Historic and Current
Trends in
Global Migration
Alfonso Rodriguez-Lainz, PhD, VMD, MPVM
US-Mexico Unit
CDC Division of Global Migration and Quarantine
7th Summer Institute on
Migration and Global Health
June 25-29, 2012
Outline
• Human mobility
• Who is migrant?
• Main categories of migrants
• Global and U.S migration trends
• Conclusions and Recommendations
Human mobility …
… as old as human history
• Humans wandering in search of resources
(land, food, water, precious minerals),
conquest, or to escape from conflict or natural
disasters
Migration of anatomically
modern humans
National Geographic Society
Global mobility
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4g930pm8Ms
Global mobility & disease
Mobile populations
• Individuals who move in geographic space
–
–
–
–
Different reasons
Different distances
Different administrative boundaries
Different periods of time
Place
A
Place
B
Commuters
Tourists
Migrant workers
Move to another state
Border crossers
Refugees
Who is a migrant?
• How is a migrant
different from other
mobile populations?
Migrant worker on
California highway (1935)
Picture from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, courtesy of the National
Archives and Records Administration.
Who is a migrant?
• No universally accepted definition
• Countries and agencies use their own
criteria, based and their own legislation
and policies
• Definitions are not consistently used
• “Popular” terms
Who is a migrant?
Migrant
Immigrant
Foreign born
Tourist
Minorities
Mobile
populations
Migrant
UN Recommendations (1998 and 2007)
• A person
changing
his/her
place of
usual
residence
Residence
in Place A
Sources:
-UN Recommendations on International Migration Statistics (1998)
- UN Expert Group Meeting on the use of censuses and surveys to measure international migration,
ESA/STAT/AC.132/1 (2007)
Migrant
UN Recommendations (1998 and 2007)
• A person
changing
his/her
place of
usual
residence
Moves to
residence
in Place B
Residence
in Place A
Sources:
-UN Recommendations on International Migration Statistics (1998)
- UN Expert Group Meeting on the use of censuses and surveys to measure international migration,
ESA/STAT/AC.132/1 (2007)
Change in residence …
• Temporary or permanent
• Authorized or unauthorized
• For different reasons
Determinants of migration
• Economic/
better future
• Family reunification
• Forced
by Philip Craft, Staff
International visitors
 Person who travels to another
country but doesn't change
country of usual residence
 e.g., tourists, business travelers,
religious pilgrims, for medical care
• Usually admitted for limited time
(e.g., weeks)
• Not considered migrants
International Migrant
UN Recommendations (1998 and 2007)
• A person
changing
his/her
country of
usual
residence
Moves to
residence in
destination
country
Residence
in country
of origin
Sources:
-UN Recommendations on International Migration Statistics (1998)
- UN Expert Group Meeting on the use of censuses and surveys to measure international migration,
ESA/STAT/AC.132/1 (2007)
Internal Migrant
UN Recommendations (1998)
• A person changing
his/her usual
residence but
within the same
country
– Usually refers to
• Rural to urban
migration
• Internally
displaced persons
China
Mexico’s Internal Migration
Internal migrants: 12 million
Source: CONAPO and Universidad Panamericana
United States’ internal migration
“Geographical Mobility/Migration”
• “Each year many
Americans leave their
place of birth to reside
in a different part of the
country”
• “Population mobility
has crucial impact on
individuals, as well as
local demographics
and economies”
http://www.census.gov/hhes/migration/
Immigrant vs. Emigrant
• “Migrant”:
– It disregards the direction of movement
• From the perspective of the…
– Region/country of arrival the person is an
“immigrant”
– Region/country of departure the person is
an “emigrant”
UN Recommendations on International Migration Statistics (1998)
Some statistics … (2010)
Source: WHO (2010)
Organizations using a “change in
residence” to define migrants
United Nations
 U. S Customs and Immigration Services
 U.S Census Bureau
 European Union
 Consejo Nacional de Población (Mexico)
 International Organization for Migration
 World Bank

But using different criteria …
•
•
•
•
Country of birth ~ Foreign born
Country of citizenship ~ Foreign citizen
Minimum duration of residence (e.g., 12 m)
Type of residence visas for foreigners
– Immigrants ~ Permanent residence
– Non-immigrant ~ temporary workers & visitors
• Ethnicity or religion (e.g., Ethnic-Russians)
• Others or a combination
Why do we care about definitions?
