STUDY FINDS IMMIGRANTS SUCCESSFULLY ASSIMILATING

A new study finds that today’s immigrants, like those of earlier generations, are successfully integrating themselves into American society. The study focused on four main factors –

• rate of home purchases
• English skills
• Naturalization rates
• Intermarriage

The report, authored by Gregory Rodriguez, is entitled "From Newcomers to New Americans: The Successful Integration of Immigrants" and has been released by the National Immigration Forum, a think tank normally known for being pro-immigration.

Rodriguez relied largely on the 1990 US Census for data saying it is the most reliable source of data on the indices studied. Rodriguez also looked at the June 1994 Current Population Survey to track generational differences. For the most recent totals of the number of immigrants and where they are in the US, he relied on the 1998 Current Population Survey.

The report produced a number of findings including the following:

• in 1990, ¾ of immigrants of the immigrants in the US for forty years were naturalized and the longer immigrants are in the US, the more likely they are to become US citizens

• the pace of naturalization picked up after the anti-immigrant campaigns in California and in the US Congress in the mid-1990s.

• within 20 years of arrival in the US, 60% of immigrants own their own homes; in 13 of the 15 most populous immigrant groups, two-thirds of households were owner-occupied after 26 years of residence in the US.

• as of 1990, within ten years of arrival, more than 75% of immigrants spoke English well or very well and less than 2% of long time immigrants (those here more than 40 years) spoke no English at all.

• Virtually all children of immigrants speak English proficiently and in most cases, the native language of immigrants is completely lost within a few generations

• the intermarriage rates for second and third generation Asians and Latinos is high; one-third of third generation Hispanic women are married to non-Hispanics and 41% of third-generation Asian American women have non-Asian spouses.

The report concludes that while many anti-immigration forces argue that somehow the facts of immigration have changed – the country can no longer absorb new immigrants, immigrants are forming non-English speaking clusters around the country, etc. – the facts show that immigrants are assimilating in much the same way they have in past generations.

The report can be ordered at a cost of $ 10 by calling 202-544-0004.

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