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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, legal protections, voting rights, public services, and human rights.






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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, legal protections, voting rights, public services, and human rights. Conversely, Illegal emigration
Illegal emigration

Illegal emigration refers to Emigration of people across national borders which violates the emigration laws of the country of origin. One may attempt to leave a country oneself, or be People smuggling by others....
 refers to unlawfully leaving a country.

Terminology

  • illegal alien
    Alien (law)

    In U.S. law, an alien is "any person not a United States citizen or United States national of the United States." The U.S. Government's use of alien dates back to 1798, when it was used in the Alien and Sedition Acts....
  • Illegal immigrant
  • undocumented immigrant
  • clandestine workers
  • sans papiers/"without papers"
  • Irregular immigrant/immigration
  • undocumented immigrant/migrant/alien/worker/resident
  • unauthorized immigrant/migrant/alien/worker/resident
  • paperless immigrant/migrant/alien/worker/resident
  • immigrant "without immigration status"
  • out of status
  • unnaturalized immigrant
  • boat people
    Boat people

    Boat people is a term that usually refers to illegal immigrants or asylum seekers who emigrate en masse in boats that are sometimes old and crudely made rendering them unseaworthy and unsafe....


Causes


War

Illegal immigration may be prompted by the desire to escape civil war
War

...
 or repression
Political repression

Political repression is the persecution of an individual or group for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing their ability to take part in the politics of society....
 in the country of origin. Non-economic push factors include persecution
Persecution

Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another group. The most common forms are religious persecution, ethnic persecution, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms....
 (religious and otherwise), frequent abuse
Abuse

Abuse refers to the use or treatment of something that is harmful. It can be classed by the target of abuse or the type of abuse....
, bullying, oppression
Oppression

Oppression is the use of social power to disempower, marginalize, silence or otherwise subordinate one social group or category, often in order to further empower and/or privilege the oppressor....
, and genocide
Genocide

Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group.While precise genocide definitions, a legal definition is found in the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide ....
, and risks to civilians during war
List of wars

This is a listing of lists of wars, sorted by country, date, region, and type of conflict.This list is incomplete and, quite possibly, will never be completed....
. Political motives traditionally motivate refugee
Refugee

Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecutionOwing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality,...
 flows - to escape dictatorship
Dictatorship

A dictatorship is usually defined as an Autocracy form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator, without hereditary ascension....
 for instance.

After decades of armed conflict, roughly one of every 10 Colombians now lives abroad.

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."

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
Colombia

Colombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a country in north-western South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the north west by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean....
 is the fourth-leading source country of unauthorized immigration to the United States
Immigration to the United States

American immigration refers to the movement of World population to the United States. Immigration has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of history of the United States....
. According to its estimates
Estimates

In countries using the Westminster system the Estimates are a series of legislative proposals to parliament outlining how the government will spend its money....
, the number of unauthorized Colombian residents in the United States almost tripled from 51,000 in 1990 to 141,000 in 2000. According to the US Census Bureau, the number of authorized Colombian immigrants in the United States in 2000 was 801,363. 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."

El Salvador
El Salvador

El Salvador is the smallest country in the Americas and Central America by size, and the most densely populated nation in Central America. It borders on the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras....
 is another country which experienced substantial emigration as a result of civil war and repression. The largest per-capita source of immigrants to the United States comes from El Salvador. Up to a third of the world's Salvadoran-born population lives outside the country, mostly in the United States.

According to the Santa Clara County, California, Office of Human Relations.
Despite the fact that the U.S. government’s role in the Salvadoran conflict was unique in sustaining the prolongation of the civil conflict, the government and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) extended little sympathy to the people affected by the war. In the 1980s, the INS granted only 2% of political asylum applications, claiming that democracy existed in El Salvador and that reports of U.S. and government-sponsored “death squads” were overblown. As a response to what they considered a failure of the U.S. government to address the situation of Salvadoran refugees in the country, American activists established a loose network to aid refugees. Operating in clear violation of U.S. immigration laws, these activists took refugees into their houses, aided their travel, hid them and helped them find work. This became known as the “sanctuary movement”.


Family reunification

Some illegal immigrants seek to live with loved ones, such as a spouse or other family members.

This is particularly true for the families of binational same sex couples. 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. Other individuals seek to distance themselves from their spouses.

Poverty

One cause of illegal immigration can be poverty
Poverty

Poverty is the shortage of common things such as food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, all of which determine our quality of life. It may also include the lack of access to opportunities such as education and employment which aid the escape from poverty and/or allow one to enjoy the respect of fellow citizens....
. 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 case of U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Jose Gutierrez is atypical, but it serves to demonstrate how poor immigrants enter the United States illegally in search for a better tomorrow. According to CBS
CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American radio network and television network. The name is derived from the initials of Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name....
 60 Minutes
60 Minutes

or 60 Minutes 60 Minutes is an United States investigative television newsmagazine on United States television, which has run on CBS News since 1968....
, U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Jose Gutierrez, one of the first U.S. servicemen to die in combat in Iraq
Iraq

Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, was a former street child
Street Child

Street Child is a debut album by Mexico alternative rock vocalist, Elan . It contains her biggest hit, Midnight .Ricardo Burgos from Sony Music called Street Child "a history making release in Latin America"....
 in Guatemala
Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize and the Caribbean to the northeast, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast....
 having been orphaned at age eight. Gutierrez, 60 Minutes reported, first entered the United States as an illegal immigrant in 1997 to escape poverty, and dreamed of becoming an architect.

