Illegal immigration
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Illegal immigration
Illegal immigration refers to immigration across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country. In politics, the term may imply a larger set of social issues and time constraints with disputed consequences in areas such as economy, social welfare, education, health care, slavery, prostitution, crime, legal protections, voting rights, public services, and human rights. Illegal emigration, in contrast, refers to unlawfully leaving a country.
TerminologyEurope
United StatesTerms used in the United States include:
OtherCausesWarOne reason for illegal immigration is to escape civil war or repression in the country of origin. For example, people in Germany that were considered minorities fled their country in fear that they would be oppressed and arrested. Non-economic push factors include persecution (religious and otherwise), frequent abuse, bullying, oppression, and genocide, and risks to civilians during war. Political motives traditionally motivate refugee flows - to escape dictatorship for instance. After decades of armed conflict, roughly one of every 10 Colombians now lives abroad.
[7]
For example, Colombians emigrating to Spain have "grown exponentially, from a little over 7,000 in 1993 to more than 80,000 in 2002 and 244,000 in 2003."
[8]
This is equivalent to 124,000 Colombian immigrants in year 2003 into Spain alone.
Also, figures from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security indicate that Colombia is the fourth-leading source country of unauthorized immigration to the United States. According to its estimates, the number of unauthorized Colombian residents in the United States almost tripled from 51,000 in 1990 to 141,000 in 2000.
[9] According to the US Census Bureau, the number of authorized Colombian immigrants in the United States in 2000 was 801,363.
[10] Census data are important because, as the Department of Homeland Security states, [U.S.] "census data are more complete and reliable [than INS's data] because of the national scope of the data collection, the vastly larger data sample, and the extensive preparation and follow-up activities involved in conducting the decennial census."
[11]
Family reunificationSome illegal immigrants seek to live with loved ones, such as a spouse or other family members. [14] [15] [16] This is particularly true for the families of binational same sex couples. [17] The Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force (LGIRTF) warns binational same sex couples in the United States that marriage may actually increase the likelihood of becoming undocumented, rather than decreasing it. http://web.archive.org/web/20031202181136/www.lgirtf.org/canadamarriage.html http://web.archive.org/web/20040213000645/http://www.lgirtf.org/massmarriage.html Other individuals seek to distance themselves from their spouses. PovertyOne cause of illegal immigration can be poverty. This is the case in the United States, where illegal immigrants traditionally have entered the country in search of wages higher than those achievable in their home countries.
The chief cause of illegal immigration is considered to be economic. Illegal immigrants in the United States traditionally have been portrayed as seeking jobs and wages better than those available in their home countries. For example, the 1994 economic crisis in Mexico was associated with widespread poverty and a lower valuation for the peso relative to the dollar. The United States Department of Labor calculates that the Zone A (most industrialized) minimum wage in Mexico in 1999 was 34.45 pesos, or about US$3.50 per day . The Zone C (rural/agricultural) minimum wage was 29.70 Pesos a day, or roughly US$3.02 a day . By contrast, the U.S. minimum is set at $5.85 per hour under U.S. federal law, and many states require rates higher than the federally mandated minimum.[19] Natural disasters and overpopulation can amplify poverty-driven migration flows.[20] Population growthPopulation growth which exceeds the carrying capacity of an area or environment results in overpopulation.[21] Spikes in human population can cause problems such as pollution, water crisis[22][23] and poverty.[24][25] World population has grown from 1.6 billion in 1900 to an estimated 6.6 billion today. In Mexico alone, population has grown from 13.6 million in 1900 to 107 million in 2007.[26] In 2000, the United Nations estimated that the world's population was growing at the rate of 1.14% (or about 75 million people) per year. According to data from the CIA's 2005–2006 World Factbooks, the world human population currently increases by 203,800 every day.[27] The United States Census Bureau issued a revised forecast for world population that increased its projection for the year 2050 to above 9.4 billion people, up from 9.1 billion people. We are adding a billion more every 12 years. Almost all growth will take place in the less developed regions.[28] DangersIllegal immigrants expose themselves to dangers while engaged in illegal entry to another country. Aside from the possibility that they may be intercepted and deported, some considerably more dangerous outcomes have been known to result from their activity. As an example, illegal immigrants may been trafficked for exploitation. SlaveryAfter the end of the legal international slave trade by the European nations and the United States in the early 19th century, the illegal importation of slaves has continued, albeit at much reduced levels. Although not as common as in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America, some women are undoubtedly smuggled into the United States and Canada.