Overview
On May Day 2007, immigrants and their supporters of all races and nationalities filled the streets of Los Angeles to protest bills in Congress that would criminalize 12 million undocumented people, build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, set up guest work programs, allow indefinite detention and drive from their jobs those without papers. Large numbers of immigrants stayed away from work or school to participate. Photo: (c) 2007 David Bacon, dbacon@igc.org
The World Economy
The global economy has affected third-world, industrializing countries differently than it has first-world, industrialized countries. Improvements in agricultural technology and the expansion of education have sent many formerly rural people in countries such as India, Mexico, and the Philippines to the overcrowded cities of Mumbai, Mexico City, and Manila. After arriving in those cities, migrants found competition for jobs and housing extreme and opportunities few.
Expanding global transportation networks have shrunken the distance between countries. As a result, many ambitious people around the globe began to look beyond their borders for new opportunities.
In other cases, poverty, war, and political oppression becomes so fierce that people had to flee their homelands. In countries such as El Salvador in the 1980s and Cambodia in the 1970s, many citizens sought to escape violence and poverty by immigrating to the United States.