Category: Discussion Board 3

That Yang argue that Immigration and experience after migrant. That there are other factors that can cause one to move to the United states. Yang claims that push-pull theory, balancing theory, world structure theory, social network theory, and other current hypotheses are not reliable and have shortcomings. In his article, he points out that they lack the description of both historical and current flows and would make little sense in the various circumstances of people.

The common explanation of why people migrate is to have a better life and discover a place that can help them improve what they need. For example, finding a job and making money to buy food for the family. Also, there are many more reasons why people migrate to other countries because of problems like war, government issues that aren’t good for living, things that are related to money issues that couldn’t help their families. Also an example from the movie “The karate kid” by Jaden smith and Jackie chan. Where in the beginning the family moved from the United States to China because the company the mother was working for moved back to china so the family too. That the theories Yang have are similarly related because the example I provided was the movie where the mom moved because of work. No, I can’t think of any cluster or factor in Yang’s theories.

 

 

 

A common reason why people choose to migrate to the United States is opportunity. People come to the United States in search for a better life for themselves and their families.  Education and the general standards of living in the United States are far more attainable than other countries. When my family migrated to the United States, my parents often talked about all the grand opportunities that will greet me when we land and all the hopes of attaining the “American Dream”. Compared to the Philippines, the U.S. has free schools and different socialist programs that help support low income families. The food is cheaper, the air cleaner and money if you work hard enough will fall right onto your lap. The idea of the United States in the perspective of people living in a developing country like the Philippines is a gold land filled with money and happiness for everyone.

Yang’s theory of the Push and pull factor in my opinion is more true than not. In most cases, families need to weigh both push and pull factors before deciding to leave their country and start anew in a foreign land with foreign people. Some other pull factors would be the LGBTQ culture in America. It is a right that not many people outside the U.S. get to experience. Another factor could be religion. China for example treat their muslim citizens with little regard for their betterment and no respect for their beliefs.

Many Asians immigrate to the United States of America for a better life. I know my Indian/Pakistani great grandfather had a hard life coming here and being ostracized by American people. This is mainly due to the push and pull factors, the push factors being, forces of nature, overpopulation, moral ethics, dangers to the people and the ecosystem. The pull factor being the positive counterpart vice-versa, getting people out of poverty by getting more money, helping nature and making good political decisions for the citizens and the nation. Gaining freedom, justice, truth, honor and liberty.

When coming to the American country many Asians feel they need to assimilate as much as possible to be able to fit in and be accepted and not be discriminates against. In Asian countries being LGBTQIA+ is looked down upon and the USA is more accepting of people who are not heterosexual and are not expected to fall under such category. Uighur Muslims in China are being tortured, detained, raped and killed and as a man who is black, white, Asian and Muslim I am deeply disturbed and disgusted by this Islamophobia.

In the reading, “A Theory of Asian Immigration to the United States” by Yang shows that there is not one general reason why Asian immigrants move to America and other countries, but a multitude of situations that cause it. Based on Yang’s essay, Asian immigrants migrate to the United States because of the Push pull theory. The theory states that push factors can be different causes such as low wages, poor economy, and political turmoil’s. The pull factors tend to be freedom, better education and healthcare, better economic opportunities, higher education for children, higher quality of life and more. Yang argues that push pull theory, equilibrium theory, world system theory, social network theory, and other existing theories are not accurate and have flaws. In the essay, he states that they lack explaining both historical and modern flows that would not make sense given different individuals situations.

Some of the common explanations for why people move to the United States is because they want a better life and it is the land of opportunity while others call it “The American Dream” which may be true for people who view it in different perspectives. Other people may move because of negative causes such as economic opportunities, escaping war, and wanting a better life just like Yang stated about the Push pull theory. My parents are Asian American and have told me they wanted to move here because they just wanted a better life for their selves and the family.