1. Achieve comparability of migration
statistics among countries and agencies
2. To better understand and target migrant
communities’ health needs
•
Great diversity among migrants
Great diversity among migrants
Source: California Immigrant Integration Initiative of
Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees
• Country of birth
• Culture/Language
• Reasons for
migration
• Migration pattern
• SES
• Education
• Occupation
• Legal status
• Health
Main categories of
international migrants
Migrant workers
 Refugees*
 Asylum-seekers*
 Victims of trafficking*
 Unauthorized migrants*
 International students*

* Standard international definitions
Refugees
• A person with a well-founded
fear of being persecuted for
reasons of race, religion,
nationality, social group or
political opinion, …
• is outside his/her country of
nationality and …
• is unable or unwilling to return
to that country
• 15.2 million (2009)
(Source: UN Convention Related to the Status of
Refugees and the 1967 Protocol)
Human Trafficking
• Recruitment, transportation, or
harboring of persons, by use of
force , coercion, or fraud for
the purpose of exploitation
– Forced labor
– Sexual exploitation
• Can be international or
domestic (i.e., internal)
(Art. 3(a), UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children,
Supplementing the UN Convention Against Organized Crime, 2000).
Unauthorized migrants
• “A person who, owing to illegal entry or
the expiry of his/her visa, lacks legal
status in a transit or host country”
– A.K.A: undocumented, irregular,
clandestine or illegal migrant
Source: IOM Glossary of Migration, 2004
Some areas of confusion …
• Migration pattern vs. migrant
• Farmworker vs. migrant
• Race/ethnicity vs. migrant
Migration patterns vs. migrant
Migration patterns vs. migrant
(“Migrant”) Farmworker




Several definitions in the U.S
Farmworker is an occupational group
Annual average number: 1million (2006)
Foreign born: 78%
 Migration patterns
–
–
–
–
Settled
Shuttler migrants*
Follow-the-crop migrants*
Newcomers
*International or within the U.S
53%
21%
13%
13%
Source: NAWS
Race/ethnicity
• Self-identification
• The categories do not denote scientific
definitions of anthropological origins
• Example:
• Hispanic or Latino (2010 Census)
– a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican,
South or Central American, or other Spanish
culture or origin regardless of race.
Office of Management and Budget (1997)
Of 51 million Hispanics (2010) …
Farm
workers
Limited English Proficiency
U.S vs. Foreign born Hispanics
Source: ACS 2010
Source: Dey AN, Lucas JW. Physical and mental health characteristics of U.S.-and foreign-born adults:
UnitedStates,1998–2003Advance data Statistics. 2006. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health from vital and health
GLOBAL MIGRATION
TRENDS
Major Migration Flows (1960-1970)
Major Migration Flows (2000’s)
Migration flows
Of the 6.9 billion people
in the world in 2010 …
…214 million or 3.1 % were
international migrants
United Nations
Population Division/DESA
Top 20 countries with the highest % of international migrants,
2010
Croatia
15.9
Gambia
16.6
Lebanon
17.8
Gabon
18.9
Kazakhstan
19.5
Ireland
19.6
Canada
21.3
Australia
21.9
New Zealand
22.4
Switzerland
U.S.A: 13.5%
UK & France: 11%
Mexico: 0.8%
23.2
Saudi Arabia
27.8
Oman
28.4
China, Hong Kong SAR
38.8
Israel
40.4
Singapore
40.7
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Jordan
43.6
45.9
68.8
Kuwait
United Arab Emirates
70.0
Qatar
Note: Among countries
with
least30.0
1 million
0.0
10.0 at20.0
40.0 inhabitants
50.0
60.0
86.5
70.0
80.0
90.0
100.0
Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2009).
International Migration, 2009 Wallchart (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.09.XIII.8).
“Rough” estimates of
unauthorized migrants
United States
EU
Canada
Japan
Thousands % of pop.
