New Americans, Assimilation, and Old
Challenges
Chapter Nine
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Current Immigration
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The U.S. is now experiencing a second wave of mass
immigration, this one beginning in the 1960s and including
people not just from Europe but from all over the world.
Over the last 4 decades, well over 30 million newcomers have
arrived (not counting undocumented immigrants), a rate that
exceeds the pace of the first mass immigration.
Will this new wave of immigrants transform the United States
once again?
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Legal Immigrants to the United States
1960-2010
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New Hispanic Groups: Immigrants From the
Dominican Republic, El Salvador, and Colombia
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Immigration from Latin America, the Caribbean, and South America
has been considerable at about 25% of all immigrants since the 1960s
(excluding Mexico)
The sending nations for these immigrants are economically less
developed and most have long-standing relations with the United States
These immigrants tend to be more educated, more urbanized, and
more skilled than the average citizens of the nations from which they
come
Immigrants from the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, and Colombia
have made up 7% to 9% of all immigrants in recent years and about
30% of the immigrants from Central and South America and the
Caribbean.
These groups had few members in the United States before the 1960s,
and all have had high rates of immigration over the past four decades.
However, the motivation of the immigrants and the immigration
experience has varied from group to group.
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New Hispanic Groups: Immigrants From the
Dominican Republic, El Salvador, and Colombia
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Dominican immigrants are motivated largely by economics and
they are especially concentrated in the service sector.
A high percentage of Dominicans are undocumented
El Salvador, like the Dominican Republic, is a relatively poor
nation.
Many of the Salvadorans in the United States today are actually
political refugees.
Colombia is somewhat more developed than most other Central
and South American nations but has suffered from more than 40
years of internal turmoil, civil war, and government corruption.
Colombian Americans are closer to U.S. norms of education and
income than other Latino groups, and recent immigrants are a
mixture of less-skilled laborers and well-educated professionals.
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Legal Immigrants for Top 20 Sending
Nations 2010
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Non-Hispanic Immigration From the
Caribbean
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Two of the largest non-Latino groups come from Haiti and Jamaica
in the Caribbean. Both nations are much less developed than the
United States, and this is reflected in the educational and
occupational characteristics of their immigrants.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. HaitianAmericans today are mostly first generation and about 30% of the
group arrived after 2000. The ultimate path of Haitian assimilation
will unfold in the future.
Jamaicans tend to be more skilled and educated and represent
something of a “brain drain.” Jamaicans typically settle on the East
Coast, particularly in New York City area.
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Characteristics of Three Hispanic
Groups 2010
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Contemporary Immigration From Asia
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Immigration from Asia has been considerable since the 1960s,
averaging close to 300,000 people or about 30% to 35% of all
immigrants.
The sending nations are considerably less developed than the
United States, and the primary motivation for most of these
immigrants is economic. Also, many Asian immigrants are refugees
from war and others are spouses of U.S. military personnel who had
been stationed throughout the region.
Immigrants from India, Vietnam, Korea, and the Philippines make up
about half of all immigrants from Asia
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Contemporary Immigration From Asia
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Immigrants from India, Vietnam, Korea, and the Philippines make up
about half of all immigrants from Asia.
The four groups considered here are small, and they all include a high
percentage of foreign-born members.
They are quite variable in their backgrounds, their occupational profiles,
their levels of education, and their incomes.
They tend to have high percentages of members who are fluent in
English, members with higher levels of education, and relatively more
members prepared to compete in the American job market.
The four groups vary in their settlement patterns. Most are concentrated
along the West Coast, but Asian Indians are roughly equally distributed
on both the East and West Coasts, and Vietnamese have a sizable
presence in Texas, in part related to the fishing industry along the Gulf
Coast.
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Middle Eastern and Arab Americans
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Immigration from the Middle East and the Arab world
began in the 19th century but has never been particularly
large.
The earliest immigrants tended to be merchants and
traders, and the Middle Eastern community in the United
States has been constructed around an ethnic, smallbusiness enclave.
The number of Arab Americans and Middle Easterners
has grown rapidly over the past several decades but still
remains a tiny percentage of the total population.
This is a diverse group, which brings different national
traditions and cultures as well religion.
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9/11 and Arab Americans
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There always has been prejudice directed at Middle Easterners in American culture.
These vague feelings have intensified in recent decades as relations with various
Middle Eastern nations and groups worsened.
Americans responded to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon by
Arab terrorists with an array of emotions that included bewilderment, shock, anger,
patriotism, deep sorrow for the victims and their families, and increased prejudicial
rejection of Middle Easterners, Arabs, Muslims, and any group that seemed even
vaguely associated with the perpetrators of the attacks.
Today, the Arab American community faces a number of issues and problems,
including profiling at airport security checks and greater restrictions on entering the
country.
Thus, although the Arab American and Middle Eastern communities are small in size,
they have assumed a prominent place in the attention of the nation. They are
victimized by a strong stereotype that is often applied uncritically and without
qualification.
Relations between Arab Americans and the larger society are certainly among the
most tense and problematic of any minority group.
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Immigrants from Africa
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Immigration from Africa has been quite low over the
past 50 years.
