International Migration in the Americas

The Americas are a continent where, historically, migration patterns can be characterised by three significant periods: a) until around 1950, the countries of the entire American continent were destinations for transoceanic immigration from Europe in particular, only to becomewith the notable exceptions of the United States and Canada -countries of emigration; b) starting around 1960 a permanent and increasingly intense emigration began from the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to developed countries, principally the United States, Canada and Spain; and c) a moderate, but steadily increasing trend of intra-regional migration has developed over the past decades, which has seen Argentina, Costa Rica, Venezuela, and recently Chile become regional migrant-receiving countries.North America is a region where immigration dominates; the United States and Canada receive hundreds of thousands of migrants each year.The United States, in absolute terms, has been the principal destination country of migrants at the global level with 36.7 million foreign-born persons (2009), representing 12% of the total population and with an immigrant entry flow greater than one million per year (as measured by permanent residence permits issued).It is estimated that 20.5 million of the foreign-born population come from Latin America and the Caribbean and more than half of these were born in Mexico. Executive Summary / ixConversely, for the United States and Canada, in comparative and relative terms, the countries of the Americas were not as important as origin countries.They represented 40% of permanent migration to the United States and 14% towards Canada. PERMANENT IMMIGRATION BY CATEGORY OF ENTRYPermanent legal labour migration is rather low in proportional terms in the United States, the principal destination country for Latin American migrants.The United States, however, has a much more liberal family-oriented migration policy than other OECD countries, which facilitates, among others, the entry of adult siblings and of adult children of naturalised American citizens, subject to a numerical limit.Most countries provide for the admission of immediate family members (spouse and minor children), subject to certain conditions, but not of other family members.The decline in labour migration in the United States as a result of the crisis occurred entirely in temporary movements, which saw a 13 percent drop in 2008-2009 compared to the levels of 2006-2007.Permanent labour migration was not affected, essentially because most of this (almost 90%) consisted of changes in status, that is, persons who were already employed in the United States as temporary workers and who were sponsored by their employers to obtain a permit for residency and work (Green Card).The migration of international students is much less developed in Latin America than it is in Canada (82 350 international students in 2008-2009) and the United States (348 000) where it constitutes an entry channel for young persons who wish to stay on to work, and, on occasion, to settle after the completion of their studies. ASYLUM SEEKERS IN THE AMERICASAlthough Latin America and the Caribbean are not considered as important destination regions for persons seeking asylum from persecution, requests for asylum have increased to approximately 49 000 in 2009, an increase of 73% when compared to figures from 2008, and quadruple the total recorded in 2000.By contrast, Canada alone received about 34 000 claims in 2009 and the United States 38 000.Ecuador was the principal receiving country of requests for asylum in Latin America and the Caribbean, receiving almost 36 000 requests, in large part from Colombian citizens fleeing conflict zones near the border with Ecuador. UNAUTHORISED MIGRATIONFew countries have current statistics on the flows of unauthorised migrants.The United States produces periodic estimates which indicate that from an average of 850 000 unauthorised migrants entering annually between 2000 and 2005, the numbers have plummeted to approximately 300 000 per year between 2007 and 2009(Passel and Cohn 2010).Furthermore, it is estimated that those from Mexico have dropped from 500 000 to 150 000 per year over the same period.This decline is attributable in part to enforcement, but as well to the unfavourable employment climate in the United States, which has resulted in fewer potential migrants attempting the trip north.

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