Between Spatial and Social Segregation among Immigrants: The Case of Immigrants from the FSU in Israel

Studies on immigrants' residential concentration have reported mixed findings. Some have argued that immigrants' residential concentration is a necessary step in the process of their social integration because there the newcomers find housing and employment opportunities as well as social support. As they learn the language and improve their socioeconomic status, they move to neighborhoods where they share space with the native population. Others have argued that the ethnic neighborhood delays the process of social integration in the new society because it nurtures informal ethnic social networks that provide incomplete information and retard the process of language acquisition. The study reported here investigated the effect of motivations, perceptions of attitudes of the host society, acculturation and socioeconomic factors on immigrants' residential concentration. It also sought to expand previous research by examining the relationship between immigrants'residential concentration and social relationships with nonimmigrants. Data for the study were collected in 1999 through a survey of immigrants from the FSU who had settled in one northern city in Israel after 1989. The results show a negative relationship of socioeconomic status and fluency in Hebrew with the percentage of immigrants residing in a given neighborhood. The higher the socioeconomic status and the more fluent the immigrant in Hebrew, the lower the percentage of immigrants in his or her neighborhood. Immigrants who expressed a proactive motivation for migration resided in neighborhoods with a low percentage of immigrants. Immigrants' residential concentration was not found to be related to the development of social relationships with the local population. The implications of the findings are discussed.     

Self-employment and earnings among immigrants in Australia

This article contributes to the small Australian literature on the earnings of immigrants in the self-employment sector. Earnings functions for both the foreign-born and Australian-born are estimated, and the results show that compared with native-born workers, foreign-born workers have higher earnings in the wage/salary sector but lower earnings in the self-employment sector.
Among the foreign-born, the results suggest that self-employed immigrants are less skilled compared with those who are wage/salary employed. Thus, low-skilled immigrants may be forced into self-employment.
There is no evidence of immigrant "catch-up" in the self-employment sector. Among wage/salary workers, however, immigrant wages are characterized by a "catch-up" effect.     

1.5 Generation Internal Migration in the U.S.: Dispersion from States of Immigration?1

The issue of immigrant spatial concentration and the possibilities for immigrant dispersion through migration features in at least three interrelated debates about immigration. First, the ethnic enclave literature centers on the question of whether spatial concentration improves or harms the economic well‐being of immigrants. Second, spatial assimilation theory links immigrant relocation away from residential enclaves to socioeconomic gains. Although framed at an intra‐urban scale, we suggest that similar assimilation logics infuse thinking and expectations about immigrant settlement and spatial mobility at other scales. And third, immigrant clustering links to anxieties about the threats posed by non‐European origin newcomers to the traditional cultural fabric of the nation. In the current wave of immigration, research on questions of settlement geography and spatial mobility has so far been restricted to the first generation. But as the current wave of immigration matures there is a growing population of adults who are the children of immigrants. This article investigates the migration behavior of these adult children, specifically the 1.5 generation, seeking to answer the question of whether they will remain in the states in which their parent's generation settled or move on. It also assesses whether the out‐migration response of the 1.5 generation in states of immigrant concentration is similar to that of their parent's generation or the U.S.‐born population.     

Tu Casa,Mi Casa: Naturalization and Belonging among Latino Immigrants

Previous studies reach contradictory conclusions regarding the relationship between residential concentration and naturalization. This paper tackles the impasse by exploring the pathways through which immigrant communities influence individual naturalization. Specifically, this study examines naturalization among Latino immigrants using the 2006 Latino National Survey linked to county data. Multilevel model results indicate that the county concentration of naturalized co‐ethnics positively predicts individual naturalization, and this relationship operates through two channels: information dissemination and perceived belonging. Regarding the latter, Latino immigrants who live among naturalized co‐ethnics identify more strongly as “American,” and strength of American identification mediates nearly one‐half of the relationship between concentration and naturalization.     

