Immigration
Victor Thompson
vthompso@stanford.edu
• Friends or family in the U.S.?
• Is it hard or easy to immigrate to the United
States?
• Number of immigrants?
• Are immigrants successful or failures?
The first of this land…
• Everyone except for American Indians, African
Americans and some Latinos are descendants
of voluntary immigrants
• American Indians were the first people to
immigrate.
– Walked over the Bering Straight into North and South
America
– Estimates of their size prior to Columbus range from:
• Estimates range from 2-18 million but most likely it was
between 5-7 million
– In the 1900 Census less than 250,000
…."Give me your tired, your
poor,
Your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of
your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless,
tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the
golden door!"
• Total population of
foreign born has
increased
• Percentage of
foreign born
population has
fluctuated
Where do they all come from?
Five Leading Countries of Immigrants 1850-2000
1850
1880
1900
1930
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
1
Ireland
Germany
Germany
Italy
Italy
Italy
Mexico
Mexico
Mexico
2
Germany
Ireland
Ireland
Germany
Germany
Germany
Germany
China
China
3
Great
Britain
Great
Britain
Canada
United
Kingdom
Canada
Canada
Canada
Philippines
Philippines
4
Canada
Canada
Great
Britain
Canada
United
Kingdom
Mexico
Italy
Canada
India
5
France
Sweden
Sweden
Poland
Poland
United
Kingdom
United
Kingdom
Cuba
Cuba
Source: U.S. Census Bureau 2001
Open Land
• Reasons to come to
America
– Religious or political
persecution
– Opportunities
• Sparsely populated
• Room for expansion
• Industry
– Abundance of wealth
• Rich agriculture
• Gold
– Why not!
Types of Immigrants
• Voluntary Immigration
– Push Factors
•
•
•
•
•
Political or Religious persecution
Refugees
War
Economic
Environmental
– Pull Factors
•
•
•
•
Work
Family
Education
Quality of Life
• Involuntary Immigration
– Many African Americans in the U.S. are descendants of forced
immigrants
– Slavery
Government Policy
• Early policy
– The Naturalization Act of 1790
– The Alien Act of 1798
• Age of restriction
– Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
– Gentleman's Agreement-1908
– Immigration Act of 1924
• Recent Policy
–
–
–
–
–
Bracero Program (1942-1964)
Immigration Reform Act of 1965
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
H-1B Visa Program
U.S. Patriot Act (2001)
Well…we’re here, now what?
Melting Pot or Salad Bowl
• Melting Pot
(Assimilation)
– Discard old identity
– Adopt American
culture, tastes and
habits
– No longer feel ethnic
or close to immigrant
identity
• Salad Bowl
(Pluralism)
– Maintain “old” culture
and identities
– Share common goals
of the nation
What do you think?
Melting Pot or Salad Bowl???
Two ways sociologists study this
question
• Education
– How much education do immigrants and their
children have?
• Income
– How much do immigrants and their children
earn?
Education (1st)
Average Education
Education
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
European
Hispanic/Latino
Asian
1940
1970
2000
Year
Average Education
Education (2nd)
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
European
Hispanic/Latino
Asian
8.7
10.9
Year
13.2
African, Carribean,
Other
African, Carribean,
Other
Immigrant Length of Stay and
Percent with 4 or more years of
College
• Less than 10 years
– 30%
• 10 to 19 Years
– 23%
• 20 or more years
– 25%
Education of different groups
•
U.S. Average
–
–
•
Immigrant groups above U.S. Average for college
–
–
–
–
–
–
•
India (65%)
Taiwan (62%)
Hong Kong (47%)
Japan (35%)
Korea (34%)
China (31%)
Groups near U.S. Average
–
–
–
–
–
•
77% are high school graduates
20% completed 4+ years of college
United Kingdom (23%)
Canada (22%)
Cuba (16%)
Greece (15%)
Ireland (15%)
Groups Below Average
–
–
–
–
Ecuador (12%)
Italy (9%)
Cambodia (6%)
Mexico (4%)
Weekly Income (1st)
Income
1000
European
Income
800
600
Hispanic/Latino
400
Asian
200
0
1940
1970
2000
Year
Weekly Income (2nd)
1000
European
Income
800
600
Hispanic/Latino
400
Asian
200
0
1940
1970
Year
2000
African, Carribean,
Other
African, Carribean,
Other
Labor Force participation
• U.S. average (16 and older)
•
•
– 65% are in the labor force
– 14% are in professional occupation
Above U.S. average
Labor Force
– India
75%
– Taiwan
65%
– Canada
52%
– Former Soviet Union
40%
– Japan
55%
– China
62%
Below U.S. average
Labor Force
– Columbia
74%
– Portugal
72%
– Laos
50%
– El Salvador
76%
– Mexico
70%
Professional
34%
29%
21%
20%
18%
17%
Professional
9%
4%
4%
3%
3%
Immigrant Length of Stay and
Occupation
Percentage in Professional Occupations
• Less than 10 years
– 23%
• 10 to 19 Years
– 19%
• 20 or more years
– 14%
Household Incomes
• Total for U.S.
$41,000
• Immigrants
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Asia
Canada
Europe
South America
Africa
Caribbean
Central America
Mexico
52,000
46,000
42,000
40,000
37,000
38,000
38,000
37,000
Immigrant Length of Stay and
Income
Average Income of Immigrants
• Less than 10 years
– $31,000
• 10 to 19 Years
– $37,000
• 20 or more years
– $40,000
What does this mean?
• All groups have gained in education and
income over time
• Some groups consistently have more
education or income
• Length of residence in U.S. has an effect
on some things
• Even after several generations many
groups are still unequal
Melting Pot or Salad Bowl?
• Depends on who we are talking about
• Some groups do better some do worse
• Variation even within categories and
nationalities
– Does race matter?
– What else might make a difference?
Other topics interesting to
Sociologists
• Attitudes
• Competition between immigrants and citizens in:
– Jobs
– Education
– Social Welfare Programs
• Immigration Control and Policies
• Intermarriage
• Immigrant culture
– Family
– Economic
– Social
Diversity of experiences
•
•
•
•
•
The way immigrants are received
Their success
The success of their children
The experiences they have
What others think of them
Angel Island and Ellis Island
Ellis Island
• Mainly European
• Some of them were welcomed…some
were not
• Name changing was common
• Medical inspections were common.
– Sometimes people were kept to check for
medical problems
Angel Island
•
•
•
•
Almost entirely Asian
Not welcomed
Many were detained or denied admission
Some were quarantined for as long as 2
years