[29] People been kidnapped or tricked into slavery to work as laborers, for example in factories. Those trafficked in this manner often face additional barriers to escaping slavery, since their status as illegal immigrants makes it difficult for them to gain access to help or services. For example Burmese women trafficked into Thailand and forced to work in factories or as prostitutes may not speak the language and may be vulnerable to abuse by police due to their illegal immigrant status.[30] In the Dominican Republic, Haitian migrant workers are sold into slavery on Dominican Sugar plantations, including children.[31][32] ProstitutionThe so-called "white slave trade" referred to the smuggling of women, almost always under duress or fraud, for the purpose of forced prostitution. Now more generically called "sexual slavery" it continues to be a problem, particularly in Eastern Europe and the Middle East,[33][34][35] though there has been an increase in the number of cases in the U.S.http://www.walnet.org/csis/papers/doezema-loose.html#moralpanics Some Haitian children have allegedly been forced to work as prostitutes in the Dominican sexual tourism industry.[36] Currently the Dominican sex trade ranks third in the world, only behind Thailand and the Philippines.[37] RapeThe possibility of being raped has become a problem for some women illegally entering another country. ?After the coyotes get the women across the [U.S.-Mexico] border, safely on U.S. soil, they gang rape them to show they have total control over them. They hang their panties in the trees as signs of the conquest. . . If the women are young and pretty, they are kept in houses of prostitution where they have to have their families buy them out or work their way out. Of course, none will testify to this because the coyotes know where they are from and can seek revenge on their families in Mexico." DeathEach year there are several hundred Immigrant deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border.[38] Death by exposure occurs in the deserts of Southwestern United States during the hot summer season. [39] Allegations have been made that thousands of illegal immigrants attempting to reach Europe have died since 1986. In order to arrive to the sea, the dangerous passage of the Sahara is necessary. People have crossed it on trucks and off-road vehicles along the tracks between Sudan, Chad, Niger and Mali one one side and Libya and Algeria on the other. On this passage at least 1,069 people have died since 1996. The Libyan, Algerian and Morocan Governments have been accused of abandoning hundreds of migrants in open desert border areas. Abuse has been reported of migrants in Libya. There are not any official data, but in 2006 Human Rights Watch and AFVIC accused Tripoli of arbitrary arrests, beatings and tortures in the migrant detention centers, In September 2000 in Zawiyah, in northwest Libya, at least 560 foreigners were killed in racist attacks. 247 stowaways in trucks were found dead in Albania, France, Germany, Greece, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Hungary. There are still minefields along the Evros river between the Greece-Turkey border. Additionally, 51 people drowned crossing rivers delimiting the frontier between Croatia and Bosnia; Turkey and Greece; Slovakia and Austria; and Slovenia and Italy. Forty-one people froze to death travelling over the icy mountains at the border between Turkey, Greece and Slovakia; 20 people died under the trains in the Channel tunnel trying to reach England; 33 people were shot dead by Spanish and Moroccan police or injured along the border fence of Ceuta and Melilla Spanish enclaves in Morocco; 11 people burnt when a deportation center in the Netherlands caught fire; and eight men were found dead hidden in the undercarriages of planes. MethodsBorder crossing
Border control at sea by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Human smuggling is the practice of intermediaries aiding illegal immigrants in crossing over international borders in financial gain, often in large groups. Human smuggling differs from, but is sometimes associated with, human trafficking. A human smuggler will facilitate illegal entry into a country for a fee, but on arrival at their destination, the smuggled person is usually free. Trafficking involves a process of using physical force, fraud, or deception to obtain and transport people. Types of notorious human smugglers include Snakehead gangs present in mainland China (especially in Fujian) that smuggle laborers into Pacific Rim nations (making Chinatowns frequent centers of illegal immigration) http://www.geocities.com/humanperil/FUZHOU.html and "coyotes," who smuggle illegal immigrants to the Southwestern United States and have been known to abuse or even kill their passengers. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20060723-9999-1m23killed.html Sometimes immigrants are abandoned by their human traffickers if there are difficulties, often dying in the process. Others may be victims of intentional killing. In many spots on the U.S.-Mexico border, there are "rape trees" on which either condoms or the undergarments of women sexually abused by the "coyotes" are hung as trophies. http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=66076DB4-78A9-40EB-92F5-07DF05FB4C40http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/immigration042107.htmhttp://www.magic-city-news.com/Paul_Streitz_67/Border_Breakdown_37813781.shtml Overstaying a visaSome illegal immigrants enter a country legally and then overstay or violate their visa. http://www.workpermit.com/news/2005_10_24/us/immigrants_overstay_visas_us.htm For example, most of the estimated 200,000 illegal immigrants in Canada (perhaps as high as 500,000), are refugee claimants whose refugee applications were rejected but who have not yet been ejected from the country.