IMR - International Migration Review
ISBN: 1-57703-028-1
Publisher: CMS

International Migration Review

Volume XLII Number 2 Summer 2008

Table of Contents

Homeland Interests, Hostland Politics:  Politicized Ethnic Identity among Middle Eastern Heritage Groups in the United States.  Kenneth D. Wald

Why do ethnic diasporas in the United States differ in their readiness for political mobilization on behalf of homeland interests? This study develops a tiered model of politicized ethnic identity emphasizing both individual-level traits and group/collective properties. Using Zogby "Culture Polls," the theory is tested on three Middle Eastern heritage groups in the United States (Jews, Arab Christians, Arab Muslims). Empirical analysis confirms that individuals differ in their readiness for mobilization around Middle East issues based on the strength of ties to the ethnic community and, net of such differences, each group varies based on the contexts of exit and reception it faced at the time of immigration. The findings suggest that studies of diaspora influence on American foreign policy need to take account of the mass base rather than focus exclusively on elite behavior

“No Thanks, We’re Full”:  Individual Characteristics, National Context, and Changing Attitudes Toward Immigration.   Rima Wilkes, Neil Guppy and Lily Farris

 In this paper we examine how individual-level characteristics and national context affect attitudes toward immigration. Although many previous studies have compared attitudes toward immigration across countries, little attention has been paid to how attitudes may be affected by changes within a country over time. We take advantage of seventeen national Cana­dian Gallup surveys to consider how differences in national economic con­ditions and changing immigration flows affect attitudes and changes in attitudes between 1975 and 2000. While the state of the national economy affects attitudes this is not the case for the rate of immigration. Rather than affecting some groups more than others the state of the economy has a relatively uniform effect across groups. Our results also show that far from being a continuum, being anti-immigration and being pro-immigration are qual­itatively different. Interest, ideology, and the national economy affect anti-immigration sentiments, but only ideology affects pro-immigration sentiments.

The Cat and Mouse Game at the Mexico-U.S. Border: Gendered Patterns and Recent Shifts.  Katharine M. Donato, Brandon Wagner and Evelyn Patterson

This paper provides new insights into the process of undocumented border crossing by examining both men and women in the process. We investigate differences in the ways in which men and women make their way across the well-guarded Mexico–U.S. border, and the extent to which men and women by the end of the 1990s were similar to, or different from, their counterparts who crossed before 1986 and the implementation of immigration policy designed to reduce undocumented migration. We find substantial differences in how men and women crossed the border without legal documents and in their chances of being apprehended. Our analysis makes clear that shifts in U.S. immigration policy after 1986 have led to women's greater reliance on the assistance of paid smugglers to cross with­out documents but men were more likely to cross alone. Moreover, imme­diately after 1986, women on first U.S. trips faced higher risks of being apprehended compared to women who migrated in the early 1980s, but men faced lower risks. After accumulating some U.S. experience, however, both women and men faced lower risks of being detected after 1986 com­pared to earlier in that decade

Immigrant Religion in the U.S. and Western Europe: Bridge or Barrier to Inclusion? Nancy Foner and Richard Alba

This article analyzes why immigrant religion is viewed as a problematic area in Western Europe in contrast to the United States, where it is seen as facilitating the adaptation process. The difference, it is argued, is anchored in whether or not religion can play a major role for immigrants and the second generation as a bridge to inclusion in the new society. Three factors are critical: the religious backgrounds of immigrants in Western Europe and the United States; the religiosity of the native population; and historically rooted relations and arrangements between the state and religious groups.

Poverty Dynamics among Recent Immigrants to Canada.  Garnett Picot, Feng Hou and Simon Coulombe

This paper examines two issues: (1) poverty dynamics among successive cohorts of entering immigrants to Canada, and (2) whether rising educa­tional attainment and increasing share in the "skilled" class since the early 1990s has resulted in improvements in poverty entry, exit, and chronic poverty. The entry to poverty is very high during the first year in Canada, but low in subsequent years. The dramatic move toward more labor-market friendly characteristics of entering immigrants had only a very small effect on poverty outcomes, in part because the relative advantage of holding a degree diminished, and "skilled economic" class immigrants were more likely to enter poverty than their "family" class counterparts.

