Pull Factors

We talked about what pushes people to leave their countries but what are some of the pull factors?

These are three of the key pull factors that come to mind.

Jobs: If there were not jobs to be filled, there would be less motivation for people to come.  Many jobs that most US Citizens I know would never take, provide a steady income and some level of job security that is not available in some home countries.  In the Mexican context, many individuals, sometimes a mother or father or oldest son, will travel to the United States to obtain a higher paying job and then send the money back to their families to give them a better shot at life - providing food, education, better housing, medical care, etc.  Remittances are a large part of the Mexican economy and many of those come from the United States.  This potential opportunity, or the promise of a job, pulls many to leave their homes.  Like it or not, we have in many ways come to depend on immigrants.  Side note here:  Some countries, such as Italy where the birth rate is less than what is needed to maintain the population, have an even stronger pull factor because the economy will cease to function without the influx of youthful labor.

Education/Opportunity: While the United States does not have the competitive education system we used to have in comparison to other developed nations, compared to much of the developing world, our universal, free education is a huge draw.  In the US, in most neighborhoods, all genders and kids from 5-18 can access education and learn as much as their intellect allows.  Higher education, I believe, is also one of the 'easiest' ways to get a visa to the US.  We actively recruit immigrants to study in our schools, while these immigrants are 'documented' it is still a form of immigration and worth including in this list.

Political/Religious Freedom:  I, personally, am at a loss of a good way to connect this to Mexican immigration (could be because it is the middle of the night).  Beyond the security piece, and the draw to live somewhere that the government is not on the cartel's payroll, I am not aware of this being a large pull factor relative to Mexican Immigration.  Many other countries around the world are a bit more challenged by a lack of political or religious freedom (therefore making the relative pull stronger)- these are actually both reasons one can file for asylum (if (s)he is persecuted due to his/her political or religious beliefs).  Side note: There are an ever growing number of individuals seeking asylum from Mexico, but that is more often due to membership in a particular social group - anti-cartel, anti-drug, journalists, etc. and not overtly for political or religious reasons.