MIGRATION GEORGE STANSFIELD
CASE STUDY
INTRODUCTION
Migration is the movement of people from one area to another, be it across the road, or to the other side of the earth. Everyday over 2000 Mexicans try and cross the 2000km border that spans between Mexico and the USA. The immigrants walk for miles to try and illegally enter the country and for many it is a wasted journey as they are returned shortly after by the US border patrol police. The immigrants usually travel in groups of 10 and up, friends and families together as a large group. To try and make the journey easier they will often travel lightly, meaning they carry no heavy, but vital, supplies such as food and water. This often leads to things such as dehydration and death as they cross the hot and dry border. Another way the immigrants will try and gain access is through human smugglers, whereby the immigrants will pay the smugglers large sums of money to smuggle them across the border. Once across the border it’s now a game of ‘hide and seek’ with the immigration officers. After crossing the border without being caught they will usually meet in some form of safe house, usually provided by the human smugglers. Once they are settled they will often rent houses in large groups so that can cut the costs dramatically and easily afford it. They can’t stay for long though as eventually they would be caught, so to keep their trail clean they move from house to house as not to alert the police.
WHY MIGRATE?
People migrate places for many different reasons be it for family or money ect. These reasons can be classified as 4 different categories; economic, social, political or environmental:
- Economic migration - moving to find work or to follow a particular career path only available in such place
- Social Migration - moving for a better quality of life or to live with or closer to family or friends
- Political Migration - moving to escape/avoid political disputes, persecution or war.
- Environmental Migration - moving to escape natural disasters such as flooding
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Teacher Reviews
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A generally good essay looking at Mexico - USA migration. However in places it is very generalised and instead needs focus in specifically on Mexico and the USA. 4 stars
Peer Reviews
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Quality of writing
In terms of the different 'push and pull factors’; there was strong geographic terminology, such as 'political stability' and phrases to that nature. However, the rest of the case study did lack good geographical terminology, which showed a possible lack of good understanding of this case study and how it applies to human geography. Overall, spelling, grammar and punctuation were excellent.
Level of analysis
The analysis of the case study is good; however, it did lack depth in some places. The analysis was overall elevated by including immigration policies and how their change could potentially impact migration in different ways, which was excellent. There was not detail in the 'push and pull factors' of Mexican migration (as mentioned before), which showed that perhaps vital research was not done. The overall conclusion, entitled 'my opinion' was slightly vague; however, it did briefly cover some good points, for example, the economies of both USA and Mexico. The inclusion of the map was good; however, some US states could have been labelled, and then referred to in the analysis.
Response to question
The case study is about the migration of Mexicans to the USA. The response to this by the candidate is very good, especially as they have structured the case study clearly by the use of sub-headings. There is a good response to why they migrate, which is fundamental to the case study. Furthermore, the candidate goes into more detail than just 'push and pull factors', by stating different types of migration, e.g. environmental migration (on a more general scale). This conveys that the candidate has a good depth of back group knowledge. However, the candidate does not give specific push and pull factors for the Mexican migration.