The Influence Of Success Rates of Immigrants
By Nicole Scott (@nicfila_), Wisteria Magazine
Written for AP Seminar
Despite the way they solidify the economy and enrich their communities, immigrants are severely underserved by the American government’s flawed systems.
One in every four Americans is an immigrant, or a child of an immigrant. Compared to Americans who have been citizens since birth, immigrants are severely disadvantaged when looking at which segment of society each group belongs to. Systemic flaws and inequities negatively influence success rates of immigrants when it comes to their journey from adolescence to adulthood. “Assimilation, is the process by which immigrants and their children learn the language and culture of the receiving society.”- Alejandro Portes. Access to government-funded assistance programs are not widely accessible, and children of immigrants lack the help they need to break the cycle of downward assimilation.
Success rates are disproportionately skewed in opposition of immigrant children. In a video from the Stanford University’s Poverty and Inequality center, the Cuban-American sociologist Alejandro Portes describes a data experiment done on second-generation immigrants in the eighth and ninth grades in Florida and southern California. The experiment followed the adolescents until they graduated high school, and further until they were in their twenties. They measured the forces in the lives of the subjects that had guided them into their identities in their early adult life. Researchers were able to identify three major determinants of this outcome; human capital (meaning economic “value” of a person based on their skills), family structure, and reception context of their communities. These three factors all have one thing in common, they are situational. Human capital is determined by household income, and the occupations of the child's guardian. Family structure takes into account whether or not the child lives with their parents, if their parents are separated, and how many people they live with. Reception context analyzes the communities the subjects live in and engage with, and if they are treated well, or discriminated against by society. Individuals cannot decide these factors for themselves, but are greatly influenced by them. When children lack just two of these determinants, a support system is necessary to segue them into a successful adulthood.
Children require encouragement to achieve healthy, happy adult lives, along with mentorship to learn how to set goals, and achieve them. Unfortunately, most children who find themselves in these situations have even less access to such a support system because of their disadvantages. Their lack of access nearly diminishes their chances of long-term success without adequate third-party assistance. This severe lack of assistance from our federal government perpetuates the cycle of downward assimilation into a culture along the lines of drugs, gangs, violence, and poverty. The path of the least successful children have parents who are uneducated, have less cohesive families, and are members of communities which are discriminated against. This actively denies a healthy, nurturing environment for those children to have the means to move up. The findings were starkly divided between race. The majority of immigrants from Asian countries are successful for the particular reason that they have greater access to quality education, and are welcomed more in their receiving societies than immigrants from other regions. When a receiving society is well prepared and equipped with the tools to support foreigners, they have the means to move up. The children on the opposite end of the spectrum are disproportionately of Black and/or Latine descent. The final conclusions from this study prove the notion that different ethnic groups are associated with different levels of human capital, family structure, and reception context. These less fortunate kids are also the ones who do not have the resources to help themselves, and government initiatives designed to help them often struggle to fulfill their potential.
The evidence stated so far proves the dysfunctionality of the American government's efforts to protect and assist its underserved immigrant population. An impactful way to combat this issue is involving citizens who are not affected, in urging officials to care more about the effects of their decisions, and work towards enacting legislation that solidifies these efforts. Knowing that not only immigrants, but non-immigrant citizens care and are demanding change will get their attention, and show them the importance of the issues immigrants face. A White House press release on the topic outlines why immigrants and refugees need to be welcomed in the United States, and proposes a concrete plan to do so. They are as follows; build welcoming committees, strengthen existing pathways to naturalization and promote civic engagement, support skill development, foster entrepreneurship, protect new American workers, and expand opportunities for linguistic integration and education. The release was written by two second-generation immigrants, Cecelia Munoz and Leon Rodriguez, who reported academically on issues immigrants face, from their own personal perspectives, and from the perspective of our government and authority figures within. Immigrants who successfully assimilate, have all or most of these solutions already resolved for them, which gives us proof that these solutions work. As put by Alejandro Portes, "they require external assistance, in the sense of detailed interest in the person, and continuation and expansion of voluntary programs.” The two authors of this document have government-level access to supporting evidence of this. Inequities caused by the American government can be resolved by pursuing the solutions they outlined.
Until these flaws are corrected, America can not ensure true equity is provided to their citizens. It is imperative that the United States aims to preserve the chance for success with every American citizen, as it is a core value of the nation. To exhibit just how important immigrants have become to the American working class dynamic, Kristin Collins, a professor at Boston University, describes a variety of different situations. One of which a small business owner could not find employees to work as landscapers, and employed illegal immigrants who turned out to be the hardest workers she could have asked for. Another story is of a young man who swam across the Rio Grande in the dark to come to work in America. Consider this quote: “He says he wants what generations of immigrants before him wanted, the freedom to work his way up. And he is angry that this country--which he believes has benefited from his work and from the illegal status that kept him at the bottom of the labor pool--now talks of sending him away.” Criticising immigrants for pursuing the same dreams we are able to work towards in the comfort of our privilege is unacceptable. In comparing evidence from the White House press release, and the stories of Kristin Collins, it becomes clear that the role the government plays in the socioeconomic standing of immigrants is negative.
Despite the way they solidify the economy and enrich their communities, immigrants are severely underserved by the American government’s flawed systems. Allies can strengthen their immigrant communities by implementing welcoming committees, better naturalization pathways, and promoting civil engagement. People must demand better support for upwards assimilation of immigrants instead of downwards. The stronger the people, the stronger the nation.
Sources
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