Global shifts: U. S. immigration and the cultural impact of demographic change

At the turn of the millennium, we are witnessing intense new worldwide migration and refugee flows. There are now some 100 million transnational immigrants plus an estimated 30 million refugees displaced from their homelands. These flows are largely structured by the intensification of globalization--a process of economic, social, and cultural transformation rapidly accelerating in the last decade. Globalization has increased immigration in a variety of ways. First, transnational capital flows (roughly a trillion dollars cross national boundaries every day) tend to stimulate migration because where capital flows, immigrants tend to follow. Second, the new information and communication technologies that are at the heart of globalization tend to stimulate migration because they encourage new standards of consumption and life-style choices. Would-be immigrants imagine better opportunities elsewhere and mobilize to achieve them. Third, the affordability of mass transportation--last year approximately 1.5 billion airline tickets were sold--has put the migration option within the reach of millions who heretofore could not consider it. Fourth, globalization has stimulated new migration because it has produced uneven results--big winners and losers.