Chapter Main Points

  • Since the mid-1960s, immigrants have been coming to the United States at nearly record rates. Most of these immigrant groups have coethnics who have been in the United States for years, but others are “new Americans.”
     
  • Recent immigrant groups include Hispanic immigrants, non-Hispanic Caribbean immigrants, Asian, Arab and Middle Eastern, and African immigrants. Some are driven by economic needs, others are political refugees, and some are highly educated. All face multiple issues including racism, institutional­ized discrimination, and a changing U.S. economy. Arab Americans remain a special target for hate crimes and for security concerns.
     
  • Contemporary immigrants experience three different modes of incorporation: the primary labor market, the secondary labor market, and the enclave. The pathway of each group is strongly influenced by the amount of human capital they bring, their race, the attitude of the larger society, and many other factors.
     
  • Relations between immigrants and the larger society are animated by a number of issues, including the relative costs and benefits of immigration, concerns about undocumented immigrants, and the speed of assimilation. One important issue currently being debated by social scientists is whether assimilation for new Americans will be segmented or will ultimately follow the pathway established by immigrant groups from Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries.
     
  • Segmented assimilation theory, in contrast to traditional assimilation theory, predicts that not all immi­grants will rise to the middle class and that some will become part of a permanent, marginalized under­class. At present, evidence supports both theories.
     
  • Prominent immigration issues include relative costs and benefits, the fate of undocumented immigrants, and the situation of DREAMers. Immigration is thought to be a generally positive force in the economy. 
     
  • DREAMers are illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. An executive order in 2012 allows DREAMers who meet certain criteria to stay in the United States for a renewable two-year term, without fear of deportation.