11,100
4.0
2,500-6,000 1-4
500
1.5
210
0.2
Year*
2009
2005
2005
2005
* Years since regularization. Subsequent regularizations not accounted for in these
estimates
Source: OECD International Migration Outlook 2006, 2007
Passel and Cohn, 2010
Share of international migrants in
more vs. less developed regions,
2010
Direction of international
migration flows, 2010
Share of females in the
international migration stock
Age pyramid: Migrants vs.
total population
Demographic and social effects of
migration in host country/region
•
•
•
•
•
Increase population size
Changes in gender and age distribution
Increased population fertility
Changes in race/ethnic distribution
High proportion of workforce
Foreign-born as a percentage of
practicing doctors and nurses,
2000
Doctors
Nurses
New Zealand
46.9
23.2
Australia
42.9
24.8
Canada
35.1
17.2
United States
24.4
11.9
Source: International Migration Outlook (OECD, 2007)
Migration and the
global economic crisis
•
•
•
•
•
Considerable regional and local variation
Slower immigration to some countries
Migrant stocks largely unchanged
Migrants harder impacted
Remittances rebounded quickly
IOM World Migration Outlook 2011
Remittances and other resource
flows to developing countries
Foreign direct
investment
Official Development
assistance
Source: The World Bank, Remittances flows in 2011 – an
update Migration & Development Brief 18 (4/2012)
Immigration to the U.S.A
Flows of Immigration to U.S (1820-2009)
Northern
& Northern
Western
&
Western
Europe
Europe
Frontier
expansion
Southern
Southern &&
Eastern Europe
Eastern
Europe
Western
Europe
Western
Europe
Industrialization Immigration
pause
Asia
Asia &
&
LatinAmerica
America
Latin
Post-1965
immigration
Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Yearbook of Immigration
Statistics: 2009; Adapted from Martin P and Midgley E, 2008
U.S migrant stock,
inflows and outflows
Top 20 countries of origin of
foreign born (2010)
*China excluding Hong Kong and Taiwan
Source: ACS, 2010
Geographic distribution of the
foreign-born in the U.S (2008)
Source: ACS, 2006-2008 3-year estimates
Foreign born population by legal status, 2009
N=39.4 million
Unauthorized,
28%
(11.1 million)
Nonimmigrant
temporary
aliens, 4%
(1.4 million)
Naturalized
citizens, 37%
(14.6 million)
Immigrants or
Legal
permanent
residents, 31%
(12.4 million)
Sources: Passel JS, Cohn DV. A portrait of
unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. Washington,
DC: Pew Hispanic Center, April 2009
Conclusions and
Recommendations
Conclusions and
Recommendations
• Migration is a global phenomena, driven by
economics, migration networks, natural
disasters and human conflicts
• Volume and complexity of migration likely
to continue increasing
•Important to properly define and
characterize the numbers and needs of
these diverse populations
Conclusions and
Recommendations
•The determinants and effects of migration
are complex
•Requires a comprehensive approach
•Maximize the positive and minimize the
negative effects
Importance of
migration research
• Critical need for unbiased information
– Implement evidence-based policies and
programs
– Educate the media and public
Importance of migrant health
• Health as a basic human right
• Addressing health inequities
• Protect and promote global, national and
local health
Migrant Health:
beyond migrants themselves
• Health issues, conditions and risks
related to migrant populations, AND the
way in which migration affects:
– Countries of origin, transit and
destination, and
– Second and later migrant generations
(Adapted from Roux, 2004; and WHO 2010)
Migrant health: a bridge
between global & local health
Global health
Migrant
health
Local health
Thank you! Gracias!
Alfonso Rodriguez-Lainz
jqi3@cdc.gov
References
• IOM. World Migration Report 2011 Communicating Effectively about
migration (2011)
• IOM. Managing Migration (2004)
• Philip Martin and Gottfried Zürcher, “Managing Migration: The Global
Challenge” Population Bulletin 63, no.1 (2008)
• International Organization for Migration (2004). Glossary on Migration
• Sources: UN Secretariat, Department of Economic and Social Affairs;
UN Expert Group Meeting on the use of Censuses and Surveys to
Measure International Migration, 2007 ESA/STAT/AC.132/1
• WHO/IOM/Government of Spain Global Consultation on Migrant Health
(2010). Migration and Health: the way forward