Difference Between Immigration and Migration
The terms migration and immigration are often confused to be the one and the same by many people. But in reality there is a hell and the heaven difference between the two words. Immigration is the process by which people, who are the residents of the some other country, go to live in a foreign country due to certain political, social, cultural or religious unrest and conflicts in their native country. Migration on the other hand is the moving of people as well as animals and birds from one place to the other for a short span of time in order to either avoid unfavorable conditions in the country or to take refuge from certain conditions. It is a phenomenon that is bi-directional in nature. This means that if people from one country migrate to the other, then the people from that other country migrate into the first country too. The same is the case for the birds too during winters, some birds move to the warmer lands and those from the warmer lands come to the cooler lands. Immigration is much more frequently used than migration or emigration as people tend to permanently move into foreign countries for better job opportunities and studies and donot tend to return.
If we consider the terms, we see that migration is the broad concept covering both immigration as well as emigration. We never come across the terms illegal or legal migrations but these terms are met in case of immigration. There are several instances when people illegally immigrate into the foreign countries so as to get better jobs and earn money. These tend to become refugees.