The chief cause of illegal immigration is considered to be economic. Illegal immigrants in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 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
1994 economic crisis in Mexico

The 1994 Economic Crisis in Mexico, widely known as the Mexican peso crisis, was triggered by the sudden devaluation of the Mexican peso in the early days of Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Le?n presidency....
 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 peso
Peso

The word peso was the name of a coin that originated in Spain and became of immense importance internationally. Peso is now the name of the monetary unit of several former Spanish Empire....
s, 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 for non agricultural work was set at $5.85 per hour under U.S. federal law, and many states required rates higher than the federally mandated minimum. Natural disasters and overpopulation
Overpopulation

Overpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. In common parlance, the term usually refers to the relationship between the world population and its environment , the Earth....
 can amplify poverty
Poverty

Poverty is the shortage of common things such as food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, all of which determine our quality of life. It may also include the lack of access to opportunities such as education and employment which aid the escape from poverty and/or allow one to enjoy the respect of fellow citizens....
-driven migration flows.

Population growth

Population growth
Population growth

Population growth is the change in population over time, and can be quantified as the change in the number of individuals in a population using "per unit time" for measurement....
 which exceeds the carrying capacity
Carrying capacity

The supportable population of an organism, given the food, habitat, drinking water and other necessities available within an environment is known as the environment's carrying capacity for that organism....
 of an area or environment results in overpopulation
Overpopulation

Overpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. In common parlance, the term usually refers to the relationship between the world population and its environment , the Earth....
. Spikes in human population can cause problems such as pollution
Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms ....
, water crisis
Water crisis

Water crisis is a term that refers to the status of the world?s water resources relative to human demand. The term has been applied to the worldwide water situation by the United Nations and other world organizations....
 and poverty
Poverty

Poverty is the shortage of common things such as food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, all of which determine our quality of life. It may also include the lack of access to opportunities such as education and employment which aid the escape from poverty and/or allow one to enjoy the respect of fellow citizens....
. World population
World population

The world population is the total number of living humans on Earth at a given time. As of March 2009, the world's population is estimated to be about 6.76 1,000,000,000 ....
 has grown from 1.6 billion in 1900 to an estimated 6.7 billion today. In Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
 alone, population has grown from 13.6 million in 1900 to 107 million in 2007.

In 2000, the United Nations
United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
 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 Factbook
The World Factbook

The World Factbook is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States with almanac-style information about the List of countries....
s, the world human population currently increases by 203,800 every day. 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.

Dangers

Illegal immigrants expose themselves to dangers while engaged in illegal entry
Illegal entry

Illegal entry is the act of foreign nationals arriving in or crossing the borders into a country in violation of its immigration law.Migrants from nations that do not have automatic visa agreements, or who would not otherwise qualify for a visa, often cross the borders illegally in some areas like the United States?Mexico border, the Mona...
 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 be trafficked for exploitation.

Slavery

After the end of the legal international slave trade by the Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
an 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.

People have 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. In the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are List of divided islands, Saint Martin being the other....
, Haitian migrant workers are sold into slavery on Dominican Sugar plantations, including children till this day.

Prostitution

Some people forced into sexual slavery
Sexual slavery

Sexual slavery refers to the organized coercion of unwilling people into different sexual practices. Sexual slavery may include single-owner sexual slavery, ritual slavery sometimes associated with traditional religious practices, slavery for primarily non-sexual purposes where sex is common, or forced prostitution....
 face challenges of charges of illegal immigration.

Death

Each year there are several hundred Immigrant deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border
Immigrant deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border

Each year there are several hundred migrant deaths along the Mexico-U.S. border of those attempting to cross into the United States from Mexico without authorization from the Federal government of the United States....
. Death by exposure occurs in the deserts of Southwestern United States during the hot summer season.

Methods


Border crossing

Immigrants from nations that do not have automatic visa agreements, or who would not otherwise qualify for a visa, often cross the borders illegally in some areas like the United States–Mexico border
United States–Mexico border

The Mexico ? United States border is the international border between Mexico and the United States. It runs from San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Baja California, in the west to Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Tamaulipas, and Brownsville, Texas, Texas, in the east, and traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from major urban areas to inhospitabl...
, the Mona Channel between the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are List of divided islands, Saint Martin being the other....
 and Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a Autonomy Territories of the United States of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands....
, the Strait of Gibraltar
Strait of Gibraltar

The Strait of Gibraltar is the strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain from Morocco. The name comes from Gibraltar, which in turn originates from the Arabic language Jebel Tariq meaning mountain of Tariq....
, Fuerteventura
Fuerteventura

Fuerteventura, a Spain island, is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. It is situated at 28?20' north, 14?00' west....
, and the Strait of Otranto
Strait of Otranto

The Strait of Otranto connects the Adriatic Sea with the Ionian Sea. Its width is 45-55 nautical mile . The strait is named after the Italy city of Otranto....
. Because these methods are illegal, they are often dangerous. Would-be immigrants have been known to suffocate in shipping containers
Containerization

Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport cargo transport using standard International Organization for Standardization containers ...
, boxcar
Boxcar

A boxcar is a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry general freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is probably the most versatile, since it can carry most loads....
s, and trucks , sink in shipwreck
Shipwreck

