1. Immigration Victor Thompson vthompso@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?
Five Leading Countries of Immigrants
1850
1880
1900
1930
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000 1
Ireland
Germany
Italy
Mexico 2
China 3
Great Britain
Canada
United Kingdom
Philippines 4
India 5
France
Sweden
Poland
Cuba
Source: U.S. Census Bureau 2001

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 Involuntary 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 Age of restriction Recent 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 ( )
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 or Salad Bowl
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

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% %
Taiwan 65% %
Canada 52% %
Former Soviet Union 40% %
Japan 55% %
China 62% %
Below U.S. average Labor Force Professional
Columbia 74% %
Portugal 72% %
Laos 50% %
El Salvador 76% %
Mexico 70% %

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 ,000
Europe ,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