Abstract
The United States is a self-described “nation of immigrants” and is home to more foreign-born people than any other country in the world. Although emigration from the United States has not occurred in any great waves, it is nevertheless a significant and growing phenomenon, with as many as 2 % of all US citizens residing abroad. Like many other industrialized nations, the United States does not have a systematic emigration or diaspora policy framework and its civil leaders do not face great public demand to develop one. Instead, the United States has a patchwork of laws and policies that specifically apply to Americans residing overseas which govern this population’s benefits (such as voting rights and social safety nets) and obligations (taxation of assets earned abroad, for example) of US citizenship. This chapter attempts to identify and discuss these laws and policies as well as outline the role that non-state actors play in helping American expatriates maintain their patriotic identities. It first describes the US general policy framework towards its emigrant population and then analyses the prevailing public discourse on emigration.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
American Citizens Abroad. (2013). Issues & hot topics. Rockville, Maryland: American Citizens Abroad.
Cave, D. (2012, June 19). American children, now struggling to adjust to life in Mexico. New York Times.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. (2012). Policy basics: Top ten facts about social security. Washington, DC: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. (2014). Policy basics: Where do our federal tax dollars go? Washington, DC: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Chisthi, M., & Hipsman, F. (2012). Renouncing U.S. citizenship: A new trend? Migration Information Source, September 2012. http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?ID=905
Coleman, K. (2012). The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act: Overview and issues. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.
Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs. (2008). Tax havens and U.S. tax compliance, staff report, 110th Congress, 2nd session. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Crook, K., & Druetto, S. (2012). 2010 Census federally affiliated overseas count operation assessment report. Washington, DC: US Department of Commerce.
Dark, T. (2003). Americans abroad: The challenge of a globalized electorate. Political Science & Politics, 42(4), 733–740.
Di Bartolomeo, A., & Salinari, G. (2011). Migration from the United States to the European Union: Trends and characteristics. San Domenico di Fiesole: Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies.
Dixon, D., Murray, J., & Gelatt, J. (2006). America’s emigrants: U.S. retirement migration to Mexico and Panama. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute.
Fors Marsh Group LLC. (2014). A model for developing estimates of U.S. citizens abroad: Final technical report. Washington, DC: Federal Voting Assistance Program. Retrieved from: https://www.fvap.gov/uploads/FVAP/Reports/OCE_Technical_Report.pdf
Haims, M., & Dick, A. (2010). Extending U.S. Medicare to Mexico. Santa Monica: RAND Corporation.
Huckabee, D. (2003). House apportionment: Could census corrections shift a house seat? Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. (2014). Voting from abroad database. Stockholm: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.
Internal Revenue Service. (1998–2014). Quarterly publication of individuals who have chosen to expatriate, as required by Section 60396. Washington, DC: Federal Register.
Internal Revenue Service. (2014). Tax guide for U.S. citizens and resident aliens abroad for use in preparing 2014 returns. Washington, DC: US Department of the Treasury.
Klekowski von Koppenfels, A. (2014). Migrants or expatriates? Americans in Europe. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Medrano, L. (2013, April 23). As Mexican families return home, US-educated kids struggle to adapt. Christian Science Monitor.
Office of Refugee Resettlement. (2012). Report to the Congress: FY 2012. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Olson, E. (2004, May 4). Out of sight, American expatriates struggle for political clout: Trying to make themselves count. New York Times.
Overseas Vote Foundation and U.S. Vote Foundation. (2013). OVF and US vote 2012 post-elections survey report. Arlington: Overseas Vote Foundation and U.S. Vote Foundation.
Passel, J., Cohn, D., & Gonzalez-Barrera, A. (2012). Net migration from Mexico falls to zero—and perhaps less. Pew Research Center, 3 May 2012, http://www.pewhispanic.org/2012/04/23/net-migration-frommexico-falls-to-zero-and-perhaps-less/
Peddicord, K. (2013, May 13). Why Medicare won’t cover you overseas. US News and World Report.
Perez, W. (2014, November 20). What happens to deported students? Education Week.
Rigor, S. (2013, June). Filipino elders in U.S. hope to return home: With Medicaid. New America Media.