A shipwreck is the remains of a ship that has wrecked, either in it having sunk or been Beaching . A shipwreck can refer to a wrecked ship or to the event that caused the wreck, such as the striking of something that causes the ship to sink, the stranding of the ship on rocks, land or shoal, or the destruction of the ship at sea by vio...
s caused by unseaworthy vessels , die of dehydration
Dehydration

Dehydration is the removal of water from an object. In Physiology terms, it entails a relative deficiency of water molecules in relation to other dissolved solutes....
  or exposure
Exposure

Exposure can refer to:In biology:* A condition of very poor health or death resulting from lack of protection over prolonged periods under weather, extreme temperatures or dangerous substances ...
 during long walks without water. An official estimate puts the number of people who died in illegal crossings across the U.S.-Mexican border between 1998 and 2004 at 1,954 (see immigrant deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border
Immigrant deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border

Each year there are several hundred migrant deaths along the Mexico-U.S. border of those attempting to cross into the United States from Mexico without authorization from the Federal government of the United States....
).

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
Human trafficking

Human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, harbouring, or receipt of people for the purposes of slavery, forced labor , and servitude....
. A human smuggler will facilitate illegal entry
Illegal entry

Illegal entry is the act of foreign nationals arriving in or crossing the borders into a country in violation of its immigration law.Migrants from nations that do not have automatic visa agreements, or who would not otherwise qualify for a visa, often cross the borders illegally in some areas like the United States?Mexico border, the Mona...
 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
Fraud

In the broadest sense, a fraud is a deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction....
, or deception
Deception

Deception is the act of convincing another to believe information that is not true, or not the whole truth as in certain types of half-truths....
 to obtain and transport people.

Types of notorious human smugglers include Snakehead
Snakehead (gang)

Snakeheads are Chinese gangs that People smuggling to other countries. They are found in the Fujian region of People's Republic of China and smuggle their customers into wealthier Western countries in Western Europe, North America or Australasia....
 gang
Gang

A gang is a Group of people who through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage share a common Identity . In current usage it typically denotes a organized crime or else a criminal affiliation....
s present in mainland China
Mainland China

Mainland China, Continental China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China , excluding Hong Kong and Macau, which run on One Country, Two Systems....
 (especially in Fujian
Fujian

is one of the Province of China on the southeast coast of People's Republic of China. Fujian borders Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south....
) that smuggle laborers into Pacific Rim
Pacific Rim

The Pacific Rim refers to the countries and cities located around the edge of the Pacific Ocean. There are many economic centers around the Pacific Rim, such as Auckland, Busan, Brisbane, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Lima, Los Angeles, California, Manila, Melbourne, Panama City, Portland, Oregon, San Diego, California, San Francisco, Cali...
 nations (making Chinatown
Chinatown

A Chinatown is a section of an urban area with a large number of overseas Chinese residents, usually outside of Greater China. Chinatowns are present throughout the world, including those in East Asia, Southeast Asia, North America, South America, Australasia, and Europe....
s frequent centers of illegal immigration) and "coyotes," who smuggle illegal immigrants to the Southwestern United States
Southwestern United States

The Southwestern area of the United States could be defined as the states west of the Mississippi River, with the qualification of a certain northern limit, such as the 37th parallel north, 38th parallel north, 39th parallel north, or 40th parallel north line....
 and have been known to abuse or even kill their passengers. 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.

Overstaying a visa

Some illegal immigrants enter a country legally and then overstay or violate their visa
Visa (document)

A visa is an indication that a person is authorized to enter the country which "issued" the visa, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry....
. For example, most of the estimated 200,000 illegal immigrants in Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 (perhaps as high as 500,000), are refugee claimants whose refugee applications were rejected but who have not yet been ejected from the country.

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
Naturalization

Naturalization is the acquisition of citizenship or nationality by somebody who was not a citizen or national of that country when he or she was born....
. 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
Jus soli

Jus soli , or birthright citizenship, is a right by which nationality or citizenship can be recognised to any individual born in the territory of the related state....
 ("right of territory"), such as France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of 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 marriage

A 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 those marriages arranged over the internet is currently being prosecuted.

Legal and political status

See also: Illegal immigration to the United States
Illegal immigration to the United States

Illegal immigration to the United States refers to the act of foreign nationals violating U.S. immigration policies and national laws by immigrating to the United States without proper consent from the United States government....
, Immigration to the United States
Immigration to the United States

American immigration refers to the movement of World population to the United States. Immigration has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of history of the United States....
, Australian immigration, Immigration to the United Kingdom
Immigration to the United Kingdom

Immigration to the United Kingdom since 1922 has been substantial, in particular from Ireland and the former colony of the British Empire - such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Caribbean, South Africa, Kenya and Hong Kong - under British nationality law....
, Immigration to Canada
Immigration to Canada

Immigration to Canada is the process by which people human migration to Canada and become Canadian citizens of the country. People have been Human migration to the geographic region of Canada for hundreds of years, patterns varying....
, Illegal immigrants in Malaysia
Illegal immigrants in Malaysia

Illegal immigrants in Malaysia comprise a substantial portion of the Malaysian population, numbering as many as two million by some estimates. Most of them are from nearby Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines....
, Immigration to Chile
Immigration to Chile

OverviewFor over the centuries, Chile, has received a number of immigrants mainly from Europe followed by the Americas and Asia. Today, millions of their descendants still live in the country and is available in all areas of life....
, Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Hazleton, Pennsylvania

Hazleton is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 23,329 at the 2000 census....
.


