The Migration Policy Institute has recently published a study of "secondary immigration", which is also known as "two-step migration" or "re-migration." In secondary immigration, immigrants will become legal residents or citizens of one country (the "primary" country) and then use their status as a stepping-stone in order to migrate to another country (the "secondary" country).
For instance, there has been much research regarding the secondary immigration of Jamaicans who migrate to the U.K. and then to Canada; of Iranian refugees who first migrate to Sweden and then migrate to the U.S.; and of Chinese immigrants who immigrate to Japan and then to the U.S. In general, affluent countries such as the U.K., Germany, Canada, Australia, Sweden and Japan, are increasingly serving as intermediate, stepping-stone countries.
Increasingly, secondary immigrants are using more than one country as stepping-stones to their final destination. As such, the routes and patterns of migration are becoming increasing more complex.
The final destination of secondary immigrants is usually a wealthy, immigrant-friendly country. For the most part, the country of origin is a poorer country, and the intermediate country is often also poor. However, this general observation varies based on the type of migration, e.g., whether it is refugee or the migration of highly-trained business professionals.
Refugees fleeing persecution who re-migrate as secondary immigrants tend to come from Eastern Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. On the other hand, business professional secondary immigrants tend to come from South Asia, East Asia, and Western Europe. As a whole, secondary immigrants tend to be more educated and skilled in professional jobs than one-time migrants.
According to a 2000 report of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, 12.5 per cent of all immigrants who obtained lawful permanent residence that year had resided in third ("intermediate") countries immediately before coming to the U.S. This number has increased substantially since then.
Statistics show that India is the leading country of origin for those immigrants who then go to an intermediary country. Indian-born, highly-skilled workers, for instance, will often first move to the U.K. before migrating to the U.S. India is followed by China and the Philippines as a major source of secondary immigrants. These immigrants then move on to one of the major intermediary countries, such as Canada, the U.K., Germany, and Israel.
Secondary immigrants who originate from Eastern Europe tend to migrate to another country in the same region before migrating to their ultimate destination. For instance, secondary immigrants from Bosnia will first move to Germany before moving to the U.S. Some Somalis will initially migrate to Kenya, a neighboring country, before migrating to their ultimate destination. Latin Americans, also, tend to stay in Latin America before migrating again.
The pattern in Central and South Asia, however, is different. Secondary immigrants from East Asia tend to first move to Western Europe, North American, the Middle East, or to another country in East Asia before migrating to their final country of destination. In general, refugees tend to choose a country within their same region as their intermediate destination.
It is difficult to make general assumptions regarding secondary immigrants, since they are not at all homogenous. However, statistics can give us some guideposts. For instance, and not surprisingly, skill-based immigrants tend to be more highly mobile geographically. All-in-all, secondary immigrants tend to be more highly educated than primary immigrants probably because of the high global mobility of skill-based secondary business immigrants. In general, secondary immigrants are more likely to have completed graduate studies than have primary immigrants.
Statistics show that secondary immigrants tend to be somewhat older than primary immigrants, and are more likely to be married, with spouses immigrating with them. There are slightly more male secondary immigrants than female.
Secondary immigration is growing in complexity and frequency, largely due to global immigrant networks and the changing immigration policies of countries the secondary immigrants ultimately make their homes.
In the U.S., immigration law is at a crossroads, balancing the need for national security and the need for an orderly and humane assimilation of multiple cultures into a strong and diverse "melting pot".
About the author: Kathleen Lord-Black is a U.S. immigration lawyer.
Her offices are located in Vancouver, British Columbia. She has served
as Immigration Consultant for the San Francisco Public Defenders Office,
2005 Chair of the Immigration Section of the Barristers Club of the Bar
Association of San Francisco, and former Congressional liaison for U.S.
Representative Farr. Ms. Lord-Black is an active member of the
American Immigration Lawyers Association and the American Civil
Liberties Union. Her articles regularly appear in the Bay Area
Arabic-language newspaper, Alra’i Alarabi. Ms. Lord-Black can be
reached via email at kathleen@kathleenlord.com; and by telephone at (360) 329-2436 (U.S.) and (604) 352-2006 (Canada). Her web address is
www.kathleenlord.com.
