Immigration Victor Thompson vthompso@stanford

1. ImmigrationVictor Thompsonvthompso@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?

2. 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

3. …."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!"

5. Total population of foreign born has increased • Percentage of foreign born population has fluctuated

6. Where do they all come from?

7. 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!

8. 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

9. 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)

10. Well…we’re here, now what?

11. 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 Melting Pot or Salad Bowl

12. What do you think?Melting Pot or Salad Bowl???

13. 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?

14. Education

15. 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%

16. 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%)

17. Income

18. 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%

19. 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%

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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?

24. 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

25. Diversity of experiences • The way immigrants are received • Their success • The success of their children • The experiences they have • What others think of them

26. Angel Island and Ellis Island

27. 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

28. Angel Island • Almost entirely Asian • Not welcomed • Many were detained or denied admission • Some were quarantined for as long as 2 years