Many countries have had or currently have laws restricting immigration for economic or nationalistic
Nationalism

Nationalism refers to an ideology, a feeling, a form of culture, or a social movement that focuses on the nation. While there is significant debate over the historical origins of nations, nearly all Expert accept that nationalism, at least as an ideology and social movement, is a Modernity phenomenon originating in Europe....
 political reasons. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373

United Nations List of UN Security Council Resolutions 1373 is a counter-terrorism measure adopted September 28, 2001, following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.The resolution was adopted at the unanimity of the UN Security Council under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, and is therefore binding on all UN mem...
 concerning counter-terrorism
Counter-terrorism

Counter-terrorism refers to the practices, Military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, military, police departments and corporations adopt in response to terrorism, both real and imputed....
, enacted in October 2001, requested of UN member states to restrict immigration laws. Whether a person is permitted to stay in a country legally may be decided by quota
Emergency Quota Act

In the United States, the Emergency Quota Act of May 19, 1921 was an immigration quota that limited the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 3% of the number of persons from that country living in the United States in 1910, according to United States Census figures....
s 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, as well as people born on national territory (henceforth not "immigrants") but who have not obtained nationality of their birthplace and have no legal title of residency .

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
Minimum wage

A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily, or monthly wage that employers may legally pay to employees or workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labor....
 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 Holocaust

The Holocaust , also known as , Churben is the term generally used to describe the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, as part of a program of deliberate extermination planned and executed by Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler....
, the newly-established United Nations
United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
 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. 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
Freedom of movement

Freedom of movement, mobility rights or the right to travel is a human rights concept which is respected in the constitutions of numerous states....
 of an individual within National borders is often contained within the constitution
Constitution

A constitution is a system for government — often codified as a written document — that establishes the rules and principles of an autonomous political entity....
 or in a country's human rights
Human rights

Human rights refer to the "basic rights and freedom to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms which have come to be commonly thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of speech, and equality before the law; and social, cultural and economic rights, i...
 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
Nationalism

Nationalism refers to an ideology, a feeling, a form of culture, or a social movement that focuses on the nation. While there is significant debate over the historical origins of nations, nearly all Expert accept that nationalism, at least as an ideology and social movement, is a Modernity phenomenon originating in Europe....
 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
Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Guinness Book of Records describes the UDHR as the "Most Translated Document" in the world....
, 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
Public health

Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." It is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis....
 systems, proper housing, education
Education

File:Inukshuk Monterrey 1.jpgEducation can be seen as a product or a process and considered in a broad sense or a technical sense. According to philosophy of education George F....
 and bank
Bank

A bank is a financial institution whose primary activity is to act as a payment agent for customers and to borrow and lend money. It is an institution for receiving, keeping, and lending money....
s. This lack of access may result in the creation or expansion of illegal underground forgery to provide this documentation. .

When the authorities are overwhelmed in their efforts to stop "illegal" immigration, they have historically provided amnesty
Amnesty

Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent persons....
. Amnesties waive the "subject to deportation" clause associated with illegal aliens.

By region


Angola

In 2007 around 44,000 Congolese were forced to leave Angola
Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordering Namibia to the south, Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, and Zambia to the east, and with a west coast along the Atlantic Ocean....
. Since 2004, more than 400,000 illegal immigrants, almost all from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo , is a country in central Africa with a small length of Atlantic coastline. It is the third largest list of African countries in order of geographical area....
, have been expelled from Angola.

Argentina

Illegal immigrants in Argentina
Argentina

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is a country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city....
 are estimated at 50,000 to 2,500,000.

Bhutan

Immigration in Bhutan
Immigration in Bhutan

The earliest surviving records of Bhutan?s history show that Tibetan influence already existed from the 6th century AD. King Songtsen Gampo who ruled Tibet from AD 627-649 was responsible for the construction of Bhutan?s oldest surviving Buddhist temples, the Kyichhu Lhakhang in Paro and the Jambay Lhakhang in Bumthang ....
 by Nepalese settlers (Lhotshampa
Lhotshampa

Lhotshampa, or Lhotsampa, means southerners in Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan, and refers to the ethnic Nepalese population of Bhutan....
) began slowly towards the end of the 19th century. In 1985, the government passed a new Citizenship Act which clarified and attempted to enforce the 1958 Citizenship Act to control the flood of illegal immigration. Those individuals who could not provide proof of residency prior to 1958 were adjudged to be illegal immigrants. In 1991-92, Bhutan
Bhutan

The Kingdom of Bhutan is a landlocked nation in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalaya Mountains and is bordered to the south, east and west by India and to the north by the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China....
 expelled roughly 100,000 ethnic Nepal
Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and is the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by India....
is, most of whom have been living in seven refugee camps in eastern Nepal ever since. The United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 has offered to resettle 60,000 of the 107,000 Bhutanese refugees of Nepalese origin now living in U.N. refugee camps in Nepal.

Chile

Chile
Chile

Chile, officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long and narrow coastal strip wedged between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean....
 has recently become a new pole of attraction for illegal immigrants, mostly from neighboring Peru
Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
 and Bolivia
Bolivia

The Republic of Bolivia , named after Sim?n Bol?var, is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil on the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina on the south, and Chile and Peru on the west....
, Ecuador
Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the , literally, "Republic of the equator") is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, by Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west....
, Colombia
Colombia

Colombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a country in north-western South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the north west by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean....
 and Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa is a geographical term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara, or those African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara....
. According to the 2002 national census, Chile's foreign-born foreign population has increased by 75% since 1992.

