Briefly explain how societies have sought to regulate immigration and emigration throughout history. Provide examples, where appropriate

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Throughout history, many societies have sought to limit or regulate both immigration and emigration. Regulations on emigration range from absolute prohibition on people leaving (as in the communist countries of Eastern Europe during the years of the Cold War, roughly 1948–1989), to restrictions on certain groups of people (such as Jews in Germany during the period of Nazi rule between 1933 and 1945), to enforced departure or exile (as in the case of Dante, condemned in 1302 to perpetual exile from his native Florence). The Berlin Wall—built in 1961 as a barrier between West Berlin and both East Berlin and the surrounding East German territory—is a prominent symbol of the efforts of governments to keep people from leaving. More recently, many countries have sought to limit brain drain. Groups and societies have also sought to regulate immigration. As with emigration, such regulations range from absolute prohibition (preventing anyone from entering a country) to enforced importation (as in the great slave migrations of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the expulsion of Jews to slave and death camps throughout Europe during World War II). In between these extremes lie the elaborate regulations common today throughout the world, which reject some immigrants outright and admit others under a variety of provisions for temporary or permanent stays. For both temporary and permanent residence, there is an intricate system by which foreign-born persons become eligible for a visa—the authorizing entry document. The decision about who is entitled to a visa becomes a critical part of immigration policy.