[42] A related way of becoming an illegal immigrant is through bureaucratic means. For example, a person can be allowed to remain in a country - or be protected from expulsion - because he/she needs special pension for a medical condition, etc., without being able to regularize his/her situation and obtain a work and/or residency permit, let alone naturalization. Hence, categories of people being neither illegal immigrants nor legal citizens are created, living in a judicial "no man's land". Another example is formed by children of foreigners born in countries observing jus soli ("right of territory"), such as France. In that country, one may obtain French nationality if one is born in France - but, due to recent legislative changes, it is only granted at the age of eighteen, and only upon request. Fraudulent marriageA third way to enter a country is to engage in a sham marriage, registering as married with the government for the purpose of obtaining papers for one half of the partnership in exchange for monetary or other considerations. The first U.S. case involving one of these marriages arranged over the internet is currently being prosecuted. http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/12/07/green.card.ap/index.html Legal and political status
Many countries have had or currently have laws restricting immigration for economic or nationalistic political reasons. Whether a person is permitted to stay in a country legally may be decided by quotas or point systems or may be based on considerations such as family ties (marriage, elderly mother, etc.). Exceptions relative to political refugees or to sick people are also common. Immigrants who do not participate in these legal proceedings or who are denied permission under them and still enter or stay in the country are illegal immigrants. http://149.101.23.2/graphics/publicaffairs/factsheets/948.htm Most countries have laws requiring workers to have proper documentation, often intended to prevent or minimize the employment of unauthorized immigrants. However the penalties against employers are often small and the acceptable identification requirements vague and ill-defined as well as being seldom checked or enforced, making it easy for employers to hire unauthorized labor. Unauthorized immigrants are especially popular with many employers because they can pay less than the legal minimum wage or have unsafe working conditions, secure in the knowledge that few unauthorized workers will report the abuse to the authorities. Often the minimum wages in one country can be several times the prevailing wage in the unauthorized immigrant's country, making even these jobs attractive to the unauthorized worker. In response to the outcry following popular knowledge of the Holocaust, the newly-established United Nations held an international conference on refugees, where it was decided that refugees (legally defined to be people who are persecuted in their original country and then enter another country seeking safety) should be exempted from immigration laws. http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/o_c_ref.htm It is, however, up to the countries involved to decide if a particular immigrant is a refugee or not, and hence whether they are subject to the immigration controls. The right to freedom of movement of an individual within National borders is often contained within the constitution or in a country's human rights legislation but these rights are restricted to citizens and exclude all others. Some argue that the freedom of movement both within and between countries is a basic human right and that nationalism and immigration policies of state governments violate this human right that those same governments recognize within their own borders. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, fundamental human rights are violated when citizens are forbidden to leave their country. (Article 13). However, immigrants are not assured the right to enter a country, that right is given at the host country's discretion. Since illegal immigrants without proper legal status have no valid identification documents such as identity cards, they may have reduced or no access to public health systems, proper housing, education and banks. This lack of access may result in the creation or expansion of illegal underground forgery to provide this documentation. http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=9736. When the authorities are overwhelmed in their efforts to stop illegal immigration, they have historically provided amnesty. Amnesties, which are becoming less tolerated by the citizenry, http://www.tscl.org/NewContent/102756.asp waive the "subject to deportation" clause associated with illegal aliens. By regionAngolaIn 2007 around 44,000 Congolese were forced to leave Angola.[43] Since 2004, more than 400,000 illegal immigrants, almost all from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, have been expelled from Angola.