chain migration

[cheyn mahy-grey-shuhn]

noun

1. a form of family immigration where one person is granted legal residency or citizenship to a country, and then petitions to bring their immediate or extended family into the country.

Word History and Origins

Origin of chain migration¹

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

His group advocates for “merit based migration” and says “chain migration” or family-based migration needs to be eliminated except when it comes to immediate relatives.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Trump has criticized this so-called “chain migration” — immigrants applying to have their relatives follow them into the country.

Read more on Salon

They were able to take advantage of the family reunification visa process that then-president Donald Trump had derided as "chain migration" that should be scrapped.

Read more on BBC

Many residents are also foreign-born, which tends to lead to movement called chain migration in which relatives join already settled family members in a new country.

Read more on National Geographic

Terms like “chain migration” depict immigrants as a burden.

Read more on Los Angeles Times