China

People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China

The People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the List of countries by population in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately a fifth of the world's population....
 is building a security barrier along its border with North Korea
North Korea

North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , is a state in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula....
 to prevent the defectors or refugees from North Korea. Also, many immigrants from Mongolia
Mongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and People's Republic of China to the south, east and west....
 have tried to make it to China.

European Union

The European Union is developing a common system for immigration and asylum and a single external border control strategy.

In France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, helping an undocumented immigrant (providing shelter, for example) is prohibited by a law passed on December 27, 1994 . The law was heavily criticized by non-governmental organization
Non-governmental organization

Non-governmental organization is a term that has become widely accepted for referring to a legally constituted, non-business organization created by natural or legal persons with no participation or representation of any government....
s (NGOs) such as the CIMADE and the GISTI
GISTI

GISTI is a France Non-profit organization human rights organization created in 1972 to protect the legal and political rights of foreigners and immigrants and to advocate freedom of movement across borders....
, left-wing political parties such as the Greens and the French Communist Party
French Communist Party

The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. Although its electoral support has greatly declined in recent decades, it remains the largest party in France advocating communist views, and retains a large membership and considerable influence in French politics....
, and trade-unions such as the magistrates' Syndicat de la magistrature
Syndicat de la Magistrature

The Syndicat de la Magistrature is the French second largest magistrates trade union - in terms of membership - after the more conservative Union syndicale des magistrats....
.

The Turkish newspaper Hürriyet published stories once in July 2004 and a second time in May 2006 that Hellenic Coast Guard
Hellenic Coast Guard

The Hellenic Coast Guard is the national coast guard of Greece. Like most other coast guards, it is a paramilitary organization that can support the Hellenic Navy in wartime, but resides under separate civilian control in times of peace....
 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
Chios

Chios is the fifth largest of the Greece list of islands of Greece, situated in the Aegean Sea seven kilometres off the Turkey coast. The island is noted for its strong merchant shipping community, its unique mastic gum and its medieval villages....
 and Karaburun Peninsula
Karaburun Peninsula, Izmir

Karaburun Peninsula is one of the biggest peninsula of Turkey.It is located at the west of the Izmir, surrounded by Aegean Sea.Geography...
 on 26 September 2006 while three others disappeared and 31 were saved by Turkish gendarmes and fishermen. 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
Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages ? particularly Spanish language and Portuguese language, and variably French language ? are primarily spoken....
, with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
Hugo Chávez

Hugo Rafael Ch?vez Fr?as is the current President of Venezuela. As the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution, Ch?vez promotes a political doctrine of participatory democracy, socialism and Latin American and Caribbean cooperation....
 threatening to cut off oil exports to Europe.

Greece

After the opening of the Albania
Albania

Albania , officially the Republic of Albania , is a country in Balkans. It is bordered by Greece to the south-east, Montenegro to the north, Kosovo to the northeast, and the Republic of Macedonia to the east....
n borders in 1991, a huge influx of Albanian
Albanians

The Albanian people , from southeast Europe, live in Albania and neighbouring countries and speak the Albanian language. About half of Albanians live in Albania, with other large groups residing in Kosovo, the Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro....
 economic migrants crossed illegally into Greece
Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkans. It has borders with Albania, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the north, and Turkey to the east....
 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.

India

The Indo-Bangladeshi barrier
Indo-Bangladeshi Barrier

The Indo-Bangladeshi barrier or Indo-Bangladeshi border fencing is a 4,000-kilometer fence that India is presently constructing to seal off the Indian-Bangladeshi international border from what was formerly East Bengal....
 is 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) long. Presently, India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 is constructing a fence along the border to restrict illegal traffic from Bangladesh
Bangladesh

, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south....
. This obstruction will virtually isolate Bangladesh from India. The barrier's plan is based on the designs of the Israeli West Bank barrier
Israeli West Bank barrier

The Israeli West-Bank barrier is a Separation barrier being constructed by Israel consisting of a network of fences with vehicle-barrier trenches surrounded by an on average 60 meters wide exclusion area and up to 8 meters high concrete walls ....
 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.

Iran

Since late April 2007, the Iran
Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
ian government has forcibly deported back to Afghanistan
Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country that is located approximately in the center of Asia....
 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
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
 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.

Libya

Libya
Libya

Libya , officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , is a country located in North Africa. Bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya lies between Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
 is home to a large illegal Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa is a geographical term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara, or those African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara....
n population which numbers as much as 2,000,000. The mass expulsion plan to summarily deport all undocumented foreigners was announced by Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar al-Gaddafi

Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi#Name also known as Colonel Gaddafi has been the de facto leader of Libya since a 1969 coup....
 in January 2008. "No resident without a legal visa will be excluded."

Malaysia

An ethnic Indian Malaysian
Malaysian Indian

Malaysian Indians are a group of Malaysians largely descended from those who migrated from South India India during the British Empire colonization of Peninsular Malaysia....
 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. There are an estimated 800,000 illegal immigrants in Malaysia
Malaysia

Malaysia is a federation that consists of States of Malaysia in Southeast Asia with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government....
. In January 2009, Malaysia has banned the hiring of foreign workers in factories, stores and restaurants to protect its citizens from mass unemployment amid the global economic crisis
Late 2000s recession

File:2007-2009 World Financial Crisis.svgFile:800px-The Great Asset Bubble.jpgIn 2008-2009 much of the industrialized world entered into a deep recession....
.

