"South to South" Immigration

One of the most interesting aspects of my reasearch is the exploration of what is deemed "south to south" migration. Often overlooked, this term is given to immigration from poor countries to only slightly less poor countries. Too often, immigration is solely associated with those fleeing third world countries to higly developed areas like the United States. However, this is not so; there are currently 74 million "south to south" migrants struggling internationally. This type of immigration increases the chances of abuse tenfold, because developing countries give immigrants much less legal protection. Perhaps this is one of the fundamental contributors to our flawed immigration system: the world only concentrates on immigration to developed countries.


A New York Times article specifically discusses south to south immigration as it concernes Haitian immigrants to the Dominican Republic. Since rich countries like the U.S. are tightening their immigration policies more and more, immigration between the third world has been increasing tenfold. However, developing countries like the Domincan Republic have less resources and political stability to create suitable immigration policies. Therefore, it is evident that problems with immigration policy in wealthy countries have created a snowball effect of problems that reaches every country in the developing world.



image: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/world/americas/27migration.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

Introduction to the Project

When I was five years old, my family and I moved to the U.S. from Uzbekistan, an obscure third world country formerly part of the Soviet Union. Ever since then, I have been interested in immigration policy, which is why I chose it as my topic for the Junior-Senior Research Project. Specifically, I plan to examine the political, economic, and cultural implications associated with immigration. I will concentrate primarily on migration from third-world countries to developed nations, one of my main focuses being refugees seeking political asylum. With this in mind, I have narrowed down my research primarily to the U.S. and the countries that are major sources of migration. I plan to support my research with first person accounts of what it is like for an immigrant assimilating to a new culture. It will allow me to get a personal perspective on my topic along with the objective research.

image: http://www.international-barrister.com/Bilder/ImmigrationCartoon.jpg