immigration

/ˈɪməˌgreɪʃən/

/ɪmɪˈgrɛɪʃən/

Other forms: immigrations

Immigration is the process of moving to a new country to stay. New York's Ellis Island was considered a gateway for European immigration to the United States during the early 1900's. Nowadays, people immigrate through airports instead of islands.

The word migration is in immigration, which is something we think of birds doing when they fly South for the winter. It's not an accident — if American birds had little passports, they'd have to go through immigration when they got to Mexico. When humans immigrate, they have to follow the rules of the new country or else they risk getting in trouble. Immigration is the act of going to a new country, while emigration refers to the process of leaving one.

Definitions of immigration

1. noun

   migration into a place (especially migration to a country of which you are not a native in order to settle there)
   synonyms: in-migration

   types:

   aliyah

   (Judaism) immigration of Jews to Israel

   type of:

   migration

   the movement of persons from one country or locality to another
2. noun

   the body of immigrants arriving during a specified interval
   “the increased immigration strengthened the colony”

   type of:

   body

   a group of persons associated by some common tie or occupation and regarded as an entity