Mexico

In the first six months of 2005 alone, more than 120,000 people from Central America
Central America

Central America is a central geography region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmus portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast....
 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 . Another important group of people are those of Chinese
Han Chinese

Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and, by most modern definitions, the largest single ethnic group in the Earth.Han Chinese constitute about 92 percent of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98 percent of the population of the Republic of China , 75 percent of the population of Singapore, and about 19 percent...
 origin, who pay about $5,500 to smugglers to be taken to Mexico from Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Hong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located in Southern China in East Asia, bordering the province of Guangdong to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east, west and south....
. It is estimated that 2.4% of rejections for work permits in Mexico correspond to Chinese citizens . Many women from Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is a term that applies to the geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the Europe. Throughout history and to a lesser extent today, parts of Eastern Europe has been distinguishable from Western Europe and other regions due to cultural, religious, economic, and historical reasons, even though there i...
, Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, and Central
Central America

Central America is a central geography region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmus portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast....
 and South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
 are also offered jobs at table dance
Table dance

Table dance, or bartop dancing, is typically an erotic dance performed at a patron's table, as opposed to on a stage. In some jurisdictions, a table dance may be an alternative to a lap dance, due to laws preventing exotic dancers from making contact with customers....
 establishments in large cities throughout the country causing the National Institute of Migration
National Institute of Migration

The National Institute of Migration is a unit of the Federal government of the United Mexican States dependent on the Secretary of the Interior that controls and supervises Human migration in the country....
 (INM) in Mexico to raid strip clubs and deport foreigners who work without the proper documentation . In 2004, the INM deported 188,000 people at a cost of $
United States dollar

The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States and was defined by the Coinage Act of 1792 to be between 371 and 416 grains of silver ....
10 million . Illegal immigration of Cubans through Cancún
Cancún

Canc?n is a coastal city in Mexico's easternmost state, Quintana Roo, on the Yucat?n Peninsula. Cancun is located on the Yucatan Channel that separates Mexico from the island of Cuba in the Greater Antilles....
 tripled from 2004 to 2006.

In September 2007, Mexican President Calderón harshly criticized the United States government for the crackdown on illegal immigrants, saying it has led to the persecution of immigrant workers without visas. “I have said that Mexico does not stop at its border, that wherever there is a Mexican, there is Mexico,” he said.

In October 2008, Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
 tightened its immigration rules and agreed to deport Cubans
Cubans

Cubans are people inhabiting or originating from Cuba. Most Cubans live in Cuba, although there is also a large Cuban diaspora, especially in the United States....
 using the country as an entry point to the US. It also criticized U.S. policy that generally allows Cubans who reach U.S. territory to stay. Cuban Foreign Minister said the Cuban-Mexican agreement would lead to "the immense majority of Cubans being repatriated."

Nepal

In 2008, Nepal
Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and is the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by India....
's Maoist
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)

The Communist Party of Nepal is a political party in Nepal, founded in 1994 and currently led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, more popular with the nom de guerre Prachanda....
-led government has initiated a major crackdown against Tibetan exiles with the aim to deport to China
People's Republic of China

The People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the List of countries by population in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately a fifth of the world's population....
 all Tibetans living illegally in the country. Tibetans started pouring in Nepal after a failed anti-Chinese uprising in Tibet
1959 Tibetan uprising

The 1959 Tibetan uprising, or 1959 Tibetan Rebellion began on 10 March 1959, when an anti-Chinese and anti-Communist revolt erupted in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which had been under the reign of the Communist Party of China since the People's Liberation Army invasion of Tibet in 1950....
 in 1959.

Russia

Russia experiences a constant flow of immigration. On average, 200,000 legal immigrants enter the country every year; about half are ethnic Russians
Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavs ethnic group, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries.The English language term Russians is used to refer to the citizens of Russia, regardless of their ethnicity ; in Russian language, the demonym Russian is translated as Rossiyanin ....
 from other republics of the former Soviet Union. In addition, there are an estimated 10-12 million illegal immigrants in the country. There has been a significant influx of ethnic Georgians
Georgians

The Georgians are a nation and ethnic group originating in the Caucasus, the oldest group of the South Caucasian peoples people mainly centered in Georgia , but also living in Turkey, Russia, the United States, Iran, and other countries....
, Armenians
Armenians

The Armenians are a nation and ethnic group originating in the Caucasus and in the Armenian Highlands. A large concentration of them has remained there, especially in Armenia, but many of them are also scattered elsewhere throughout the world ....
, Azerbaijanis, Tajiks
Tajiks

Tajik is a general designation for a wide range of mostly Persian language peoples of Iranian peoples, with traditional homelands in present-day Afghanistan, Tajikistan, southern Uzbekistan, north west Pakistan and western China....
, and Uzbeks
Uzbeks

The Uzbeks are a Turkic peoples people of Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China....
 into big Russian cities in recent years, which has been viewed very unfavorably by many citizens, and has given rise to nationalist sentiments. Many immigrant ethnic groups have much higher birth rates than native Russians, further shifting the balance. Some Chinese
Chinese people

The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People who reside in and hold citizenship of the Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China or the Republic of China ....
 flee the overpopulation and birth control regulations of their home country and settle in the Far East
Russian Far East

Russian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Siberia and the Pacific Ocean....
 and in southern Siberia
Siberia

Siberia , is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of North Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the Soviet Union from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the 16th century....
. Russia’s main Pacific port and naval base of Vladivostok
Vladivostok

File:vladivostokrussia.jpgVladivostok is Russia's largest port types of inhabited localities in Russia on the Pacific Ocean and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai....
, once closed to foreigners, today is bristling with Chinese markets, restaurants and trade houses. Experts predict that the Chinese diaspora in Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
 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.

