How, why and when Dominicans started immigrating to New York
Dominican migration to the New York City was a result of the political instability. The political instability resulted to the assassination of Trujillo in the year 1961. It is estimated that many people of the conservative regime left the country to the New York City. The assassination of Trujillo led to the death of so many innocent citizens many of which were women and children. The other event that resulted to the migration of the Dominicans was the overthrowing of the government of president elected Juan Bosch in 1963. The overthrowing of the government was as a result of some people feeling that they were unsatisfied by the regime of the Juan government (Gibney, 78). This was followed by a civil war after a revolt to restore Bosch to power in the 1965. This, however, would not go unnoticed as the US government tried to intervene and prevent the eruption of fresh civil wars. The US government issued visas to the opponents and supported the conservative regime of Jaquin Balaguer.
As a matter of fact politics continued to play a great role in the emigration of the Dominicans in the succeeding decades. The political season that has highly affected of the migration is when there are elections of a new president. It was depicted that whenever the elections are held, there was always a group of people who are in opposition (Haines, 122). These people expressed their dissatisfaction through wars instead of using the right channels. This has led to the death of so many Dominicans and the migration of others. Despite the Dominican Republic having a high poverty rate, the middle and the upper class have dominantly taken over the biggest offices in the land. This evidently brings the factor of the economic instability that has substantially affected the migration of the Dominicans. In the 1970s, the Dominicans started to migrate to the New York not because of political instability but because of economic reasons.
The economic migration led to the illegal migration to Puerto Rico. It is estimated that in the recent decades the migration has increased significantly. This has made both the New York and the Dominican Republic to pay attention to the migration due to the massive transfer of people from the Dominican. It is established that the illegal trips usually take place in small wooden boats that are overcrowded. This poses a greater risk of loss of lives to the Dominicans (Portes, 95). This is because the trip planners and the boat captains seek to realize the significant profits from the migrants. Due to overcrowding in the small boats it becomes extremely difficult for the captains to control the boats resulting to them capsizing. It is estimated that most people lose their lives to the hungry sharks. This means that the Dominican Republic has recently experienced a significant decline of its population.
During the migration, some people die due to starvation and dehydration on the way to the New York. Also the Dominicans are exposed to harsh climate conditions which they can hardly tolerate resulting to the death of many. Another cause of death is the wild animals in the forests (Cordero-Guzmán, 98). The Dominicans do not have enough security as they traverse the dangerous forests resulting many being eaten by the world animals. It is depicted that a country with poor economic background can hardly support its citizens. In the Dominican Republic it becomes extremely hard for the citizens to support their livelihood by farming or other socio-economic activities. Investors have feared to startup businesses in the country due to its political instability. This means that the business and the international relations were greatly affected by the civil wars in the country.
Economic consequences over Dominican Republic
The migration of the Dominicans has adversely affected the economic growth of the country. One of the sectors that have greatly been affected is the tourism industry. Tourists are no longer interested in visiting the country due to its insecurity and its political instability. Most tourists fear for their lives and instead they opt to go to other countries for their leisure. Researches indicate that the tourism contributes a high percentage of the economy of the Dominican Republic. This results to the decreased revenue from the tourism sector (Özden, 111). Another area that is substantially affected is the business environment. It is estimated that the almost a quarter percentage of the economy is attributed to the business investors in the country. The insecurity and political instability has driven away investors and also the citizen from operating business in the country. This is because investing the country entails a lot of risks that cannot be compensated by any insurance. This has affected trading not only in the Dominican but also in the region. The diplomatic relations have strongly warned their citizens from investing in the country. Due to the economy of the country being controlled by the middle class, the poverty levels have increased significantly making the country to be ranked as one of the poorest countries in the world.
Dominican Republic also greatly depends on agriculture for its economy. This means that due to the civil wars in the country, agriculture has almost been rendered impossible. The insecurity has made people in the country fear to practice farming due to the fear of being killed. This has rendered to a significant drop in the economy of the republic. Though agriculture remains the most important sector in the growth of the economy, the government should stabilize the country politically in order for the country to continue benefiting from the sector (Hirschman, 198). The Dominican Republic also accounts its revenues to mining. This has been also been affected by the political situation because the miners from abroad no longer venture into the country for mining benefits. For the Dominican to adversely benefit from any sector that supports its economy it is profoundly important to first settle its political conflicts. The Dominicans immigrants went to good schools in the New York. This is means that if the Dominican Republic stabilizes, the learned will boost the economic growth tremendously.
Economic consequences over New York
The New York has registered a significant change on its economy due to the migration of the Dominicans into its territories. The inflation of the population from the immigrants has resulted to the drop in the economic growth of the New York. This is because the New York has to feed the population which has nothing to offer to the economy. It has also to cater for their medical needs which are one of the expensive sectors. Surveys conducted; show that the some Dominican immigrants have attained a high level of academic qualification (Papademetriou, 122). This poses a great advantage to the New York because they hire the qualified immigrants easing the burden of feeding and medical care. Also, researches show that the unemployment rate among the Dominicans in the New York is around 18 percent. This means that the immigrants have contributed substantially to the growth of New York’s economy. Though most them are employed on cheap labor, the resulting factor is a substantial growth in the economy. It is depicted that the economic recession in the New York prompted the Dominicans to seek alternative ways of maintaining themselves in the country.
It is depicted that most educated immigrants have turned to opening small businesses in order to support the economic growth and the mobility. It has also been established that the Dominicans have supported the economic tremendously through remittances. It established that remittances are very important in the growth of a country’s GDP which in this case the Dominicans contributed to ten percent of the New York’s GDP. Through the provision of the cheap labor, the Dominicans made an immense contribution to the economy of the New York. On the other hand, the Dominicans introduced the menace of the HIV/AIDS in the New York which rendered to negative impact on the economy (Brinton, 55). This is because is because they cross married resulting to a heavy expenditure on the government on the medical care. However, this did not deter the Dominicans from performing in their fields of work as the government offered the best medical attention to the infected people. I think the positive effects on the immigrants outweigh the negative effects on the economy. It can be conclusively established that the migration of the Dominicans to the New York had a tremendous effect on the economic growth of the country.
Work cited
Brinton, Mary C. The New Institutionalism in Sociology. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1998. Print.
Cordero-Guzmán, Héctor R. Migration, Transnationalization, and Race in a Changing New York. Philadelphia: Temple Univ. Press, 2001. Print.
Gibney, Matthew J. Immigration and Asylum: From 1900 to the Present. Santa Barbara, Calif. [u.a.: ABC-CLIO, 2005. Print.
Haines, David W. Illegal Immigration in America: A Reference Handbook. Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Greenwood Press, 1999. Print.
Hirschman, Charles. The Handbook of International Migration: The American Experience. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation, 1999. Print.
Özden, Çaglar. Global Perspectives on International Migration, Policy, and Economic Development: Overview. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2007. Print.
Papademetriou, Demetrios G, and Philip L. Martin. The Unsettled Relationship: Labor Migration and Economic Development. New York: Greenwood Press, 1991. Print.
Portes, Alejandro, and Rubén G. Rumbaut. Immigrant America: A Portrait. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006. Internet resource.