There are a couple of common reasons why people chose to immigrate to the United States. It can be in the hope of better life, higher education, medical facilities,  etc. It is also known to us through news and social media some chose to escape their own country only due to political unrest. From my experience, me and my family immigrated to the United States from Bangladesh in 2018. We decided to settle in this foreign land so that me and my siblings can receive higher education and get better jobs in the future. Though we were living well off in Bangladesh, political unrest and the government’s failure to protect people in terms of rights, lives and wealth forced us to think it’s better to live in the United States. Also, after talking to many immigrant personals one of the common reasons that reflects is to better their future. 

In the reading, ‘ A theory of Asian immigration to the United States’ by Yang the explanation of ‘Classic Pull-Push theory’ encapsulates the basic reason of why people migrate within a nation and internationally. It is due to the push factors: natural disasters, population pressure, economic hardships, political turmoil etc. On the other hand the pull factor comprises economic opportunity, environmental advantage etc. People mainly thinking about the ultimate benefits of pull factors chose to migrate. I believe there is no difference in the theories detailed in the reading and the common explanation of people’s migration to a new place. 

The ‘other cluster factors’ that I would like to Yang’s theory lack of equal rights in case of woman and same sex marriage. There are instances in history where women even had to flee from their country for taking stand for what is right. To me this concept is very disturbing, of why women can not enjoy equal rights as men? Everybody is equal and should receive equal opportunity based on their work and merit. 

Some of the common explanations I heard for why people migrate to the United states are somewhat similar as people migrant because there were better opportunities for them here, or there are better education for their family and they could have a better life or future for their family. These reasons are also what my family and many of the people who I know think when they migrate to the United states. Plus when people hear of the United States, they think it is a land of opportunities and also freedom, these cause people to move from their country to the US.

These reasons fall back to the theory of Yang of Push factor and Pull factor. The theories are not 100% true however they are some of the explanations of why people migrate. There is alway a reason why people migrate, it might be because they need a better place, resource, education or they want to escape from religion or their family and community. 

Things I like to add to Yang theory are some people migrate because of not being accepted for what they are, aka The LGBT community. Back in my country or some other part of Asian, I know that being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender are highly disapproved of. It is also hard for them to live once they get out or find out since some would get kick out of their home or workplace so people want to move because there are more freedom in other place then where they are now.

 

The United States has been labeled as the “land of opportunity” and that is a common explanation that I have heard of why people migrate to the United States. The high expectations of the United States are often told in movies, news, stories, and family. A lot of the migrant families often describe their homeland as reaching a peak where they are no longer growing financially, educationally, or security. My parents share a similar explanation of their migration to the United States. They wanted to plant a seed that will pay off in the future and that seed was migrating to the U.S. This common explanation is related to the theory that Yang shares in the essay. Other “clusters of factors” could simply be freedom. Freedom of religion, speech, and sexuality are often factors missing from the countries people migrate from.

People migrate for various reasons. Asian Americans in particular migrate for a variety of reasons depending on which region of the asian continent the originate from. For example, many of my South Korean and Chinese friends migrated her for educational purposes. A large portion of them actually came here by themselves on a. student visa or is staying with a relative who currently lives in the United states. Them staying also depends on the reason for why they decided to study here. Many have expressed graduating and then moving back home while others have decided to graduate and attempt to make a living here. Other reasons I have heard for migration to the united states are more ominous such as refugees escaping to achieve political asylum, or escaping a famine, or an ongoing war. Like my high school classmate whose father was a diplomat from Pakistan and moved to New York for political reasons. Outside of the Asian American experience, others may migrate for other reason but the base reason I often hear is to achieve a better standard of living that they might not have obtained in their home country.

Movies often portray migrants as aloof, naive, or escaping poverty and war torn countries. While some of these stereotypes might have evolved from general purposes, I suppose the reasons are more multi-faceted than that (take the popular tv show “Fresh Off The Boat”). So Yang explained a theory called the “push/pull” factor which is basically the impetus for why people migrate. He explains how man immigrants from countries not “poor”tend to migrate more in comparison those countries poorer (the example he used was “Nonetheless, many African countries, the poorest in
the world, have very low levels of immigration to the United States” in comparison to countries like Korea, Mexico, India, China, etc which send many for emigration which aren’t poor at all. So here we also have economic models for emigration as well.

