In last weeks lecture the question was posed "what makes you an American"? I personally think there is no real criteria for this as America is a country that inhabits many different colours, creeds and cultures. However after seeing the Coke super bowl advert, and the outrage that resulted, I began to wonder does the amount of people entering the country warrant as much annoyance as it seems to provoke. This map, that I got from the City Lab website depicts the net immigration into each state. This map was particularly useful to me as it was taken over a sustained 4 year period and is fairly recent. Similarly it was conducted by the census bureau which suggests to me that it is as accurate as possible. Migration is very important part of American society as it been a major source of cultural change in America. Without it, suffice to say America may not be in the position they are today. California to me stands out as a prominent example. Huge portions of the state welcomed more than 2500 migrants between 2007-11 a large proportion of which are Hispanic. This figure has been steadily on the rise, and it would be ignorant to assume that this influx has not contributed to California becoming America's richest state, boasting a bigger economy than some European countries such as France. However there are still huge disparities between the south and the north, with the North welcoming far less migrants. Despite this there are still calls for the North and South to be separated as to not limit the opportunities of those native to the area. One would be more than surprised if such ideas came to fruition, but is clear that such changes would have a huge effect on the state, highlighting the importance of migration.
Source: http://www.citylab.com/housing/2014/02/detailed-map-net-migration-flows-every-us-county/8326/
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