Immigration

[Sara S]

From: [email protected]



In today's encore excerpt--writing in 1998, Douglas
Massey writes of the historically inevitable result of any
government's attempts to curb immigration:



"International migration is a natural consequence of
capitalist market formation in the developing world,
(and) the international flow of labor follows
international flows of goods and capital, but in the
opposite direction. ...



"Once international migration has begun, private
institutions and voluntary organizations also tend to
arise to satisfy the demand created by a growing
imbalance between the large number of people who
seek entry into a capital-rich country and the limited
number of immigrant visas these countries typically
offer. This imbalance, and the barriers that core
countries erect to keep people out, create a lucrative
economic niche for entrepreneurs and institutions
dedicated to promoting international movement for
profit, yielding a black market in migration. As this
underground market creates conditions conducive to
exploitation and victimization, voluntary humanitarian
organizations arise in developed countries to enforce
the rights and improve the treatment of legal and
undocumented migrants."



Douglas S. Massey, et.al., Worlds in Motion,
Understanding International Migration at the End of
the Millennium, Oxford, 1998, pp. 41-44. Specific
reference is made in this excerpt to works by
Jacqueline Maria Hagan, Deciding to be Legal: A Maya
Community in Houston (1994), and Susan Gonzales
Baker, 'Implementing the US Legalization Program',
International Migration Review, (1993).