to pursue maximum social, cultural
  and economic benefits of immigration
• support the development of a strong and
  prosperous Canadian economy
• enrich and strengthen the cultural and social
  fabric of Canadian society.

10
Canadas Point System 67/100

• SIX SELECTION FACTORS
• 1. Age21-49 (maximum10 points)
• 2. EducationMasters or PhD (25 points) BA
  (20)
• nursing/teaching 2-year diploma (20) high school
  (5)
• 3. Arranged Employment(ex. recruited nurses and
  teachers,10 points)
• 4. Work Experiencefour or more years (21)
• 5. Language(s)High proficiency in English (16)
  French (8)
• 6. Adaptabilitymaximum 10 points based on
  spouses education (3-5), study in Canada (5),
  employment (5), family (5).

11
Business Class Program

• encourage the entry of experienced business
  persons to Canada who can make a substantial
  investment and thereby create employment and
  contribute to the economic well-being of Canada
• develop new commercial opportunities and improve
  access to growing foreign markets by "importing"
  people who are familiar with those markets and
  their special requirements and customs
• Business immigrants represent nearly 10 of total
  immigrants.

12
Live-In Caregiver Program

• Equivalent of a Canadian high-school education
• Six-months full-time training or 12 months paid
  experience in the field (early childhood
  education, geriatric care, etc.)
• Competency in English and/or French.

13
Refugee Program

• Conventional refugees are persons who, by reason
  of well-founded fear of persecution, for reasons
  of race, religion, nationality, political opinion
  or membership in a particular social group, are
  unable or unwilling to return to their countries
  of birth or habitual residence.

14
Business Immigration Centers

• Beijing, China
• Hong Kong
• London, United Kingdom
• Paris, France
• Bonn, Germany
• Seoul, South Korea,
• Singapore, Singapore
• Damascus, Syria
• Buffalo, USA

15
Bharrat Jagdeo (2002)

• Guyana is not alone in a situation where our
  skilled
• personnel, especially teachers and nurses, are
  being
• recruited by developed countries. As a result,
  the issue
• of skilled migration will continue to be on the
  agenda of
• the Heads of Government of CARICOM at every
• encounter we have with the US, Canadian, French
  and
• British governments . . .On the one hand you are
• recruiting nurses and teachers and other skilled
  people
• and then sending back criminals to our country on
  the
• other hand.

16
Negative Impact of Skilled Migration

• Reduced number of educated workers detrimental to
  productivity and economic growth
• Caribbean countries lose an average investment of
  US50,000 on every university graduate who
  migrates
• Loss of educated elite leads to hiring of
  expensive foreign expatriates
• Increasing poverty and crime.

17
Positive Impact of Skilled Emigration

• Returning migrants bring back skills and work
  experience from abroad boosting productivity
• Expatriates contribute money via worker
  remittances - 10 of GDP 40 of foreign exchange
  earnings
• - LA and the Caribbean (2000) 15 billion
• - 3 times larger than foreign aid and export
  earnings
• Salaries at home increased because of reducing
  supply
• Transfer of knowledge and technology is crucial
  to developing countries.

18
Possible Solutions

• multilateral agreements between brain-exporting,
  brain-importing, and transit countries
• facilitate the sharing of the benefits resulting
  from migration and "brain exchange" among host
  countries, countries of origin, and transit
  countries
• direct remittances into local investment
• offer incentives to returning expatriates.