Migration

Abstract

Migration is an integral feature of the economy and culture of the Caribbean. One of the favorite pastimes of Caribbean people is to wave goodbye to their friends and relatives at the airport. In recent times, new airport architecture and security concerns have put a crimp on this practice. But the flow of emigrants continues as both an effect as well as a cause of the evolution of the Caribbean economy. In the contemporary Caribbean setting, migration represents a loss of skills as well as a future source of foreign exchange. Since 1965, the principal destination of the emigrants has been the United States. Table 6.1 shows the number of immigrants admitted to the United States for the periods 1991–2000 and 2005.