The Integration of Immigrants into American Society WATER .../media/Files/Activity Files/SelectPops... · COMMITTEE ON POPULATION WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BOARD Committee on Population

COMMITTEE ON POPULATION

WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BOARD

Committee on Population

Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education

The Integration of Immigrants into American Society

Karthick Ramakrishnan

Associate Dean, School of Public Policy University of California, Riverside


Panel Members MARY WATERS (Chair), Department of Sociology, Harvard University RICHARD ALBA, Department of Sociology, Graduate Center of the City University of New York FRANK D. BEAN, Center for Research on Immigration, Population and Public Policy, University of California, Irvine IRENE BLOEMRAAD, Department of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley MICHAEL FIX, Migration Policy Institute NANCY FONER, Department of Sociology, Hunter College, and Graduate Center of the City University of New York CHARLES HIRSCHMAN, Department of Sociology, University of Washington DANIEL T. LICHTER, Department of Policy Analysis and Management, Cornell University DOUGLAS S. MASSEY, Department of Sociology, Princeton University

CECILIA MENJIVAR, Department of Sociology, University of Kansas S. KARTHICK RAMAKRISHNAN, Department of Political Science, University of California, Riverside AUDREY SINGER, Metropolitan Policy Program, The Brookings Institution DAVID T. TAKEUCHI, Boston College School of Social Work KEVIN J.A. THOMAS, Department of Sociology, Pennsylvania State University STEPHEN TREJO, Department of Economics, University of Texas, Austin RICHARD WRIGHT, Department of Geography, Dartmouth College HIROKAZU YOSHIKAWA, Department of Applied Psychology, New York University MARISA GERSTEIN PINEAU, Study Director


Integration

• Immigrant groups and host societies come to resemble each other. • Two-way exchange

• Measured across time and intergenerationally • Effects on well-being


Integration across Dimensions

• Socioeconomic

• Education

• Occupation

• Income

• Poverty

• Political

• Naturalization

• Civic Participation

• Sociocultural

• Language

• Crime

• Religion

• Attitudes

• Intermarriage

• Spatial

• Familial

• Health


Demographic Change in Context

9.7

13.2

14.4 13.3

14.8

13.6 14.7

13.2

11.6

8.8

6.9

5.4 4.7

6.2

7.9

11.1

12.9 13.0 13.0

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

0

5,000,000

10,000,000

15,000,000

20,000,000

25,000,000

30,000,000

35,000,000

40,000,000

45,000,000

1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2011 2012

Number of immigrants Immigrants as a percentage of the U.S. population

2016: 13.5% or 43.7 million

1st + 2nd generation = ¼ of US Pop


Recent Shift in Immigrant Flows

59%

51%

55%

51% 53% 53%

46% 44%

42%

32% 31%

19%

23% 23% 24% 23% 23%

29% 32% 33%

37% 36%

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

LatinoArrivals

Asian Arrivals

2015 Asian: 36% Latino: 31%


Undocumented Migration Plateau

3.5 3.8 4.2 4.5

4.9 5.7

6.3 6.8

7.3 7.9

8.6 9.4 9.7

10.1 10.7

11.1 11.5

12.2 11.7

11.3 11.4 11.5

11.7 11.3

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Num

ber i

n M

illio

ns


Effects of Immigration on Society: Demographic Change

Non-Hispanic White 62.4%

Black 12.3%

Asian 6%

Native Hawaiian or Pacific

Islander, 0.2%

Latino/Hispanic 17.1%

American Indian/Native

Alaskan 1.7%

Non-Hispanic White 83%

Latino/Hispanic 4.6%

Asian/Pacific Islander

1% Black 11%

American Indian/Native

Alaskan 0.4%

1970 2013

2016 Asian: 6% Latino: 17%


Religion

71%

2%

<0.5%

1%

<0.5%

2%

23%

68%

1%

4%

1%

4%

2%

20%

Christian

Jewish

Muslim

Buddhist

Hindu

Other

Unaffiliated

Native-born

Foreign-born


Educational Attainment (age 25+), 2013

10.0%

28.9%

31.2%

18.9%

11.1%

30.3%

22.4%

19.0%

16.4%

11.8%

Less than High School

High School Graduate

Some College or Associate's Degree

Bechelor's Degree

Graduate or Professional DegreeUS Born

Foreign Born


Education

• Despite large differences in starting points among the first generation, there is strong intergenerational progress in educational attainment. Second generation members of most contemporary immigrant groups meet or exceed the schooling level of typical third- and higher-generation native-born Americans.

• Among Mexican American men for instance, the first generation has slightly more than 8 years of education, the second generation, 12.5 years.


Poverty

• Poverty rates higher for foreign-born

• Poverty generally declines over generations, 18%13.611.5

• Racial & ethnic disparities are large: • First-gen Hispanics highest rates but progress

between first & second-gens • Rise in black poverty between immigrants and

native born • Asian poverty is lower than the overall U.S. rate


Geographic Dispersal and Spatial Integration


Language Diversity

• 85% of first-generation immigrants speak another language (62% Spanish)

• But half report speaking English “well” or “very well”


Language Acquisition

• Children of immigrants (the second generation) and later generations are acquiring English and losing their ancestors’ language at roughly the same rates as past immigrant waves; the transition to speaking solely English usually occurs within three generations.