While reading this, there was no mention of gender motivated migration. I bring this up because many migrants (I will be using my grandmother as an example) who live in countries where gender dynamics are patriarchal led could influence migration. Take countries where women are expected to fulfill domestic task instead of going to school (even forbid from attending school such as the amazing Malala Yousafzai who was literally almost killed for attempting to obtain an education in her homeland of Pakistan (she eventually migrated to the United Kingdom for an education and made it her permanent residence. I think this should be an important factor to add to Yang’s theory because it’s a driving force for many women migrants who make the decision to leave their home in search of a environment with politics that reflect them as women and to escape gender based violence against them in their home countries. This is especially important (in my opinion) in countries where this exist to the maximum.

 

The concept of the “American Dream” is definitely a huge explanation for migration to the US. Immigrating for opportunity, educational and monetary, are huge motivators. I’ve heard this widespread in media, taught in classes, and from family. I know that religious freedom, fleeing from unsafe activity in a home country (gangs, war, political instability, etc.) are also common. These explanations I haven’t experienced first hand but have heard about from classmates and through media.  

My aunt referred to a large reason for our family’s immigration to America being educationally motivated. I was extremely surprised to learn that Hong Kong in the 60s and 70s had only THREE colleges. HK has a large, bustling city population, but it appears that due to limited educational opportunities, it is very difficult to test into one of the few colleges, who can afford to be extremely selective. This relates directly to Yang’s “Intercountry Disparities” section, where he states this this selectivity in Asian countries for a college seat remained until the 90s, with the gap still large today. 

Yang also touches on political conditions/uprisings as a key aspect of inter country disparities as a cause for immigration. I have heard from friends and through media about war/political unrest being a huge motivator. I also see how the explanations I mentioned are push and pull factors all in one. “Humans always want to have a better life. It is this yen for a better life that underlies the decision of individuals and families to migrate from one country to another.” [Yang, 18] This is precisely what my aunt said to me when explaining her immigration story. The disparities of educational opportunity were a huge factor for my family. 

World system theory indicates that the more involved the U.S. is in an Asian country, the higher that level of immigration to the U.S. Hong Kong had long been a British colony, and thus was greatly influenced by “Western” society. Though I don’t take this as a direct relation to the U.S., English being taught to students as a second language likely encouraged this transition. 

The system of network-dependent sponsorship also speaks to my families experiences. Personally, my family migrated through sponsorship by my grand uncle. It is noted that social networks help migration by maximizing pros and minimizing cons through social and financial assistance for the post migration period. In my family, my grandfather was able to work as a waiter at a restaurant partially owned by my grand uncle. Additionally, my grandmother worked as a seamstress at a factory owned by a “cousin”, a person she knew from her home village. 

I think people migrated here for many different reasons. I also heard some reasons from a lot of people that why they decided to move to the united states. They told me the united states has more opportunities than their counties and their kids will have a brighter future. Their kids can have quality education and saving money for education. Normally In China, you need to pay tuition fees for high school and college but here both are free, you don’t have to worry if you can afford the tuition or not, the government always got your back.

They also told me that when their kids graduate from colleges, their kids will find a higher salary job than their countries and make more money. I understand why they think this way, I clearly know Chinese companies usually won’t pay that much money for their employees, like some jobs in china only 300 dollars a month. But here, even if you only work for a week, you will get more than 300 dollars.

Poverty is another reason why people move here. I watched some tv programs that showed in some countries, people didn’t even have enough foods for eating which made them extremely tinny because they didn’t have enough nutrition that they supposed to have. Once they moved here, they could apply food stamps or other government supports.

Those reasons for why people migrate here are very close to the theory that Yang puts forth. I don’t really see any difference with that. I think people move from one place to another place, it must be that place can offer more opportunities and can help them to improve their life.