How do you measure whether or not someone has assimilated into the American society ? Why is it important to know how assimilated immigrants are into the American society ? Immigration is a complicated process. Governments need to plan in advance for the incoming immigrants and what economic and cultural changes will come along. Hence, it is important that these immigrants assimilate and accept the new country. Plenty of people these days are arguing that we need stricter immigration laws. They support their argument saying that these immigrants are not loyal to the United States and that they tend to stay loyal to their home countries even after receiving their citizenship. However, the research disagrees with this claim.
There are indicators that could be used to measure as to what extent an immigrant group has assimilated into the American society. Jacob Vigdor, an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and a professor of economics and public policy at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy conducted a research measuring the assimilation of immigrants in Post - recession America. The report published in 2013 had some surprising findings that were not expected from when the first report was developed in 2009. In my last blog, I talked about Perry Skerry indicating the three elements of assimilation such as speaking English, American ideals and the protestant work ethic( Skerry). Likewise, in his report Vigdor uses economic, cultural and civic indicators to come to his conclusions. They compared these indicators between the foreign born and the native born Americans. The scale is called the assimilation index which goes from 0 to 100. As a group becomes more similar to the native born population they move up on the scale. ( Vigdor)
Mexican immigrants are the most talked about group when it comes to the immigration policy. I think to some extent that is because they are the least assimilated group among the immigrant population. Economic indicators of assimilation such as earned income in a year and educational attainment show that Mexican immigrants are not on the same level as other immigrants. The report argues that shorter distances could be the reason for this resistance to assimilation. Considering that it makes sense why immigrants from farther countries such as Vietnam and Philippines are more assimilated than the Mexican immigrants.Furthermore, as more and more immigrants do not assimilate it makes it easier for the new incoming immigrants to not try to adjust since they can live comfortably among the earlier wave. The graph below of the index that shows the level of assimilation among immigrants from different countries.(Vigdor)
I think the report is very interesting as it shows trends that have not been seen in the past two decades. According to the report assimilation among immigrants as a whole has increased in the past decade. I think it could the with the increased use of social media and technology that people are becoming more connected. For example,it is a lot more easier to learn a new language and connect with people over the internet now than it was in the past decades. As far as the higher rates of assimilation among Asian immigrants is due to their exposure to American culture and English a lot more. For example, English could be considered a second language in Philippines and Vietnam. It is part of the curriculum and majority of the people know the language. Hence it would be easier for them to assimilate in American society upon arrival.
Works Cited
Vidgor, Jacob L. "Measuring Immigrant Assimilation in Post-Recession America." Civic Report 76 | Measuring Immigrant Assimilation in Post-Recession America. Manhattan Institute, Mar. 2013. Web. 02 Nov. 2014. <http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_76.htm#.VFhnhDTF-Sp>.
Skerry, Perry. "Do We Really Want Immigrants to Assimilate?" The Brookings Institution. The Brookings Institution, Mar.-Apr. 2000. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.
http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2000/03/immigration-skerry
There are indicators that could be used to measure as to what extent an immigrant group has assimilated into the American society. Jacob Vigdor, an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and a professor of economics and public policy at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy conducted a research measuring the assimilation of immigrants in Post - recession America. The report published in 2013 had some surprising findings that were not expected from when the first report was developed in 2009. In my last blog, I talked about Perry Skerry indicating the three elements of assimilation such as speaking English, American ideals and the protestant work ethic( Skerry). Likewise, in his report Vigdor uses economic, cultural and civic indicators to come to his conclusions. They compared these indicators between the foreign born and the native born Americans. The scale is called the assimilation index which goes from 0 to 100. As a group becomes more similar to the native born population they move up on the scale. ( Vigdor)
Mexican immigrants are the most talked about group when it comes to the immigration policy. I think to some extent that is because they are the least assimilated group among the immigrant population. Economic indicators of assimilation such as earned income in a year and educational attainment show that Mexican immigrants are not on the same level as other immigrants. The report argues that shorter distances could be the reason for this resistance to assimilation. Considering that it makes sense why immigrants from farther countries such as Vietnam and Philippines are more assimilated than the Mexican immigrants.Furthermore, as more and more immigrants do not assimilate it makes it easier for the new incoming immigrants to not try to adjust since they can live comfortably among the earlier wave. The graph below of the index that shows the level of assimilation among immigrants from different countries.(Vigdor)
I think the report is very interesting as it shows trends that have not been seen in the past two decades. According to the report assimilation among immigrants as a whole has increased in the past decade. I think it could the with the increased use of social media and technology that people are becoming more connected. For example,it is a lot more easier to learn a new language and connect with people over the internet now than it was in the past decades. As far as the higher rates of assimilation among Asian immigrants is due to their exposure to American culture and English a lot more. For example, English could be considered a second language in Philippines and Vietnam. It is part of the curriculum and majority of the people know the language. Hence it would be easier for them to assimilate in American society upon arrival.
Works Cited
Vidgor, Jacob L. "Measuring Immigrant Assimilation in Post-Recession America." Civic Report 76 | Measuring Immigrant Assimilation in Post-Recession America. Manhattan Institute, Mar. 2013. Web. 02 Nov. 2014. <http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_76.htm#.VFhnhDTF-Sp>.
Skerry, Perry. "Do We Really Want Immigrants to Assimilate?" The Brookings Institution. The Brookings Institution, Mar.-Apr. 2000. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.
http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2000/03/immigration-skerry