NEIGHBORHOOD DISADVANTAGE AMONG RACIAL AND ETHNIC GROUPS:

We compare the neighborhood characteristics of native- and foreign-born blacks, whites, Hispanics, and Asians in 1970 and 1980. We broaden the locational attainment literature by emphasizing three contrasts: between black and nonblack groups, between native black and nonblack immigrant groups, and among black groups. Consistent with previous evidence, we find a clear spatial disadvantage for black groups relative to nonblack groups, and for native blacks compared to nonblack immigrant groups, in both years. However, our study reveals a slight advantage for foreign nonHispanic blacks (e.g., Afro-Caribbean immigrants) among the black groups throughout the time period. Our results break new ground by extending the analysis of racial and ethnic variation in residential attainment back to 1970, providing an earlier benchmark against which current patterns of residential attainment can be compared.     

Changes in the Initial Destinations and Redistribution of Canada's Major Immigrant Groups: Reexamining the Role of Group Affinity1

This study examines to what extent Canada's recent immigrants have altered their geographic concentration over time, with a view of determining the role of preexisting immigrant communities in immigrants’ locational choices, looking specifically at community size. The results show a large increase in concentration levels at the initial destination among major immigrant groups throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and a much smaller increase in the following decade. However, redistribution after immigration was generally small‐scale and had inconsistent effects on changing concentration at initial destinations among immigrant groups and across arrival cohorts within an immigrant group. Finally, this study finds that the size of the preexisting immigrant community is not a significant factor in immigrant locational choice when location fixed effects are accounted for.     

Hispanic Americans: comparative considerations and the educational problems of children

This paper presents an overview of the diversity in character among the various Hispanic-American subgroups. The author compares the following subgroups historically and demographically: Mexican-Americans, Cuban-Americans, Mainland Puerto-Ricans, and "other" Hispanics. As a group, Hispanic-Americans lag far behind the majority population in any array of standard educational measurements. 40% of Hispanic-American students leave school before 10th grade. Children of "immigrant" minorities, such as Chinese, Japanese, and South and Central Americans, tend to do better in school than "caste-like" minorities, such as Black Americans, Mainland Puerto-Ricans and Mexican-Americans in the US. The author discusses several models which explain why Mexican and Puerto-Rican Americans fail in American schools at such high rates: 1) culture of poverty, 2) the various schools emphasizing "discontinuity" between the minority Hispanic and the majority culture, and 3) the psychosocial approach. Features which differentiate immigrants from caste-like minorities include 1) caste-like minorities were incorporated into the society against their will, whereas historically, immigrant minorities choose more or less freely to leave their country to enter a new social order; and 2) immigrants may anticipate or fantasize that in the future they will return home to enjoy the fruits of their hard work in the foreign land. 2 factors alleviate the longterm effects of the hardships and discrimination immigrants face: 1) the levels of discrimination became less evident as accents disappeared and names were Anglicized; immigrants develop a dual frame of reference, enabling them to evaluate their current reality against the reality of life back home; and 3) hard work in the new land will at the very least benefit the children in the future. Factors which veto the Mexican immigrant case as a heurstically "paradiomatic" immigrant minority include: 1) many Mexicans still resent the loss of 1/3 or Mexico's territories to Anglo colonists, 2) Americans still treat Mexican immigrants as a "case-like" minority despite the fact that they are immigrants, and 3) many of the "immigrants" lack official immigrant status.     

From Political to Material Inequality: Race,Immigration, and Requests for Public Goods

Studies of political participation typically analyze voting, contentious collective action, or membership in voluntary associations. Few scholars investigate a more mundane—but highly consequential—form of neighborhood politics: requests for basic city services. We conceptualize city service requests as a direct, instrumental contact with local government that alters the geographical distribution of public goods. We hypothesize that rates of service requests vary with the ethnic and immigrant composition of neighborhoods, due to differences in these communities’ expectations of local government. We test this hypothesis using administrative data from the City of Boston. We find neighborhoods with high concentrations of first‐generation immigrants less likely to request services, relative to need. The concentration of African Americans, however, is associated with large increases in neighborhood service requests. We conclude with implications for the study of race, inequality, and political incorporation.     

Occupational mobility among immigrants: the impact of migration on economic success in Australia

"By analyzing national survey data collected among immigrants to Australia, this article examines immigrant occupational mobility. For immigrants, the results show economic disadvantages are caused by the act of migration itself rather than by economic experiences in their new country. Occupational status is depressed at the beginning of the immigrants' Australian working career, and this in turn diminishes occupational status throughout the working lives of the immigrants and accounts for the economic disadvantages they face."     