[44][45] ArgentinaIllegal immigration has been a relatively important factor in recent Argentine demographics. Most illegal immigrants come from Bolivia, and Paraguay, countries which border Argentina to the north. Smaller numbers arrive from Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Ukraine, Peru, Ecuador, Romania, Dominican Republic, Cuba and the People's Republic of China. The Argentine government estimates that 750,000 inhabitants lack official documents and has launched a program called Patria Grande ("Greater Homeland"), to encourage illegal immigrants to regularize their status; so far some 200,000 applications have been processed under the program. ChileChile has recently become a new pole of attraction for illegal immigrants, mostly from the neighboring countries such as Peru and Bolivia. According to the national census of 2002 the foreign populations have increased by 75% since 1992.http://www.lanacion.com.ar/archivo/Nota.asp?nota_id=920108 ChinaPeople's Republic of China is building a security barrier along its border with North Korea to prevent the defectors or refugees from North Korea.[46] European UnionThe European Union is developing a common system for immigration and asylum and a single external border control strategy. In France, helping an illegal immigrant (providing shelter, for example) is prohibited by a law passed on December 27, 1994 http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/1995/06/ROCHU/1546. The law was heavily criticized by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as the CIMADE and the GISTI, left-wing political parties such as the Greens and the French Communist Party, and trade-unions such as the magistrates' Syndicat de la magistrature. The Turkish newspaper Hürriyet published stories once in July 2004 and a second time in May 2006 that Hellenic Coast Guard ships were caught on film cruising as near as a few hundred meters off the Turkish coast and abandoning clandestine immigrants to the sea. This practice allegedly resulted in the drowning of six people between Chios and Karaburun Peninsula on 26 September 2006 while three others disappeared and 31 were saved by Turkish gendarmes and fishermen.[47] However, there are numerous non-Turkish claims and testimonies that Turkish authorities and/or citizens lead immigrants through the sea, often resulting to the abandonment and sometimes drowning of said immigrants. A tough new EU immigration law detaining illegal immigrants for up to 18 months before deportation has triggered outrage across Latin America, with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatening to cut off oil exports to Europe.[48][49] GreeceAfter the opening of the Albanian borders in 1991, a huge influx of Albanian economic migrants crossed illegally into Greece in order to find work. They are currently estimated at about 600,000-800,000, but an accurate calculation is very difficult because of the large percentage of illegal immigrants.[50][51] IndiaThe Indo-Bangladeshi barrier is 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) long. Presently, India is constructing a fence along the border to restrict illegal traffic from Bangladesh.[52] This obstruction will virtually isolate Bangladesh from India. The barrier's plan is based on the designs of the Israeli West Bank barrier and will be 3.6 m (11.8 ft) high. The stated aim of the fence is to stop infiltration of terrorists, prevent smuggling, and to bring a close to illegal immigration from Bangladesh.[53][54] IranSince late April 2007, the Iranian government has forcibly deported back to Afghanistan nearly 100,000 registered and unregistered Afghans living and working in Iran. The forceful evictions of the refugees, who have lived in Iran and Pakistan for nearly three decades, are part of the two countries' larger plans to repatriate all Afghan refugees within a few years. Iran says it will send 1,000,000 by next March, and Pakistan announced that all 2,400,000 Afghan refugees, most living in camps, must return home by 2009. Experts say it will be 'disastrous' for Afghanistan.[55][56][57] LibyaLibya is home to a large illegal Sub-Saharan African population which numbers as much as 2,000,000.[58] The mass expulsion plan to summarily deport all undocumented foreigners was announced by Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi in January 2008. "No resident without a legal visa will be excluded."[59] [60] MalaysiaAn ethnic Indian Malaysian was recently sentenced to whipping and 10 months in prison for hiring six illegal immigrants at his restaurant. "I think that after this, Malaysian employers will be afraid to take in foreign workers (without work permits). They will think twice," said immigration department prosecutor Azlan Abdul Latiff. ?This is the first case where an employer is being sentenced to caning,? he told. Illegal immigrants also face caning before being deported.[61] There are an estimated 800,000 illegal immigrants in Malaysia. [62] MexicoIn the first six months of 2005 alone, more than 120,000 people from Central America have been deported to their countries of origin. This is a significantly higher rate than in 2002, when for the entire year, only 130,000 people were deported http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2005/08/24/018n3pol.php. Another important group of people are those of Chinese origin, who pay about $5,500 to smugglers to be taken to Mexico from Hong Kong. It is estimated that 2.4% of rejections for work permits in Mexico correspond to Chinese citizens http://www.cimacnoticias.com/noticias/01dic/01122403.html. Many women from Eastern Europe, Asia, the United States, and Central and South America are also offered jobs at table dance establishments in large cities throughout the country causing the National Institute of Migration (INM) in Mexico to raid strip clubs and deport foreigners who work without the proper documentation http://www.tvazteca.com/hechos/archivos2/2004/10/102327.shtml. In 2004, the INM deported 188,000 people at a cost of $10 million http://www.migracion.gob.mx/paginas/entrevistas/entrevista10feb2004.htm. Illegal immigration of Cubans through Cancún tripled from 2004 to 2006. http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/415621.html RussiaRussia experiences a constant flow of immigration. On average, 200,000 legal immigrants enter the country every year; about half are ethnic Russians from the other republics of the former Soviet Union. In addition, there are an estimated 10-12 million illegal immigrants in the country.