Migration reader: exploring politics and policies

The phenomenon of migration is rooted in human prehistory, when people routinely traveled over great distances to hunt, fish, establish a livelihood, and secure a home However, it only became politicized, and hence legally and politically circumscribed, beginning in the nineteenth century, when the modern nation-state arose and erected political-territorial borders around ethnocultural communities. From this point forward the nation was the political community that conferred the state's legitimacy over its terri tory and transformed the latter into an entity comprising formal citizens. Following from this historical development, the concept of nationality emerged to link all citizens formally to the state. The phenomenon of inter national migration came to be defined as the movement of persons, that is, nonnationals or foreigners, across national borders for purposes other than travel or short-term residence.
With approximately 175 million people currently residing outside their country of origin, international migration is at its historical zenith. Within this group are more than 17 million asylum seekers, refugees, and other persons of concern to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Although Australia, Canada, Israel, New Zealand, and the United States are typically considered the classic immigration-receiving countries, these five have been joined by others during the past two decades, including many in Europe, that traditionally have been classified as countries of emigration. On the other side of the immigration divide, Latin America, most prominently Mexico, contributes the largest percentage of foreign-born persons to the major countries of immigrant settlement. Of a current population of 108 million Mexican-born persons, approximately 8 million now reside in the United States.