However, there was the usual increase after the
1960s, and Africans have made up about 5% of all
immigrants in the past few years
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Immigrants from Africa
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The number of native Africans in the U.S. has more
than doubled since 1990, and this rapid growth
suggests that these groups may have a greater
impact on U.S. society in the future
The category of “sub-Saharan African” is extremely
broad and encompasses destitute black refugees
from African civil wars and relatively affluent white
South Africans.
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Immigrants from Africa
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Nigerian and Ethiopian immigrants tend to be highly skilled and educated,
and they bring valuable abilities and advanced educational credentials to
the United States.
Nigeria is a former British colony, so the relatively high level of English
fluency of the immigrants is not surprising. They have been able to translate
their relatively high levels of human capital and English fluency into a
favorable position in the U.S. economy. They compare quite favorably with
national norms in their income levels.
Compared with Nigerians, Ethiopians rank lower in their English fluency and
are more mixed in their backgrounds. For example, almost 20% of Ethiopian
immigrants in 2010 were admitted as “refugees and asylees” versus only
1% of Nigerian immigrants. Although Ethiopians compare favorably with
national norms in education, they have much higher rates of poverty and
much lower levels of income. These contrasts suggest that Ethiopians are
less able to translate their educational credentials into higher-ranked
occupations.
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Immigrants and the Primary Labor
Market
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The immigrants entering the primary labor market are highly educated, skilled
professionals and business people.
Members of this group are generally fluent in English, and many were educated at U.S.
universities. They are highly integrated into the global urban-industrial economy, and in
many cases, they are employees of multinational corporations transferred here by their
companies.
These immigrants are affluent, urbane, and dramatically different from the peasant laborers
so common in the past.
Because they tend to be affluent and enter a growing sector of the labor force, they tend to
attract less notice and fewer racist reactions than their more unskilled counterparts.
The groups with high percentages of members entering the primary labor market include
Indian, Egyptian, Iranian, and Nigerian immigrants.
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Immigrants and the Secondary Labor
Market
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The secondary labor market – this mode of incorporation is more
typical for immigrants with lower levels of education and fewer job
skills.
Jobs in this sector are less desirable and command lower pay, little
security, and few benefits and are often seasonal or in the
underground or informal economy.
The groups with high percentages of members in the secondary
labor market include Dominicans, Haitians and the less skilled and
less educated kinfolk of the higher-status immigrants.
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Immigrants and Ethnic Enclaves
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Some immigrant groups, especially those that can
bring financial capital and business experience,
have established ethnic enclaves.
Some members of these groups enter U.S. society
as entrepreneurs, owners of small retail shops, and
other businesses; their less-skilled and educated coethnics serve as a source of cheap labor to staff the
ethnic enterprises.
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Comparative Focus: The Roma:
Europe's “True Minority”
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Collectively, the Roma are the most disadvantaged minority group in Europe and
present the greatest challenge to integration. Their continued poverty, exclusion, and
marginalization challenge the themes of multiculturalism and democracy that are
purportedly valued throughout Europe. Furthermore, this is not a new situation and
the Roma are by no means newcomers to Europe.
Roma are not a single group or a homogeneous entity. Members of these groups
share little in common and are more similar to the majority members of the country in
which they reside than to each other. However, from a pan-European perspective,
they are often considered a single group.
Violence and intolerance towards Roma is not only still very much present but is on
the rise. Discriminatory attitudes are especially on the rise in Central and Eastern
Europe.
The deep divide between Roma and non-Roma in Europe is largely the result of a
long history of isolation and segregated living.
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Immigration: Issues and Controversies
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A majority of Americans regard immigration as a
positive force but many others are vehemently
opposed
The history of this nation is replete with antiimmigrant and nativist groups and activities. The
present is no exception.
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Immigration: Issues and Controversies
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A majority of Americans regard immigration as a positive force
but many others are vehemently opposed
The history of this nation is replete with anti-immigrant and
nativist groups and activities. The present is no exception.
The contemporary anti-immigrant movements have generated
a number of state laws that require law enforcement officers
to check the immigration status of anyone they stopped,
detained or arrested when they had a “reasonable” suspicion
that the person might be an undocumented immigrant.
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Immigration: Issues and Controversies
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The immigrants –
 Although very grateful for the economic opportunities
available in the U.S., immigrants may be ambivalent
about U.S. culture and values.
 In a recent survey, immigrants were more likely to see
immigration as a positive force for the larger society
and more likely to say that immigrants work hard and
pay their fair share of taxes.
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Immigration: Issues and Controversies
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Cost and Benefits –
 Americans are especially concerned with the economic
impact of immigration.
 Contrary to some strains of public opinion, many studies,
especially those done at the national level, find that
immigrants are not a particular burden.
 In general, immigrants, undocumented as well as legal,
pay local, state, and federal taxes and contribute to Social
Security and Medicare.
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Undocumented Immigrants
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Americans are particularly concerned with undocumented immigrants but,
again, are split in their attitudes.
The estimated number of undocumented immigrants increased from 8.4
million in 2000 to a high of 12 million in 2007, an increase more than 40%.