Adult vocational training for migrants in North‐East Italy

This article contributes to the study of policies for the integration of immigrants into the labour markets of European immigration countries by focusing on the specific issue of vocational training for immigrant workers in Italy. Vocational training has a central role in the European employment strategy. Moreover, with regard to migrants, it is also relevant to the topical issue of the governance of international labour migration. The article analyses both the demand and the supply of vocational training in north‐east Italy, generally regarded as the rich and industrialised heart of the country. It draws on 30 interviews conducted with key informants and experts from local and regional governmental bodies, trade unions, employment offices, and private educational agencies in the main towns of the Veneto region. Various types of vocational training for immigrant workers are considered, from traditional full‐time courses financed by the European Social Fund to new projects for the selection and pre‐training of immigrants in their countries of origin. The extent to which these policy tools are able to meet the actual needs of immigrant workers and of the local business sector is investigated, as well as their problematic interaction with the national regulatory framework for immigration control.     

The Effect of Residential Concentration on Voter Turnout among Ethnic Minorities

Utilizing a large and unique dataset composed of government records, we study the widely contested effect of co‐ethnic residential concentrations on voter turnout. Non‐Western immigrants are moderately affected by the concentration of co‐ethnic voters in their neighborhoods. As the local concentration of same‐ethnicity voters increases, so does the individual's propensity to turn out for the election. In general, the concentration of non‐Western immigrants in the neighborhood has only a very limited impact on an immigrant's propensity to vote. Finally, we investigate the possible mobilizing effect of local candidates and, in particular, local co‐ethnic candidates on voter turnout. We find that the presence of candidates in general and co‐ethnic candidates running for office in a neighborhood has a moderate positive mobilization effect. However, taking this factor into account, the effect of residential concentrations was not eliminated.     

Duration of residence in the United States and the fertility of U.S. immigrants

"This paper analyzes census data on the fertility of U.S. immigrants to study trends in fertility after migration. The results showed that immigrant fertility may rise after arrival in the new country perhaps because immigrants are making up for births or marriages that may have been postponed due to the move. After a period of time, the fertility of immigrants may fall and as immigrants become more assimilated to the new country their fertility may come to be similar to cohorts of longer duration. These relationships were examined in a multivariate context so that variations between groups in socioeconomic status, fertility in the country of origin, age and marital status could be controlled. Relationships were studied for all U.S. immigrants as well as for subgroups defined by country or region of origin. The results indicate that simple measures of immigrant fertility that do not consider duration of residence are likely to be misleading if used to draw conclusions about the fertility impacts of immigration and advisable policy interventions."     

Attitudes Towards Migrants: What do Greek students think about their immigrant classmates?

The constantly increasing number of immigrant families living in Greece has forced teachers to deal with one more factor affecting classroom dynamics: student attitudes towards their immigrant classmates, their families, and immigrants in general. A first step in dealing with such a factor is to establish the extent and nature of prejudice towards immigrants by measuring student attitudes with respect to immigrants. A questionnaire focusing on immigrant acceptance was prepared and administered to a sample of Greek middle school students, who also completed a paragraph about immigrants living in Greece. Results suggested that students held negative opinions about immigrants. In addition, positive comments were limited to the cheap labor provided by immigrant workers. Implications for schools and the educational process are considered.     

Barrios and burbs: residential context and health-risk behaviors among Angeleno adolescents

The increasing size of the Latino immigrant population in the United States underscores the need for a more complete understanding of the role that social context plays in influencing the health of immigrants and their children. This analysis explores the possibility that residential location influences the health-risk behaviors of Latino youth in Los Angeles County, California. The data come from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey. We apply multivariate, multilevel Rasch models to two scales of adolescent health-risk behaviors (substance use and delinquency). The findings suggest that residence in Census tracts characterized by above-county-average levels of Latinos and above-county-average levels of poverty is associated with increased odds of health-risk behaviors for Latino adolescents, particularly for those born in the United States. The findings lend support to the contention, put forth in the segmented assimilation literature, that disadvantaged urban contexts increase the risk that U.S.-born children of immigrants will experience downward assimilation.     

