High School World History
Major Project 1
Cat Cancel, Ammon Messegee, Hudson Citro
February 27th, 2024

Human Immigration, Why?

The reason for immigration is never as black and white in the way many may think, different people migrate for different reasons; political, economic, or social reasons. No family can hold the same exact experience, there are many hardships with money to migrate, visas, family strain, and seeking asylum. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have the money to migrate, the stars aligning to migrate, or the will power due to fear but these people have a voice and many are coming forward to discuss their experiences ranging from people in Guatemala to African countries.

Politics can be very sticky and it’s very difficult to be a good leader, however, if a country develops a dictatorship like some of the South American countries. A dictator is someone who maintains power with means of fear and assassination; in turn leads to low freedom, high violence, and loss of political choice. There are several different types of dictators that fall under five general categories; military, monarchs, personalistics, single party, and hybrid. According to Dictatorship Countries 2024, “As of 2020, there are 52 nations with a dictator or authoritarian regime ruling the country: Three in Latin America and South America, 27 in Asia and the Middle East, and 22 in Africa.” This somewhat high number contributes largely to immigration, especially from the three countries in Latin America and South America causing the borders of the United States to become overwhelmed with an influx of refugees.

Many countries in other areas of the world are faced with high percentages of poverty, especially those in developing countries with economic and political crises. South Sudan has the highest poverty rate of 82.3%, meanwhile the United States has a fluctuating poverty percentage due to the large inequality gap but evidence points to even economic struggles in one of the world’s largest economies. With these high poverty rates many may choose to move elsewhere so that they can develop an education and get well paying jobs to support their families.

Relating to social immigration can be due to religion, race, and nationality persecution or differences. Not all of these situations can be harmful, many immigrants just because they would like to live somewhere else with new experiences or opportunities.

In conclusion not every immigrant story is a harmful or shocking one but that shouldn’t undermine the saddening stories, everyone and anyone can move from one place to another for a variety of reasons in search for a better life for themselves, their families, and their future.