People emigrate to other countries for many reasons. Financial hardship is often the most common motive to move permanently from one’s country of origin to another. Those who emigrate tend to go to countries where work is available because people need to earn decent wages and improve their standard of living (especially for their families). Many Mexicans, Filipinos, Haitians, Chinese, and others foreign citizens emigrate to the US where they become US immigrants. Other countries that encourage immigration are New Zealand, Canada, Dubai, and Australia. They welcome immigrants who fulfill and add useful functions to their labor and economic force.
The most important motive, however, is freedom. It used to be that many people from Russia, back when it was the Soviet Republic wanted to emigrate to the US, Canada and England, but now that Russian citizens have constitutional rights similar to the west, the number has dwindled.
There is a shift in immigration pattern. Although people still want to emigrate to the US, many young Americans are thinking of emigrating abroad, where they can find work because of the deep recession that happened in the country in the past three years. Way back in the 1980s and earlier, the concept of Americans emigrating to find work was unheard of but now, it’s an option that many newly grads consider.