Immigration is the act of moving to or settling in another country or region, temporarily or permanently. An immigrant is someone who intends to reside permanently, and not a casual visitor or traveler. Immigration means "in-migration" into a country, and is the reverse of emigration, or "out-migration." The long term and/or permanent movement of human population in general, whether into, out of, or within countries (or before the existence of recognised countries) is regarded as migration.

Why do people immigrate?

People immigrate for the following reasons:

• professional,
• political,
• economic
• persecution and oppression, including genocide and ethnic cleansing
• retirement (e.g., better weather; lower living costs).
• sentimental (e.g., the desire to settle in a country due to personal preference; family reunification).
• personal (e.g., opinion-based; extreme dislike of present country)

Much immigration occurs for economic reasons. Wage rates vary greatly among different countries; individuals of third world countries, in particular, can have far higher standards of living in developed countries than in their originating countries. The economic pressure to migrate can be so high that when legal means are restricted, people may immigrate regardless of their legal status. In general, people are considered as an immigrant if they keep staying in the new country for more than one year. See also economic migrant.

Differing perspectives on immigration

Some free-market libertarians believe that a free global labor market with no restrictions on immigration would, in the long run, boost global prosperity. Likewise, there are anarchists who believe national borders are not legitimate to begin with. Major corporate interests have been among the strongest advocates of liberalization of immigration laws since movement of personnel is essential to creation of true multinational corporations.

Among those on the opposite side of the issue are nationalists who propose militarizing borders; protectionists who prefer closed labor markets or who see liberal immigration practices as a form of corporate welfare where corporate interests use inexpensive or free government immigration benefits, rather than corporate resources, to compensate employees; and xenophobes who fear the presence of foreigners, though these views are not shared by all or even most immigration reductionists. Still others feel that the focus should be taken off of immigration control and placed on the importance of equal rights for immigrants to avoid what they beleive to be corporate exploitation of immigrant poverty.

In practice, no country operates without basic immigration controls. Some countries, such as Japan, allow for little or no immigration. In countries that do allow immigration there is disagreement over the numbers, policies, and implementation. Those who support more restricted immigration believe that the current levels of immigration serve to depress wages and circumvent unionisation, and contribute to unsustainable levels of population growth. Others disagree, believing that overly restrictive immigration policies and practices would not address the economic demand for work emanating from wealthier countries, would not harm the security or cohesiveness of the country, and would endanger the lives of legitimate refugees from political or racial oppression.

Immigration has become an increasingly controversial topic among environmental activists in recent years, especially within the Sierra Club in the United States. Some environmentalists concerned with overpopulation favor limiting immigration as a means of isolating the effects of human population growth, while others argue that overpopulation and environmental degredation are global problems that should be addressed by other methods.

Events, such as the November 2005 riots in France, have led some to conclude that, although reasonable immigration numbers are welcome in most societies, large numbers can cause immigrants to form closed ethnic ghettos that lead to social confrontation and seclusion. Others, such as The Economist, have noted that more important than the level of immigration are the policies of the recipient country aimed at integrating immigrants into the political, social, and especially economic environment - something that might explain the relative success of immigration in some countries, such as Canada.

See also

General immigration topics

• Anti-immigration
• Asylum
• Benefit tourism
• Brain drain
• Diaspora
• Émigré
• Exile
• Foot voting
• Foreign Worker Visa
• Human Migration
• Illegal immigration
• Immigration policy
• International Organization for Migration
• Multiculturalism
• Nationalism
• Nativism
• Overpopulation
• People smuggling
• Pluralism
• Political migration
• Population transfer
• Refugee
• Rural Migration
• Settlement
• Trafficking in human beings
• Xenophobia

Australian immigration

• Australian immigration
• History of immigration to Australia
• White Australia policy

Canadian immigration

• Immigration to Canada
• Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
• Chinese Immigration Act of 1923
• Department of Citizenship and Immigration (Canada)
• Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
• List of Canadian Ministers of Citizenship and Immigration
• Official Multiculturalism Act

United Kingdom immigration

• Immigration to the United Kingdom
• Ireland Act 1949
• British nationality law
• Asylum and Immigration Tribunal
• Becoming a UK citizen

United States immigration

• Immigration to the United States of America Main Article
• List of United States Immigration Acts
• Naturalization
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (formerly Immigration and Naturalization Service INS)
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement
• Dominican immigration to Puerto Rico
• Immigration reductionism
• Demographics of the United States

French immigration

• Immigration to France

Legal instruments

• International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families

External links

See individual "Immigration to..." articles for country-specific links.

• Stalker's Guide to International Migration - Comprehensive interactive website on migration
• Eurasylum Many relevant documents on immigration, asylum and refugee policy, and human trafficking/smuggling internationally
• Forced Migration Review

• International Organisation for Migration
• UNESCO Programme on International Migration and Multicultural Policies
• BBC News Factfile: Global migration
• Not Giving Up, Just Seeking New Tactics - Commentary on how some immigration is beneficial to society, while other immigration is not; looks to provide a fairly equal view of things.
• Stalker's Guide to International Migration - Comprehensive interactive website on migrationde:Einwanderung