Social Security Administration. (2011). Your payments while you are outside the United States. Washington, DC: Social Security Administration.
Supreme Court of the United States. (1924). Cook v. Tait, 265 U.S. 47. Washington, DC: Supreme Court of the United States.
Supreme Court of the United States. (2002). Utah v. Evans. Washington, DC: Supreme Court of the United States.
Tepper, J. (2014, December 8). Why I’m giving up my passport. New York Times.
The Association of Americans Resident Overseas. (2013a). Taxation of Americans abroad. Paris: The Association of Americans Resident Overseas.
The Association of Americans Resident Overseas. (2013b). Banking. Paris: Association of Americans Resident Overseas.
US Bureau of the Census. (2014a). State and county quickfacts. Washington, DC: US Department of Commerce.
US Bureau of the Census. (2014b). US and world population clock. Washington, DC: US Department of Congress.
US Congress. (1986). Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986 (H.R. 4393). Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
US Congress. (2010a). 26 § U.S.C. 877. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
US Congress. (2010b). 26 § U.S.C. 877A. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
US Congress. (2012). Ex-PATRIOT Act of 2012, S. 3205, 112th Cong., 2nd session. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
US Chamber of Commerce. (2014). American Chamber of Commerce abroad. Washington, DC: US Chamber of Commerce.
US Department of Defense. (2014). Active duty military personnel by service region/country (updated quarterly) – Total DoD – September 1, 2014 (DMDC data). Washington, DC: US Department of Defense.
US Department of Defense Federal Voting Assistance Program. (2013). 2012 post-election report to congress. Washington, DC: US Department of Defense Federal Voting Assistance Program.
US Department of Defense Federal Voting Assistance Program. (2014). Never resided in the U.S? Washington, DC: US Department of Defense Federal Voting Assistance Program.
US Department of State. (2013). Office of overseas schools. Washington, DC: US Department of State.
US Department of Health and Human Services. (2011). Medicare coverage outside the United States. Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services.
US Department of State. (2014a). Passport statistics: Valid passports in circulation (1989-present). Washington, DC: US Department of State.
US Department of State. (2014b). Who we are and what we do: Consular affairs by the numbers. Washington, DC: US Department of State.
US Department of State. (2014c). US Department of State foreign affairs manual. Washington, DC: US Department of State.
US Department of State. (2014d). Acquisition of U.S. citizenship by a child born abroad. Washington, DC: US Department of State.
US Government Accountability Office. (2004a). 2010 Census: Counting Americans abroad as part of the decennial census would not be cost effective. Washington, DC: US Government Accountability Office.
US Government Accountability Office. (2004b). 2010 Census: Counting Americans overseas as part of the Census would not be feasible. Washington, DC: US Government Accountability Office.
US Government Accountability Office. (2004c). 2010 Census: Overseas enumeration test raises need for clear policy direction. Washington, DC: US Government Accountability Office.
US Government Accountability Office. (2007). State Department: Evacuation planning and preparations for overseas posts can be improved. Washington, DC: US Government Accountability Office.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (2013). 11.064.1: Facilitating parental interests in the course of civil immigration enforcement activities. Washington, DC: US Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (2014). Total migrant stock at mid-year by origin and destination: 2013. New York: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Retrieved from: http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/data/estimates2/estimatestotal.shtml
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. (2013). Consideration for deferred action for childhood arrivals. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. (2014). Citizenship through parents. Washington, DC: US Department of Homeland Security.
US Treasury. (2014). Offshore compliance initiative. Washington, DC: US Department of the Treasury.
World Bank. (2010). Bilateral migration matrix 2010. Washington, DC: World Bank.
World Bank. (2014). Monthly remittance flows to selected countries. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Zelenak, M. (2004). A methodology for enumerating U.S. citizens living overseas. Washington, DC: American Statistical Association.
Acknowledgements
This paper was drafted with support from the Migration Policy Institute and the European Union in the framework of the INTERACT Project.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Groves, S. (2016). Americans Abroad: US Emigration Policy and Perspectives. In: Chikanda, A., Crush, J., Walton-Roberts, M. (eds) Diasporas, Development and Governance. Global Migration Issues, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22165-6_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22165-6_15
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-22164-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-22165-6
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)