The total population of North American countries

is about 112,000,000 and the total for South America is The difference in average visas issued

204,000,000.

shows rather dramatically that North America is the principal source of immigration to the United States from the Western Hemisphere with Mexico (almost 50% of the total), Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Haiti as the major source countries.

For immigrant visa applicants registered as of January 1, 1976, the same principle holds: almost 250,000 of the 300,000 total Western Hemisphere registrants come from North America (other than Cuba). In this group, Mexico is even more predominant, constituting about two-thirds. Within the Western Hemisphere therefore, major sources of documented demand for immigration are

6/ First full year of hemispheric ceiling restriction of 120,000 for Western Hemisphere.

7/ Excluding Cuba which constitutes a special case and whose Immigration figures do not represent a normal outflow.

Mexico and the Caribbean area, while demand from mainland

South America is relatively minor.

Eastern Hemisphere

Documented

The Visa Office divides the Eastern Hemisphere into four regions: Africa, Asia (including the Middle East), Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and several other island nations in the Pacific Ocean), and Europe. demand from Oceania is very small, averaging less than 2,000 per year in 1969 to 1975. Immigration from Africa has also been small during the period, averaging about 5,300, although it has been increasing. Thus both regions have been negligible sources of immigration.

Asia and Europe, however, are significant sources of immigration, with high annual averages during the 1969 to 1975 period: Asia, 83,234 and Europe, 78, ,345. Although Asia and Europe are roughly equal, these average figures hide an important shift over the period. In 1969 Europe exceeded Asia as a source of immigration in a ratio of about 3:2 (97,393 to 65,935). Annual declines in immigration from Europe and annual increases in immigration from Asia have virtually reversed this ratio so that in 1975 immigration from Asia reached 98,996 and immigration from Europe

had fallen to 61,386, a major shift in patterns of immigration.

Under

Four countries account for 76.1% of Asian immigration since 1969: China, India, Korea and the Philippines. existing legislation however, this process of increase cannot continue.

Of the four countries concerned, three

(China, Korea and the Philippines) have already reached the maximum annual foreign state limitation of 20,000 per year. Moreover, India reached almost 16,000 in 1975, and any increase will be limited to about 4,000. Additional

demand will simply build up an annual backlog which will mean a waiting period of months or years for new applicants.

The January 1, 1976 annual report of aliens registered on immigrant visa waiting lists shows that of the 225,000 registrants reported, over 160,000 were from Asia with about 55,000 from Europe. A case in point is the Philippines where over 100,000 applicants are registered. The foreign state limitation prevents visa issuance above 20,000 unlike the Western Hemisphere which has no individual state

limitations on independent countries.

Thus documented demand for and immigration to the

U.S. today rests principally with Mexico, the countries

of the Caribbean and Central America, Korea, the Philippines and China.

B.

MAJOR ILLEGAL ALIEN SOURCE COUNTRIES

Fifteen countries comprise the major illegal alien

source countries.

They are Mexico, the Dominican Republic,

Haiti, Jamaica, Guatemala, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, the

Philippines, Korea, Thailand, Greece, India, Iran and

8/

Nigeria. With few exceptions, the countries from which the majority of legal immigrants today come and which exhibit the greatest documented demand for legal immigration are also the countries from which the majority of illegal entrants come. While our knowledge of the illegal entrant is largely limited to information which can be developed about apprehended illegal aliens, it is safe to conclude that those countries which have a large documented demand for immigration also have a great hidden demand which is producing illegal entry to the U.S.

Illegal migration to the U.S. is from a variety of countries in the less developed world primarily in Latin America and Asia. The notion that the illegal problem is a Mexican problem is mistaken and represents a narrow view of the issue even though Mexico is probably the largest single sending country.

8/ This list, developed by the Foreign Relations task force, is based on data from the refusal/deportation/visa issuance statistics of the Department of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

The countries from which illegal aliens come have similar characteristics in several important respects. These characteristics constitute significant push forces which, when combined with equally strong pull forces at another point, result in major movements of people or migration.

International Push-Pull

The push to migrate is primarily determined by the economic characteristics of the points of origin and destination including wages, unemployment and industrial growth. Social and demographic factors such as educational facilities, housing, population density, and personal characteristics of the migrant are involved, however employment differences have proven to be the dominant driving force.

The composite picture of illegal alien sending countries is one of depressed economic conditions for the vast majority of people with large-scale rural to urban internal migrations underway. The economies of these countries are unable to provide employment for large segments of the skilled, semi-skilled and even professional population. Furthermore, there exist inadequate community services, including educational facilities, and a general lack of social mobility as well as very high population growth rates. Political instability or a perceived sense of impending political violence may also be a factor.