SIGNIFICANT FEATURES OF MIGRATION 31
nonimmigrant and is now leaving after having been in this country
less than one year, or he is an alien resident of the United States
leaving for a temporary sojourn abroad.
It should be noted that the definition of ‘‘immigrant” for pur-
poses of the quota restriction acts of recent years differs somewhat
in scope from the traditional meaning of the term as above defined.
Ordinarily in official and popular use, the terms immigrant,
emigrant, immigration, and emigration refer to the relatively per-
manent immigrant or emigrant and exclude from consideration the
nonimmigrant and nonemigrant groups; and, as a rule, that practice
is followed in this monograph. However, it should be noted that for
some purposes the citizen and nonimmigrant alien elements should
not be ignored. Unless the arrivals and departures of these groups
balance—and they do not—they should logically be included in a
study of the contributions which migration makes to population.
Also, in our present inquiry, the reaction to employment conditions
of the aliens arriving or departing temporarily from our shores may
be as significant as the fluctuations in the movements of immigrants
and emigrants proper. In fact, it would seem reasonable to expect
that the volume of migration of workers who come for only a tem-
porary residence would be especially sensitive to changing con-
ditions of employment.
In the following pages, the terms tmmigrants and emigrants refer
ordinarily to those relatively permanent alien arrivals and depar-
tures officially designated as immigrants and emigrants; the terms
alien arrivals and alien departures include, in addition, the non-
immigrant and nonemigrant group, respectively; and the terms
total arrivals and total departures are inclusive of all recorded ar-
rivals and departures of both citizens and aliens.
In some instances the term permanent has been used for im-
migrants and emigrants and temporary for the nonimmigrants and
nonemigrants; but these terms should not be interpreted too
literally, as the classification is based upon the declared intention,
and intentions may be either misstated or subsequently changed.
The arriving alien who declares an intention of establishing a per-
manent residence in this country may find conditions less agreeable
than expected and emigrate within a few months. The fact that in
the seventeen years from July 1, 1907, to June 30, 1924, the recorded
total of nonimmigrants was only 2,485,789, while that of non-
emigrants was 3,097,567, indicates either that thousands of in-
coming aliens declare an intention of permanent sojourn but change