Immigrants and Social Networks in a Job-Scarce Environment:  The Case of Germany.  Anita I. Drever and Onno Hoffmeister

Though information about jobs passed through personal networks has been central to the labor market integration of immigrants in the United States, its role in the economic absorption of immigrants in Germany, where jobs are scarcer and employers more likely to demand formal qualifi­cations, is less clear. Through analysis of German Socio-Economic Panel data, we discovered that nearly half of all immigrant-origin job changers round their positions through networks and that the most vulnerable to unemployment––the young and the less educated––were especially likely to rely on them. Also, jobs found through networks were as likely to lead to improved working conditions as jobs acquired through more formal means. These findings have implications both for debates about assimila­tion and for social policy.

Toward a Demography of Immigrant Communities and Their Transnational Potential.  Jørgen Carling

This article lays out a foundation for a demographic perspective on the development of immigrant communities. Such a perspective can strengthen the connections between in-depth ethnographic analysis and macro-level trends. New applications of the so-called Lexis diagram are introduced in order to relate the current composition of immigrant com­munities to past immigration policy and migration patterns. The article also explores relationships between the demographic structure of immi­grant populations and their transnational orientation. The analyses are demonstrated empirically through a case study of migration from Cape Verde to the Netherlands.

Migration to European Countries:  A Structural Explanation of Patterns, 1980-2004.  Marc Hooghe, Ann Trappers, Bart Meuleman and Tim Reeskens

Various theoretical approaches have provided us with insights to explain the pattern of migration flows. Economic theory considers migration to be a reaction to labor market and economic incentives. Cultural theories pre­dict that migration flows will occur according to a center-periphery pat­tern, while social network analysis assumes that migrants follow already established migration networks. We test these three approaches simultane­ously, using OECD and Eurostat data on the migrant inflow into the European countries between 1980 and 2004. The analysis demonstrates that migration flows react to economic incentives, mainly with regard to the labor market, but also to cultural and colonial linkages. There is no indication that the importance of the colonial past is declining over time. The response of migration patterns to shortages in the labor market is shown to be highly efficient, while the analysis shows that immigrants art not attracted by high levels of social expenditure.

Research Note

The Ancestry Question and Ethnic Heterogeneity:  The Case of Arab Americans.  Florence J. Dallo, Kristine J. Ajrouch and Soham Al-Snih

This article uses US Census data to investigate change over time in Arab American profiles. In 2000, a higher proportion of children (0 to 13 years of age), women, and those who lived in the Northeast identified with an Arab/non-Arab ancestry compared to an Arab-only ancestry. In 1980 and 2000, a higher proportion (-90%) of those who identified with an Arab/non-Arab ancestry was US born compared to only one-half of those who identified with an Arab-only ancestry. Those who identified with an Arab-only ancestry were more likely to not be US citizens than those who identified with an Arab/non-Arab ancestry. These findings suggest Arab Americans are a heterogeneous group.

Book Review

Becoming a Citizen::  Incorporating Immigrants and  Refugees in the United States and Canada by Irene Bloemraad

KAREN A.WOODROW-LAFIELD 

International Migration Review

Volume XLII Number 1 Spring 2008
 

Table of Contents

Between "Here" and "There": Immigrant Cross-Border Activities and Loyalties.  Roger Waldinger 

This paper provides an empirical assessment of the prevalence and determinants of cross-state social exchanges and attachments among Latin American immigrants living in the United States. As we shall show, using data from a recent survey of Latin American migrants living in the United States, migrant cross-state social action comes in a variety of types, with the direction of conditioning factors differing from one type to another. Moreover, social and political incorporation in the United States reduces affective ties and provision of material support, all the while facilitating other forms of cross-state social action. Con­sequently, while international migrants regularly engage in trans-state social action, the paper shows that neither transnationalism as condition of being, nor transmigrants, as distinctive class of people, is commonly found.

Discrimination and Well-Being:  Perceptions of Refugees in Western Australia.  Farida Fozdar and Silvia Torezani

This paper reports the apparent paradox of high levels of discrimination experienced by humanitarian migrants to Australia, in the labor market and everyday life, yet simultaneous reporting of positive well-being. How can people feel discriminated against, yet still be relatively satisfied with life? The study draws on quantitative and qualitative data from a study of 150 refugees from the former Yugoslavia, the Middle East, and Africa. Possible reasons for the level of well-being are explored, including "relative deprivation theory," as well as various resiliency and mitigating factors, including personal and social supports. The notion of eudaimonic well­being – whereby experiences of difficulty produce positive well-being – is also applied to the findings. The negative experiences and perceptions appear to map onto low-level dissatisfaction or disgruntlement, and specifically directed or contained disappointment, rather than serious dissatisfaction with life generally, orientation to Australia, or negative subjective well-being.