[63] There has a significant influx of ethnic Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Tajiks, and Uzbeks into big Russian cities in recent years, which has been viewed very unfavorably by many citizens, and has given rise to nationalist sentiments.[64][65][66] Many immigrant ethnic groups have much higher birth rates than native Russians, further shifting the balance. Some Chinese flee the overpopulation and birth control regulations of their home country and settle in the Far East and in southern Siberia. Russia?s main Pacific port and naval base of Vladivostok, once closed to foreigners, today is bristling with Chinese markets, restaurants and trade houses.[67] Experts predict that the Chinese diaspora in Russia will increase to at least 10 million by 2010 and Chinese may become the dominant ethnic group in the Russian Far East region 20 to 30 years from now.[68][69][70] Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia has begun construction of a separation barrier between its territory and Yemen to prevent the unauthorized movement of people and goods into and out of the kingdom. See Saudi-Yemen barrier. In 2006 Saudi Arabia proposed plans for the construction of a security fence along the entire length of its 560-mile (900km) desert border with Iraq in a multimillion-pound project to secure the kingdom?s borders in order to improve internal security, control illegal immigration and bolster its defences against external threats. [71] South AfricaSouth Africa is home to an estimated five million illegal immigrants, including some three million Zimbabweans.[72][73][74] Attacks on foreign nationals increased markedly in late 2007 and it is believed that there have been at least a dozen attacks since the start of 2008. A series of anti-immigrant riots occurred in South Africa beginning on May 11, 2008.[75][76] SyriaRefugees from Iraq have increased in number since the U.S.-led invasion of that country in March 2003. The United Nations estimates that nearly 2,200,000 Iraqis have fled the country since 2003,[77] with nearly 100,000 fleeing to Syria and Jordan each month.[78][79] Most ventured to Jordan and Syria, creating demographic shifts that have worried both governments. Refugees are mired in poverty as they are generally barred from working in their host countries.[80][81] Syrian authorities worried that the new influx of refugees would limit the country's resources. Sources like oil, heat, water and electricity were said to be becoming more scarce as demand had gone up.[82] On October 1, 2007 news agencies reported that Syria re-imposed restrictions on Iraqi refugees, as stated by a spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Under Syria's new rules, only Iraqi merchants, businessmen and university professors with visas acquired from Syrian embassies may enter Syria.[83][84][85] TurkeyTurkey receives many economic migrants from nearby countries such as Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Iran, but also from Afghanistan, Central Asia and Pakistan.[86][87] The Iraq War is thought to have increased the flow of illegal immigration into Turkey, while the global parties directly involved in the conflict have been accused of extending a less-helping hand than Turkey itself to resolve the precarious situation of immigrants stranded in passage.[88] United StatesBetween 12 and 20 million illegal immigrants are estimated to be living in the United States; the exact number is unknown.[89] The majority of the illegal immigrants are from Mexico.[90] Illegal immigration has been a longstanding issue in the United States, creating immense controversy. Harvard University economist George J. Borjas explains that the controversy centers around the "huge redistribution [of wealth] away from [unskilled American] workers to [American employers] who use immigrants." [91] In 2007, President Bush called for Congress to endorse his guest worker proposal, stating that illegal immigrants took jobs that Americans would not take. [92] The Pew Hispanic Center notes that while the number of legal immigrants (including LPRs, refugees, and asylees) arriving has not varied substantially since the 1980s, the number of illegal aliens has increased dramatically and, since the mid 1990s, has surpassed the number of legal immigrants. http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/46.pdf Penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants range from $2,000-$10,000 and up to six months' imprisonment. [93] VenezuelaThere are hundreds of thousands, possibly even millions of Colombian immigrants living in Venezuela.[94] In 1995, Venezuela announced plans to conduct a census to locate and deport illegal immigrants.[95] An estimated 200,000 Colombians have fled the Colombian Civil War and sought safety in Venezuela. Most of them lack identity documents and this hampers their access to services, as well as to the labor market. The Venezuelan government had no specific policies on refugees.[96][97] See alsoReferencesFurther reading
de:Unerlaubte Migration es:Inmigración ilegal eo:Kontra?le?a enmigrado fr:Immigration illégale ko:???? ja:???? ru:??????????? ???????? fi:Laiton siirtolaisuus sv:Illegal invandring zh:???? Source: Wikipedia | The above article is available under the GNU FDL. | Edit this article
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