ImmigrationVictor 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

3Great Britain

Great Britain Canada

United Kingdom Canada Canada Canada Philippines Philippines

4 Canada CanadaGreat Britain Canada

United Kingdom Mexico Italy Canada India

5 France Sweden Sweden Poland PolandUnited 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 Education (1st)

02468

10121416

1940 1970 2000

Year

Aver

age

Educ

atio

n

European

Hispanic/Latino

Asian

African, Carribean,Other

Education (2nd)

02468

10121416

8.7 10.9 13.2

Year

Aver

age

Educ

atio

n

European

Hispanic/Latino

Asian

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

– 77% are high school graduates– 20% completed 4+ years of college

• 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– United Kingdom (23%)– Canada (22%)– Cuba (16%)– Greece (15%)– Ireland (15%)

• Groups Below Average– Ecuador (12%)– Italy (9%)– Cambodia (6%)– Mexico (4%)

IncomeWeekly Income (1st)

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1940 1970 2000

Year

Inco

me

European

Hispanic/Latino

Asian

African, Carribean,Other

Weekly Income (2nd)

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1940 1970 2000

Year

Inco

me

European

Hispanic/Latino

Asian

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 Professional– India 75% 34%– Taiwan 65% 29%– Canada 52% 21%– Former Soviet Union 40% 20%– Japan 55% 18%– China 62% 17%

• Below U.S. average Labor Force Professional– Columbia 74% 9%– Portugal 72% 4%– Laos 50% 4%– El Salvador 76% 3%– Mexico 70% 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 52,000– Canada 46,000– Europe 42,000– South America 40,000– Africa 37,000– Caribbean 38,000– Central America 38,000– Mexico 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