Illegal border crossing is considered a crime, and on occasions captured illegal border crossers are sentenced to a prison term. For example, Rossiyskaya Gazeta
Rossiyskaya Gazeta

Rossiyskaya Gazeta is a Russian government daily newspaper which publishes the official decrees, statements and documents of state bodies. This includes the promulgation of newly approved laws....
 reported in October 2008 the case of a North Korea
North Korea

North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , is a state in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula....
n who was detained after illegally crossing the Amur River from China. Considered by Russian authorities an "economic migrant", he was sentenced to 6 month in prison, and was to be deported to the country of his nationality after serving his sentence, even though he may now risk an even heavier penalty there. That was just one of the 26 cases year-to-date of illegal entrants, of various nationalities, receiving criminal punishment in in Amur Oblast
Amur Oblast

Amur Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia , situated about 8,000 km east of Moscow on the banks of the Amur River and Zeya Rivers....
.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KSA , is an Arab country and the largest country of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south....
 has begun construction of a separation barrier between its territory and Yemen
Yemen

Yemen , officially the Republic of Yemen is an Arab country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia. Yemen has an estimated population of more than 23 million people and is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the North, the Red Sea to the West, the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden to the South, and Oman to the east....
 to prevent the unauthorized movement of people and goods into and out of the kingdom. See Saudi-Yemen barrier
Saudi-Yemen barrier

The Saudi-Yemen barrier is a physical Separation barrier constructed by Saudi Arabia along part of its 1,800 kilometer border with Yemen....
.

In 2006 Saudi Arabia proposed plans for the construction of a security fence along the entire length of its 560-mile (900 km) desert border with Iraq in a multimillion-pound project to secure the kingdom’s borders in order to improve internal security, control illegal immigration
Immigration

While the movement of people has thought throughout history at various levels, modern immigration tourism are considered non-immigrants . Immigration that violates the immigration laws of the destination country is termed illegal immigration or undocumented immigration....
 and bolster its defences against external threats.
  • Saudi Iraq barrier
    Saudi Iraq barrier

    Saudi-Iraq barrier - In April 2006 Saudi Arabia began to call for tenders to construct a separation barrier in the form of a fence along its border with Iraq in an attempt to prevent the violence of the civil war in Iraq spilling over into Saudi Arabia....


South Africa

South Africa
South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
 is home to an estimated five million illegal immigrants, including some three million Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo River rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east....
ans. 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.

Syria

Refugees from Iraq
Refugees of Iraq

Throughout the past 100 years, there have been a growing number of refugees fleeing Iraq and settling throughout the world, peaking recently with the latest Iraq War....
 have increased in number since the U.S.-led invasion of that country in March 2003. The United Nations
United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
 estimates that nearly 2,200,000 Iraq
Iraq

Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
is have fled the country since 2003, with nearly 100,000 fleeing to Syria
Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north....
 and Jordan
Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern part of the Syrian Desert down to the Gulf of Aqaba....
 each month. 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.

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. 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
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees at the request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country....
. Under Syria's new rules, only Iraqi merchants, businessmen and university professors with visas acquired from Syrian embassies may enter Syria.

Turkey

Turkey
Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe....
 receives many economic migrants from nearby countries such as Armenia
Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in South Caucasus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea....
, Georgia
Georgia (country)

Georgia is a transcontinental country in the Caucasus region, located at the dividing line between Europe and Asia. It is bordered by the Russia to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, Armenia to the south, and Turkey to the southwest....
, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan , is the largest and most populous country in the South Caucasus, located partially in Eastern Europe and partially in Western Asia....
 and Iran
Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
, but also from Afghanistan
Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country that is located approximately in the center of Asia....
, Central Asia
Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
 and Pakistan
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
. The Iraq War
Iraq War

The Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War, the Occupation of Iraq, and Operation Iraqi Freedom, is an ongoing conflicts military campaign which began on March 20, 2003 with the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a Multinational force in Iraq now led by and composed almost entirely of troops from the United States and United King...
 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.

United Kingdom

There are between 500,000 and 700,000 illegal immigrants in Britain.

United States

Between 12 and 20 million illegal immigrants are estimated to be living in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
; due to the nature of illegal immigration, the exact number is unknown. The majority of the illegal immigrants are from Latin America
Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages ? particularly Spanish language and Portuguese language, and variably French language ? are primarily spoken....
. Illegal immigration has been a longstanding issue in the United States, creating immense controversy. Harvard University
Harvard University

Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher learning in the United States....
 economist George J. Borjas
George J. Borjas

George Jesus Borjas is an United States economist and the Robert W. Scrivner Professor of Economics and Social Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School....
 explains that the controversy centers around the "huge redistribution [of wealth] away from [unskilled American] workers to [American employers] who use immigrants." In 2007, President Bush called for Congress to endorse his guest worker proposal, stating that illegal immigrants took jobs that Americans would not take. 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
Immigration to the United States

American immigration refers to the movement of World population to the United States. Immigration has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of history of the United States....
. Penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants range from $2,000-$10,000 and up to six months' imprisonment. Political groups have been formed to fight what they perceive as the threat of illegal immigration by demanding that the US enforce immigration laws and secure the borders. Several counties throughout the United States have chosen to deputize police officers as immigration officials.