U.S. Deportation Policy, Family Separation, and Circular Migration.  Jacqueline Hagan, Karl Eschbach and Nestor Rodriguez

Since the mid-1990s the United States has enacted a series of laws that make it easier to deport noncitizens. Drawing on findings from interviews with a random sample of 300 Salvadoran deportees, we examine how family relations, ties, remittance behavior, and settlement experiences are disrupted by deportation, and how these ties influence future migration intentions. We find that a significant number of deportees were long-term settlers in the United States. Many had established work histories and had formed families of their own. These strong social ties in turn influence the likelihood of repeat migration to the United States.

Immigrants' TANF Eligibility, 1996-2003: What Explains the New Across-State Inequalities? Deborah Roempke Graefe, Gordon F. De Jong, Matthew Hall, Samuel Sturgeon and Julie VanEerden

Why did some states adopt stringent TANF-eligibility policies toward immigrants, while others implemented more lenient rules throughout the post-1996 welfare reform period? We use immigrant-specific welfare rule measures to examine predominant theoretical frameworks for understanding state stringency in welfare policy. Analysis, utilizing a simultaneous equations modeling (SEM) strategy, uses annual data for all states. Results show consistent support for the median voter (primarily, the percent of liberal voters) theoretical explanation for less stringent state welfare eligibility rules regarding immigrants. While the size of the Social-Security-recipient population (tax capacity indicator) and perhaps unacceptable reproductive behavior (teen birth rate) relate to more stringent rules, key state economic and fiscal characteristics (i.e., per capita welfare expenditures, per capita personal income) explain less stringent TANF eligibility rules. Importantly, recent immigrant population concentration patterns (in new and traditional destination states) add to the theoretical explanation of less stringent state TANF immigrant eligibility policies.

Through the Front Door: The Housing Outcomes of New Lawful Immigrants. Eileen Diaz McConnell and Ilana Redstone Akresh

Immigrants represent an increasingly vital component of the U.S. housing market, though there is a substantial and growing gap in homeownership rates between natives and the foreign born. We employ the New Immi­grant Survey-2003 to examine the housing tenure of immigrants recently adjusted to new legal permanent resident status. The results reveal important cross-national differences in the linkages between transfers to the origin country, relationships with U.S. mainstream financial institu­tions, previous unauthorized experience, and housing tenure. Analyses also document that immigrants occupy three distinct housing outcomes in America; renting, owning, and living for free.

Citizenship in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland: Courts, Legislatures, and Administrators.  Claus Hofhansel

A common claim has been that liberalization of citizenship policy depends on making policy behind closed doors. I challenge one variant of this line of argument, which regards courts as the primary “countermajoritarian” champion of the expansion of immigrant rights, through a comparison of citizenship policy in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. In all three countries subnational authorities play a significant role in the administration of naturalization policy. Courts have played more of a "nationalizing" rather than a "countermajoritarian” role. I also show how differences in federal structures affected recent efforts to reform citizenship policy in these countries.

Which Skilled Temporary Migrants Become Permanent Residents and Why?  Siew-Ean Khoo, Graeme Hugo and Peter McDonald

While most countries of destination of temporary migrants expect them to return home, it is likely that some temporary migration will become permanent if the migrants decide that they would like to remain longer or indefinitely for various reasons. This paper examines the factors associated with temporary migrants' decision to become or not become permanent residents and the reasons for their decision, using survey data on skilled temporary migrants in Australia. It also looks at whether temporary migration facilitates or substitutes for permanent migration and discusses the likely effectiveness of temporary migration programs that assume temporary migrants will return home.

Attitudes toward Immigrants, Immigration, and Multiculturalism in New Zealand: A Social Psychological Analysis.  Colleen Ward and Anne-Marie Masgoret

The research examines attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policy based on a random sample of 2,020 New Zealand households. The analyses revealed that New Zealanders have positive attitudes toward immigrants and endorse multiculturalism to a greater extent than Australians and EU citizens. In addition, structural equation modeling produced an excellent fit of the data to a social psychological model commencing with multicultural ideology and intercultural contact as exogenous variables, leading, in turn, to diminished perceptions of threat, more positive attitudes toward immigrants, and, finally, support for New Zealand's policies on the number and sources of migrants.

Research Note

Numbers vs. Rights: Trade-Offs and Guest Worker Programs.   Martin Ruhs and Philip Martin

This paper examines the relationship between the number and rights of low-skilled migrant workers in high-income countries. It identifies a trade-off: Countries with large numbers of low-skilled migrant workers offer them relatively few rights, while smaller numbers of migrants are typically associated with more rights. We discuss the number-vs.-rights trade-off in theory and practice as an example of competing goods, raising the question of whether numbers of migrants or rights of migrants should get higher priority. There is no easy or universal answer, but avoiding an explicit discussion of the issue — as has been done in recent guest worker debates — can obscure an important policy choice.

