Immigration Push Pull Factors

​Emigrate vs. Immigrant

Migration means movement from one place to another. People have migrated for thousands of years. A person who leaves their home is called an emigrant. We say they emigrated from their country. A person who arrives in a new country is an immigrant. We say they immigrated to a new country. They sound similar but have different meanings.

Leaves=emigrate
Arrives=immigrate

​Push Factors

Push factors are reasons for migration. Push factors are negative conditions that drive people to leave their home.

Pull Factors

Pull Factors are positive reason a person would want to live in a new area/country. Pull factors are always positive.

​Forced Migration

There have been times in history when people were kidnapped and taken from their country. One example of this is the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Africans were kidnapped and forced onto ships. They were transported against their will to the "New World" where they were forced into labor. This is referred to as forced migration.

​What is a refugee?

A refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country due to war, persecution or natural disaster. They must seek safety elsewhere. They are unable to return due to fear of their lives because of their beliefs, who they are. or what they say or do, or perhaps their home area has been destroyed due to natural disaster or climate change.