Migration: Introduction
Learning Objectives
- Students will be able to identify the basic patterns that underlie migration including key “pull and push” factors and some of the costs and benefits behind emigration.
Class
- (20 Minutes) Have students complete the guided reading handout.
- Watch: What is Migration? (4:12)
- Ask: (from the Guided Reading Handout) What are the three main types of migrants? Why is a refugee different from a migrant? What are IDPs?
- Read: Migration Today
- Ask: (from the Guided Reading Handout) What are some of the main push and pull factors that cause people to leave their country? What country is the top country of origin for migrants? What country is by far the most popular destination for migrants in 2020? What country hosted the most refugees in 2021?
- Watch: The Lasting Effects of Emigration (3:30)
- Ask: (from the Guided Reading Handout) Why do so many Filipinos work abroad? What are the benefits and drawbacks for those who migrate? What are the benefits and drawbacks for their families? What are the benefits and drawbacks for the Philippines as a whole? How much does the government support and encourage labor migration?
- (20 Minutes) Introduce and prep for homework
- For homework, students will be asked to draft a one-page response to: If you were designing an immigration policy from scratch, what would you prioritize doing? Potential elements include:
- The distinctions among economic migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers
- Policies about family reunification
- Quotas on immigration
- Background checks or other requirements for immigration
- Or others
- Brainstorm/ discuss: give students a chance to gather their thoughts for homework. They should take notes as they discuss.
- Begin outlining/ draft: Allow time for students to begin outline or drafting their work. This time should also be used to answer questions and provide support.
- For homework, students will be asked to draft a one-page response to: If you were designing an immigration policy from scratch, what would you prioritize doing? Potential elements include:
- (5 Minutes) Wrap Up
- Close the class by pointing out how that migration is complex. Highlight how migrants are different from refugees and that asylum is a different process. Mention how there are many push and pull factors people consider when migrating.
- Introduce HW: Students will be recommending U.S. Immigration Policies in a one page summary.
Homework
- Write: Students will draft a one-page response to: Choose one or two elements of U.S. immigration policy and argue for a change to that policy, using information from the readings.
- Optional Read: Claire Felter and Danielle Renwick, “The U.S. Immigration Debate,” Council on Foreign Relations, last updated July 2, 2018.
Vocabulary
- asylum
a protective status granted by national governments to individuals, called refugees or asylum seekers, who have been internationally displaced, cannot return home, and seek resettlement abroad.
- asylum seeker
a refugee who has applied for asylum, a protective status granted by a host government.
- brain waste
a term, distinct from brain drain, that refers to the phenomenon of economic migrants with college educations employed in menial sectors or sectors unrelated to their degree.
- economic migrant
someone who leaves their home country primarily to seek economic opportunity abroad, whether legally or illegally.
- host government
the government of a country to which a person has migrated, whether for economic reasons or to seek asylum. Alternatively known as host country.
- international migrant
a person who has moved from one country to another, whether voluntarily or involuntarily. International migrant is an umbrella term encompassing economic migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, who move for different reasons.
- pandemic
disease outbreak that has reached at least several countries, affecting a large group of people.
- push and pull factors
the reasons that push people to leave their homes and pull migrants toward a new place.
- refugee
defined by the UN Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, as someone who has fled conflict or persecution in their home country, has a reasonable fear that returning would be unsafe, and is protected by international law. In many countries, the term refugee also refers to someone who has sought and received asylum in a new country.