Book Reviews

God Needs No Passport: Immigrants and the Changing American Religious Landscape by Peggy Levitt
HELEN ROSE EBAUGH

Les Couleurs du Drapeau: L'armee francaise face aux discriminations by Christophe Bertossi and Catherine Wihtol de Wenden
LEAH HAUS

North African Women in France: Gender, Culture, and Identity by Caitlin Killian
CHARLES A. DAVIS III
 

International Migration Review

Volume XLI, Number 4, Winter 2007

Table of Contents

Defining Nations in Asia and Europe:  A Comparative Analysis of Ethnic Return Migration Policy.   John D. Skrentny, Stephanie Chan, Jon Fox and Denis Kim

We argue that regional comparison of East Asian and European ethnic return migration policy offers important new perspectives on nationhood, nondiscrimination norms, and trans-nationality. We find that despite international nondiscrimination norms, preferential ethnic return policy is common in both regions.  These policies at least implicitly define the nation as existing across borders.  However, there are significant regional differences.  East Asian states use co-ethnic preferences instrumentally for economic goals and also offer preferential treatment of co-ethnic foreign investors. European states offer preferences to co-ethnics to protect these populations or express symbolic ties, sometimes at great expense.  Thus, in Europe the state has an obligation to assist co-ethnics abroad, but in Asia, foreign co-ethnics assist the state.

Darfurian Livelihoods and Libya:  Trade, Migration and Remittance Flows in Times of Conflict and Crisis.  Helen Young, Abdalmonium Osman and Rebecca Dale

Labor migration and commerce between Sudan and Libya has long been a feature of livelihoods in Darfur.  This paper describes the importance of historical trade and migration links between Darfur and Libya, and provides a background to the political and economic situation in Libya which has influenced opportunities for Sudanese migrant workers.  A case-study of the situation of the Darfurian migrants in Kufra (an oasis and trans-national trade hub in southern Libya) illustrates how the recent Darfur conflict has affected migration patterns from Darfur and remittance flows in the opposite direction. Official estimates of Darfurian migrant workers in Libya were unavailable but were estimated to be between 150,000 and 250,000.   The closure of the national border between Sudan and Libya in May 2003 largely a result of insecurity in Darfur, stopped the traffic of migrant workers between northern Darfur and southern Libya (which prevented the onward travel to Sudan of several thousand migrants in Kufra), and curtailed the well established trade routes, communications and remittance flows.   The current limited economic prospects for migrant workers in Libya, combined with the threat of detention, difficulties of return to Sudan, loss of contact with and uncertainty about the fate of their families in Darfur, have created a sense of despair among many Darfurians.  The paper concludes with a series of recommendations to improve the conditions of the Darfurian migrants in Libya, including an amnesty for illegal migrants, and also to ease the travel of migrants, promote communications between Libya and Darfur, and support the flow of remittances.

The Use of Remittance Income in Mexico.  Jim Airola

Immigration affects sending countries through the   receipt of remittance income.  The impact of these cash transfers on households and communities have brought attention on remittances as a development mechanism. This study attempts to understand the degree to which household consumption is affected by the receipt of remittance income and the ways in which the broader communities may be impacted. Using household income and expenditure data for Mexico, expenditure patterns of remittance receiving households are analyzed. Regression analysis indicates that remittance-receiving households spend a greater share of total income on durable goods, healthcare, and housing.

Assimilating to a White Identity: The Case of Arab Americans.  Kristin J. Ajrouch and Amaney Jamal

Racial identity is one of the primary means by which immigrants assimilate to the United States. Drawing from the tenets of segmented assimilation, this study examines how the ethnic traits of immigrant status, national origin, religious affiliation, and Arab Americaness contribute to the announcement of a white racial identity using a regionally representative sample of Arab Americans.  Results illustrate that being Lebanese/Syrian or Christian, and those who felt that the term Arab American does not describe them were more likely to identify as white. In addition, among those who affirmed that the pan-ethnic term “Arab American” does describe them, results illustrated that strongly held feelings about being Arab American and associated actions were also linked with a higher likelihood of identifying as white. Findings point to different patterns of assimilation among Arab Americans. Some segments of Arab Americans appear to report both strong ethnic and white identities, while others report a strong white identity, yet distance themselves from the pan-ethnic “Arab American” label. 