The number has declined during the recession and is now about 10.2
million.
Some undocumented immigrants enter the country on tourist, temporary
worker, or student visas and simply remain in the nation when their visas
expire. Others cross the border illegally.
One of the reasons that the supply of unauthorized immigrants has been so
high is because of the continuing demand for cheap labor in the U.S.
economy.
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Undocumented Immigrants
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A variety of efforts have been made to curtail and control the flow of
undocumented immigrants.
Various states have attempted to lower the appeal of the United States by
limiting benefits and opportunities.
 State Bill 1070 in Arizona
 Proposition 187 in California
 Other efforts to decrease the flow of illegal immigration have included proposals
to limit welfare benefits for immigrants, deny in-state college tuition to the
children of undocumented immigrants, increases in the size of the Border Patrol,
and the construction of taller and wider walls along the border with Mexico.
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Over the past decade, a variety of proposals to reform the national
immigration policy have been hotly debated at the highest levels of
government but none have been passed.
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Focus On Contemporary Issues: Birthright
Citizenship
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Among advanced industrial nations, the United States and Canada alone
automatically confer citizenship on any baby born within their borders, including
babies born to undocumented immigrants. In the US, this policy is based on the
14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which was passed shortly after the
Civil War to guarantee the citizenship rights of ex-slaves.
Birthright citizenship is one of many hotly debated immigration issues.
Arguments for ending birthright citizenship commonly cite the costs to taxpayers
and that it would reduce the incentive for people to enter illegally.
On the other hand, if the primary incentive for immigration is work and job
opportunities, ending this policy would have little impact on population flows and
repeal of birthright citizenship would increase the size of the unauthorized
immigrant population and create a large, permanent class of marginalized
people, who would be stateless, without full citizenship rights anywhere, and
easily exploited.
It is quite likely that birthright citizenship will be a prominent issue in American
politics for some time.
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Is contemporary assimilation
segmented?
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Although the process of adjustment was anything but smooth
or simple, European immigrants eventually Americanized and
achieved levels of education and affluence comparable to
national norms.
Some analysts argue that assimilation for new immigrants will
be segmented and that the success story of the white ethnic
groups will not be repeated.
Others find that the traditional perspective on assimilation
continues to be useful and accurate.
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Is contemporary assimilation
segmented?
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The Case for Segmented Assimilation
 Douglas Massey presents a compelling argument in favor of the
segmented assimilation perspective. Assimilation today, he argues, is
segmented and a large percentage of the descendants of contemporary
immigrants – especially many of the Hispanic groups and Haitians –
face permanent membership in a growing underclass population and
continuing marginalization and powerlessness.
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The Case Against Segmented Assimilation
 Recent studies argue that contemporary assimilation will ultimately
follow the same course followed by European immigrant groups 100
years ago and as described by Gordon’s theory.
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Recent Immigration in Historical and
Global Context
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The current wave of immigration to the U.S. is part of a centuries-old
process that spans the globe.
Underlying this immense and complex population movement is the powerful
force of the continuing industrial revolution.
In the 19th century, population moved largely from Europe to the Western
Hemisphere.
Over the past 50 years, the movement has been from South to North.
This pattern reflects the simple geography of industrialization and
opportunity and the fact that the more developed nations are in the Northern
Hemisphere.
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Recent Immigration in Historical and
Global Context
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Labor continues to flow from the less developed nations to the more developed nations. The
direction of this flow is not accidental or coincidental. It is determined by the differential rates of
industrialization and modernization across the globe. Immigration contributes to the wealth and
affluence of the more developed societies and particularly to the dominant groups and elite
classes of those societies.
The immigrant flow is also a response to the dynamics of globalization, particularly since the
1980s. The current era of globalization has been guided by the doctrine of neo-liberalism, or free
trade, which urges nations to eliminate barriers to the free movement of goods and capital and by
the international agencies that regulate the global economy pressure nations to reduce the size of
their governmental sector. The combined result of these global forces may be an increasingly
vulnerable population in less-developed nations.
Americans tend to see immigrants as individuals acting of their own free will and, often, illegally
but the picture changes when we see immigration as the result of these powerful, global economic
and political forces. When viewed through the lens of globalization, it is clear that this population
movement will continue because immigrants simply have no choice.
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© 2014 SAGE Publications, Inc.
New Immigrants and Old Issues
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While it is probably true that American society is more open and tolerant than ever before, we
must not mistake declines in blatant racism and overt discrimination for their demise.
Gender issues and sexism remain on the national agenda. Most importantly, minority women
remain the victims of a double jeopardy and are among the most vulnerable and exploited
segments of society. Many female members of the new immigrant groups find themselves in
similarly vulnerable positions.
These problems of exclusion and continuing prejudice and sexism are exacerbated by a number
of trends in the larger society.
The new immigrant groups have abundant problems of their own, of course, and need to find
ways to pursue their self-interests in their new society.
Will we become a society in which ethnic and racial groups are permanently segmented by class,
with the more favored members enjoying a higher, if partial, level of acceptance while other
members of their groups languish in permanent exclusion and segmentation? What does it mean
to be an American? What should it mean?
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