CHAPTER VII 
CYCLICAL FLUCTUATIONS OF SELECTED ELEMENTS 
IN MIGRATION 
The evidence presented in the preceding chapters indicates a 
pronounced tendency for cyclical fluctuations in immigration to, 
and emigration from, the United States to be determined primarily 
by cyclical fluctuations in industrial activity in this country. The 
nature of this relationship may be made clearer by comparing the 
cyclical movements of selected elements in migration. 
For this purpose we shall make comparisons between im- 
migrants and nonimmigrants, males and females, and laborers and 
other occupational groups. 
PERMANENT AND TEMPORARY MIGRATION 
Immigrants and Nonimmigrants. 
The official statistics, as we have previously noted, distinguish 
between alien immigrants and alien nonimmigrants, the latter com- 
prising aliens entering the United States for a temporary stay or 
returning here after a temporary sojourn abroad. Most of the 
popular and scientific discussion of immigration problems deals 
solely with the relatively permanent ‘immigrant’ group. To the 
extent that the nonimmigrant group is made up of touristsand 
other persons not seeking employment we should expect it to show 
less responsiveness to cyclical changes than the “immigrant” group 
proper; but, on the other hand, if we could segregate those non- 
immigrants who, despite a declared intention of temporary sojourn, 
enter for purposes of employment, we should expect the fluctuations 
of this working element to show, particularly as to the exodus 
during depression periods, even greater sensitiveness to cyclical 
conditions than the more permanent migration. 
Prior to the present century, the recorded number of arriving 
aliens other than those listed as immigrants was relatively small. 
In the nineteenth century, the number of recorded alien nonim- 
migrants never exceeded fifty thousand and exceeded ten per cent 
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