Aggression and conduct disorder in former Soviet Union immigrant adolescents: The role of parenting style and ego identity

The study examined aggression, guilt feelings and conduct disorder (CD) in adolescent immigrants from the Former Soviet Union. One hundred and nineteen adolescents, including sixty six immigrants and fifty native Israelis from four residential schools, completed questionnaires assessing level of aggression, sense of guilt, ego identity, and parenting style. Objective assessments of CD were obtained from instructors at the residential schools, using the CBCL. Results indicate that diffused ego identity is the strongest predictor of aggression, guilt, and CD. A lack of positive parenting moderates the link between diffused ego identity and aggression and CD, while positive parenting promotes a sense of guilt, especially in the immigrant group. These results warrant cultural identity-sensitive interventions.     

Conveying a sense of community along Bolsa Avenue: Little Saigon as a model of ethnic commercial belts

In the past, ethnic enclaves have functioned as homogeneous residential areas providing support and comfort to newly arrived immigrants. A new form of urban village is increasingly serving commuting immigrants who live in integrated residential neighbourhoods.
Little Saigon, a Vietnamese commercial belt in Southern California, serves as a model of this emerging form. Participant observation and interviews with users of Little Saigon and other ethnic commercial belts in Southern California reveal that these areas provide users with places where they can experience the sense of community previously provided by ethnic ghettos.
Little Saigon demonstrates that ethnic, commercial enclaves benefit diverse groups of individuals: in these places immigrants with limited English gain employment, older immigrants find solace, and "Americanized" immigrants and their children connect with their ancestral culture.
Concomitant with the cultural advantages are the perpetuation of stereotypes, erosion of ethnic boundaries and persistent forms of specialized crime that threaten these areas' success and yield negative perceptions of the areas' ethnic groups.     

Residential Segregation and the Electoral Participation of Immigrants in Australia1

This paper investigates whether immigrants in Australia residing in situations of residential segregation (federal constituencies with high concentrations of immigrants) participate more in electoral politics than other immigrants. The results indicate that immigrants participate more when living in federal constituencies with high concentrations of immigrants and also exhibit greater homogeneity in their partisan preferences. The analysis also indicates that the impact of residential segregation is primarily observed among immigrants from non‐English‐speaking countries. Immigrants from visible minority background, such as those from South East Asia as well as those from Southern and South Eastern Europe, tend to be more strongly affected by the ethnic composition of their constituencies than other immigrants such as those from the United Kingdom and Ireland.     

The immigrant family: cultural legacies and cultural changes

"This article examines the way family and kinship patterns change in the process of immigration--and why. Offering an interpretative synthesis, it emphasizes the way first generation immigrants to the United States fuse together the old and new to create a new kind of family life. The family is seen as a place where there is a dynamic interplay between structure, culture, and agency. New immigrant family patterns are shaped by cultural meanings and social practices immigrants bring with them from their home countries as well as social, economic and cultural forces in the United States."     

Post‐urbanism,Incorporation, and Migration

This paper explores an emerging pattern of migration currently being written by the new wave of Mexican migrants in New Haven, Connecticut, a city with little to no history of Mexican migration. Using New Haven as a case study, this paper argues that local conditions shape immigrant experiences and thus frame the process of social and economic incorporation. By contrasting first‐wave Italian migration and contemporary Mexican migration, we demonstrate that urban conditions both foster and impede the social and political integration of immigrant groups. Our analyses demonstrate that the presence of established ethnic communities pose challenges and benefits to the political and social incorporation of Italians and Mexicans in their respective urban eras. Moreover, we find that contemporary immigrants are entering settings that are more racialized and economically distinct than that of their first‐wave immigrant predecessors.     

The "amnesty" aftermath: current policy issues stemming from the legalization programs of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act

"The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) created two one-time only legalization programs affecting nearly 3 million undocumented immigrants. Legalization has produced important changes among immigrants and in immigration policy. These changes include new patterns of immigrant social and economic adaptation to the United States and new immigrant flows through family ties to IRCA-legalized aliens.... This article combines data from a longitudinal survey of the IRCA-legalized population with qualitative field data on current immigration issues from key informants in eight high-immigration metropolitan areas. It reviews the political evolution and early implementation of legalization, the current socioeconomic position of legalized aliens, and changes in the immigration ?policy space' resulting from legalization."