• Spanish is the one language that persists into the third generation, but the great majority of that generation is English dominant if not monolingual.


Declines in Well-Being: Health

• Health

• Immigrants have better health outcomes, but less access to health care & insurance

• Immigrants are less likely to die from cardiovascular disease and all cancers combined.

• They have better health behaviors, less obesity, depression, alcohol and drug abuse.

• Over time these advantages decline and their health status converges with the native born. A decline also occurs between the first and second generations.


Life Expectancy at Birth (Average Lifetime in Years) by Race/Ethnicity and Immigrant Status

78.7

81.6

82.3

83.0

71.2

78.6

77.4

78.1

76.6

80.0

64.0 66.0 68.0 70.0 72.0 74.0 76.0 78.0 80.0 82.0 84.0

US-born Hispanics

Hispanic immigrants

US-born Asian/Pacific Islanders

Asian/Pacific Islander immigrants

US-born blacks

Black immigrants

US-born non-Hispanic whites

Non-Hispanic white immigrants

Total US-born population

Total immigrant population

Data from the US National Vital Statistics System, 1989-2001. (Singh et al., 2013)


1. Legal Framework

2. Legal Status

3. Naturalization

4. Participation & Representation

5. Focus on AAPIs


1965: Hart-Cellar

1980: Refugee Act

1986: Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)

1990: Immigration Act

1996: PRWORA and IIRAIRA

2001: USA PATRIOT Act

Legal Framework


Enforcement Federalism

• From 287(g) to Secure Communities to PEP • Resistance to federal detainers (TRUST Acts) but also

state laws against “sanctuary cities” • State e-Verify laws (loophole in 1986 IRCA)

Integration Federalism • Adult education and workforce training • In-state tuition, state financial aid, drivers licenses,

professional licenses, child health insurance • State citizenship?

NEED MORE RESEARCH ON POLICY EFFECTS

Immigration Federalism


1. Legal Framework

2. Legal Status

3. Naturalization


5. Focus on AAPIs


Undocumented immigrants,

26.3%

Temporary and discretionary

legal residents, 4.5% Naturalized

Citizens, 41.8%

Legal Permanent Residents,

27.4%

Proportions in each general legal category, 2012


Declined to 240,000 by FY2016, expect increased interior enforcement in FY2017


Legal Status

• Key factor in integration trajectory

• Many statuses are transitional and temporary

• Disproportionately impacts certain immigrant groups (52% of undocumented are Mexican).

• Undocumented status slows but does not fully impede integration

• Variation from state-to-state


Mixed-status Families and Consequences for Integration

• Effects of legal status reverberate beyond the individual to affect family members, even U.S-citizens

• 5.2 million children lived in mixed-status families, 4.5 million of them are U.S-born

• 8% of all U.S-born children have one undocumented parent

• Children of undocumented have lower levels cognitive development in early and middle childhood, greater mental health issues in adolescence and lasting negative effect on adult educational attainment and income.


1. Legal Framework

2. Legal Status

3. Naturalization


5. Focus on AAPIs


Naturalization & Citizenship • Citizenship rate of working-age immigrants living

more than 10 years in US 50% vs. 61% OECD

• Adjusting for undocumented population, US still well below Canada, Australia, Sweden

• Major barrier to political integration

• Most immigrants want to naturalize


1. Legal Framework

2. Legal Status

3. Naturalization

4. Participation and Representation

5. Focus on AAPIs


Voting By Immigrant Generation

53% 50% 53% 54% 53%

63% 60% 61% 60%

56% 58% 60% 65% 65% 63%

1996 2000 2004 2008 2012

1st 2nd 3rd plus


Other Disparities in Participation

• Nativity and racial gaps get bigger in midterms, local elections

• While many activities do not require citizenship (contacting officials, boycotting products, expressing political views online), noncitizens are still less likely to participate


25%

15%

23%

28%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Overall First Gen Second Gen 3rd and Higher

Volunteerism (Current Population Survey, 2014)


Citizenship Matters for Volunteerism, too

21% 18%

20%

14%

19%

14% 15%

11%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Naturalized Non Citizen

WhiteBlackAsianHispanic


1. Legal Framework

2. Legal Status

3. Naturalization

4. Participation and Representation

5. Focus on AAPIs

@naasurvey @karthickr @aapidata

What is AAPI Data?


Growing Importance of Asian Americans




Growing Share of Foreign Born Source: Pew Research

Center


Important Part of Immigrant Vote

National California Share of Registered Voters

Who Are Foreign Born

Source: 2016 Current Population Survey







Thank You! [email protected]

[email protected]

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The Integration of Immigrants into American Society WATER .../media/Files/Activity Files/SelectPops... · COMMITTEE ON POPULATION WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BOARD Committee on Population