Mexico to USA Migration

Geography: KS3, topic 13.1.6

Migration from Mexico to the USA is often done illegally. Many migrants move because they believe that they will have a better life in the USA.

Migration is the movement of people from one place to another.
There can be many reasons for migration, most often they are social or economic but they can be environmental or political too.
Push factors are negative reasons that push people away from an area.
Pull factors are positive reasons that pull people towards an area.

The border between Mexico and the USA is over 2,000 km long and is patrolled and monitored by the US Border Control team.
Illegal migration costs the USA a huge amount of money each year.
It is believed that roughly 25,000 migrants try to move from Mexico to the USA each month.

Most people leave Mexico because of the poor medical facilities and low paid jobs.
There is a low education rate in Mexico with a literacy rate of 55%.
The poor medical facilities mean that there is a low life expectancy.
Low paid jobs and high rates of unemployment (40%) mean most people work in agriculture and do not earn enough money to provide for their family.

Most Mexicans believe they will earn more money and have a better quality of life by moving to the USA.
The USA has a high standard of education.
The literacy rate in the USA is 99% compared to Mexico’s 55%.
The jobs in the USA are much more available and often better paid than those in Mexico.
It is often unlikely for Mexican’s to get these high paid jobs though.
Healthcare in the USA is of a much higher standard and the life expectancy is 10 years higher than in Mexico.

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