A common refrain among anti-immigrant activists is that today’s immigrants just aren’t “assimilating” into U.S. society like the immigrants of earlier eras. However, as a new report from the Center for American Progress (CAP) points out, the “illusion of non-assimilation is created by looking only at newcomers who have not had time yet to assimilate as fully as earlier arrivers.” When socioeconomic advancement is tracked over time, it becomes clear that “the longer immigrants are here, the more they advance and the better they are integrated into our society.” The report, entitled Assimilation Today, was co-authored by renowned demographer Dowell Myers (a professor in the School of Policy, Planning, and Development at the University of Southern California) and by John Pitkin (president of Analysis and Forecasting, Inc., in Cambridge, Massachusetts).
The CAP report uses Census data to demonstrate the integration and upward mobility, over 18 years, of those immigrants who were “recently arrived” in the United States as of 1990 (that is, who came to the country between 1985 and 1989). For instance, since these long-term immigrants first came here, more and more of them have bought homes, become U.S. citizens, and earned higher incomes:
- Homeownership: Only 16 percent of immigrants who were “recently arrived” in the United States as of 1990 were homeowners. By 2008, 62 percent of these immigrants owned homes.
- U.S. Citizenship: Only 7 percent of immigrants who were recently arrived as of 1990 were U.S. citizens. By 2008, 56 percent of these immigrants were U.S. citizens.
- Income: Only 35 percent of immigrants who were recently arrived as of 1990 earned incomes above the “low-income” level. By 2008, 66 percent of these immigrants were earning incomes above the “low-income” level.
In other words, integration into U.S. society takes time, and always has. From the Italian, Polish, and Eastern European immigrants who came here at the end of the 19th century, to the Latin American and Asian immigrants who have come here more recently, the pace of integration in its many forms is best measured in terms of decades, not simply a few years. No group of newcomers climbs the socioeconomic ladder of an unfamiliar country overnight. As the CAP report concludes:
Claims that immigrants are stuck at the bottom of the ladder are due simply to the newness of immigrants and the lack of time for assimilation to occur. Given time, the evidence plainly shows that our immigrants today are growing ever more successful and becoming part and parcel of the fabric of our nation.
Photo by CityofElkCity.
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5 comments
Gunther says:
September 2, 2010 at 3:44 pm (UTC -5 )
What does the report say about the ability of these two groups to speak English compared to the English assimilation rates of other immigrant groups?
Luz Arias says:
September 2, 2010 at 10:03 pm (UTC -5 )
I am not sure what the studies state but integration without learning is not possible. During the process of escalate and in order to succeed the language is important you better understand, is difficult as an immigrant to assimilate everything in few years with so many disadvantages but
“courage to come
and patience to learn
make people strong
and hearts to belong”. (Luz Arias)
Policy Center says:
September 7, 2010 at 9:48 am (UTC -5 )
Data from the Census Bureau, the Pew Hispanic Center, and other sources reveals that immigrant children learn English at a much faster pace than immigrant adults, and that nearly all U.S.-born children of immigrants are proficient in English.
Lemani says:
September 10, 2010 at 8:32 pm (UTC -5 )
Off course… children learn faster that adults, everyone knows that. I know some Italian immigrants at church (over 70 years old), and some of them don’t speak English at all because they came when they were in their 30′s and off course, they came to work full time, with not time to go to the school…
Luisa David says:
October 24, 2010 at 10:30 am (UTC -5 )
Immigrants not only will adapt to their new found home but also share and impart their own culture as well to the melting pot of what is the true American culture which is actually a blend of cultures.