9.5: Immigration and Migration
9.5: Explain the causes and effects of domestic and international migration over time.
In the last set of notes, we talked about the American economy and now, we’re going to be talking about migration and immigration.
The Sunbelt
For years after World War II, after the invention of air conditioning and the rise of new jobs, defense industry plants, and army bases along the Pacific Coast and South, many Americans began migrating to the Sunbelt in the United States. During this time, this migration led to the rise of aerospace industries in the Sunbelt such as NASA in Florida and Boeing in Seattle. States such as Texas and California also became highly populated and became the birthplace of the new computer and technology industries starting in the 1980s, especially in Silicon Valley. Many manufacturing facilities were also moved to the Sunbelt due to the reduced labor protections in the South. As more and more people moved South, these states became more and more influential in politics and the electoral college.
Immigration
As for immigration, after LBJ’s Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 ended immigration quotas from the 1920s, more and more immigrants began arriving in America. These immigrants brought their cultures and foods with them, contributing to American diversity, and also provided a source of labor for the country. For example, Latin American immigrants made up a large portion of these immigrants and many came as farm laborers, either from Mexico or from the “North Triangle” countries of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala due to violence in those countries. In some areas, especially in California and the Southwest, Hispanics would even make up the majority of the population there. Immigration also increased from Asia and they are now the fastest-growing immigrant group today.
Undocumented Immigrants
As for undocumented immigrants, 44th President Barack Obama established the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012 to protect undocumented children in the United States from being deported. But this was slightly controversial because Obama had passed this through an Executive Order after a bill to fix the immigration system failed in Congress, causing an argument over the separation of powers to emerge.
But this influx of immigration also led to heavy nativist backlashes during the 21st century. For example, Obama was heavily criticized for deporting more undocumented immigrants than any previous president. Then, in the Election of 2016, Donald Trump ran his campaign on the opposition to immigration and was elected as the 45th President.