Venezuela

There are hundreds of thousands, possibly even millions of Colombia
Emigration from Colombia

Emigration from Colombia is determined by economic, social, and security issues linked mainly to the Colombian armed conflict. Emigration from Colombia is one of the largest in volume in Latin America....
n immigrants living in Venezuela
Venezuela

Venezuela , officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a country on the northern coast of South America.The country comprises a continental mainland and numerous islands located off the Venezuelan coastline in the Caribbean Sea....
. In 1995, Venezuela announced plans to conduct a census to locate and deport illegal immigrants. 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.

See also

  • Alien (law)
    Alien (law)

    In U.S. law, an alien is "any person not a United States citizen or United States national of the United States." The U.S. Government's use of alien dates back to 1798, when it was used in the Alien and Sedition Acts....
  • Aliyah Bet
  • Illegal emigration
    Illegal emigration

    Illegal emigration refers to Emigration of people across national borders which violates the emigration laws of the country of origin. One may attempt to leave a country oneself, or be People smuggling by others....
  • Separation barrier
    Separation barrier

    The term separation barrier is a euphemism for walls or fences constructed to limit the movement of people across a certain line or border, or to separate two populations....
  • Working under the table
  • Illegal entry
    Illegal entry

    Illegal entry is the act of foreign nationals arriving in or crossing the borders into a country in violation of its immigration law.Migrants from nations that do not have automatic visa agreements, or who would not otherwise qualify for a visa, often cross the borders illegally in some areas like the United States?Mexico border, the Mona...
  • Free migration
    Free migration

    Free migration or open immigration is the position that people should be able to migrate to whatever country they choose, free of substantial barriers....


Further reading

  • Barkan, Elliott R. "Return of the Nativists? California Public Opinion and Immigration in the 1980s and 1990s." Social Science History 2003 27(2): 229-283. in Project Muse
  • Vanessa B. Beasley, ed. Who Belongs in America?: Presidents, Rhetoric, And Immigration (2006)
  • Borjas, G.J. "The economics of immigration," Journal of Economic Literature, v 32 (1994), pp. 1667–717
  • Cull, Nicholas J. and Carrasco, Davíd, ed. Alambrista and the US-Mexico Border: Film, Music, and Stories of Undocumented Immigrants U. of New Mexico Press, 2004. 225 pp.
  • Thomas J. Espenshade; "Unauthorized Immigration to the United States" Annual Review of Sociology. Volume: 21. 1995. pp 195+.
  • Flores, William V. "New Citizens, New Rights: Undocumented Immigrants and Latino Cultural Citizenship" Latin American Perspectives 2003 30(2): 87-100
  • Griswold, Daniel T.; "," Trade Policy Analysis no. 19, October 15, 2002.
  • Kennedy, Marie and Chris Tilly, Dollars & Sense
    Dollars & Sense

    Dollars & Sense is a magazine dedicated to providing left-wing perspectives on economics.Published six times a year since 1974, it is edited by a collective of economists, journalists, and activists committed to the ideals of social justice and economic democracy....
    , July/August 2008.
  • Nicholas Laham; Ronald Reagan and the Politics of Immigration Reform Praeger Publishers. 2000.
  • Lisa Magaña, Straddling the Border: Immigration Policy and the INS (2003)j63-a12036-m12i-3620+3e
  • Mohl, Raymond A. "Latinization in the Heart of Dixie: Hispanics in Late-twentieth-century Alabama" Alabama Review 2002 55(4): 243-274. ISSN 0002-4341 9-4894945651
  • Ngai, Mae M. Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America (2004), 90952-15665
  • Ngai, Mae M. "The Strange Career of the Illegal Alien: Immigration Restriction and Deportation Policy in the United States, 1921-1965" Law and History Review 2003 21(1): 69-107. ISSN 0738–2480 Fulltext in History Cooperative
  • Mireille Rosello; "Representing Illegal Immigrants in France: From Clandestins to L'affaire Des Sans-Papiers De Saint-Bernard" Journal of European Studies, Vol. 28, 1998 959525126
  • Dowell Myers
    Dowell Myers

    Dowell Myers is a professor of urban planning and demography in the School of Policy, Planning, and Development, at the University of Southern California ....
     (2007), Immigrants and Boomers: Forging a New Social Contract for the Future of America, Russell Sage Foundation, ISBN 978-0-87154-636-4.
  • Tolley, Brett "Dying to Get In" Documentary (2006)
  • Tranaes, T. and Zimmermann, K.F. (eds), Migrants, Work, and the Welfare State, Odense, University Press of Southern Denmark, (2004)
  • Venturini, A. Post-War Migration in Southern Europe. An Economic Approach Cambridge University Press (2004)
  • Zimmermann, K.F. (ed.), European Migration: What Do We Know? Oxford University Press, (2005)
  • Range, Peter R., Europe faces an immigrant tide National Geographic Magazine
    National Geographic Magazine

    The National Geographic Magazine, later shortened to National Geographic, is the official journal of the National Geographic Society....
     May 1993