Immigration and Civic Participation in a Multiracial and Multiethnic Context.  Michael A. Stoll and Janelle S. Wong

This article seeks to understand civic participation among Asians and Latinos in a multiethnic, multiracial context.   We investigate the usefulness of an expanded model of civic engagement, one that makes central factors related to migration, such as length of residence, language acquisition, and citizenship, for groups that include a large number of immigrants. The 1992-1994 Los Angeles Survey of Urban Inequality allows us to test a model of civic participation that incorporates variables previously neglected – migration-related factors, but also multiracial contexts and interracial ties – to better explain participation differences among a diverse population.

Onward Emigration to the United States by Canadian Immigrants Between 1995 and 2000.  Karen M. King and K. Bruce Newbold

Using data drawn from the 2000 US and the 2001 Canadian Censuses, this paper analyzes the onward emigration of Canadian immigrants to the US between 1995 and 2000. The characteristics of an estimated 48,336 Canadian immigrants who made an onward emigration from Canada to the United States are examined. This paper also seeks to determine whether onward foreign-born emigrants are representative of immigrants in Canada and Canadian-born emigrants to the US. Results indicate that onward emigrants are primarily young, married, possess a bachelors degree, earn incomes of $100,000 US or greater, and reside in large immigrant-receiving states and metropolitan areas.

Contexts of English Language Use among Immigrants to the United States.  Ilana Redstone Akres

This analysis of New Immigrant Survey data indicates that the longer immigrants are in the U.S., the more likely they are to use English with friends, at work, at home, and with a spouse.  The average immigrant arriving as a young adult has a predicted probability of using English with friends upon arrival of 0.44, a figure that doubles after 15 years in the U.S.  The same average immigrant has a 0.40 probability of using English at home upon arrival, which rises to 0.55 after 15 years.  The results suggest substantial language shift with the first generation.

Research Note

Public Attitudes toward Immigrants and Immigration Policies across Seven Nations.  Rita J. Simon and Keri W. Sikich

This article reports national public opinion survey data for 1995 and 2003 across seven nations: Australia, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, France, and the United States. The data show that in both 1995 and 2003 most respondents favored decreasing the number of immigrants allowed into their country. In general, over the eight year period there was no consistent trend in public attitudes toward immigrants and the economy, whether immigrants take jobs away from people born in the country, immigrants and crime, and whether immigrants make a country more open to new ideas and cultures

Conference Report

Transnational Migration in East Asia:  Japan in Comparative Focus.  David W. Haines, Makito Minami and Shinji Yamashita

This special two-day conference on migration, held at Japan’s National Museum of Ethnology (Minpaku), was one of the first and most comprehensive meetings of scholars on the full dimensions and implications of migration both to and from Japan. It was also a valuable opportunity to reconsider international migration from an East Asian vantage point—and especially convenient for non-Japanese since the papers were written in English.

International Migration Review

Volume XLI, Number 3, Fall 2007

Table of Contents

Income Adequacy and Social Security Differences Between the Foreign-Born and U.S.-Born.  Lee Cohen and Howard Jams

This paper projects retirement income and Social Security taxes and benefits among the foreign-born and U.S.-born in the United States. Focusing on the Depression and the late baby boom birth cohorts, we find that foreign-born persons have higher poverty rates than the U.S.-born, and as a group do not receive higher lifetime net benefits from Social Security than do the U.S.-born. However, persons from the late baby boom cohort who immigrated after 1969 have higher projected rates of return in Social Security than do U.S.-born persons of the same birth cohort.

Are Immigrant Youth Faring Better in U.S. Schools?  Richard Fry

In spite of the growing numbers and geographic dispersion of foreign-born children, the school outcomes of foreign-born teens improved during the 1990s. Analysis of Decennial Census data reveals that fewer immigrant youth dropped out of school and their English language proficiency improved. Some of the improvement is due to compositional change in the foreign-born teen population. Levels of parental education increased over the decade. Poverty among foreign-born adolescents declined. Other youth background characteristics did not change in a favorable direction. Multivariate analysis reveals that there was a large decline in the likelihood of immigrant teens dropping out of school above and beyond the demographic changes over the decade. For example, the likelihood that a Mexican-born teen educated in U.S. schools drops out of school declined by an estimated 43 percent over the 1990s. There is little evidence, however, that U.S. schools have improved in their English language instruction over the decade.

Race, Gender, and Class in the Persistence of the Marie Stigma Twenty Years after the Exodus from Cuba.  Gaston A. Fernandez

The study examines the mediating effects of gender, race, and class in the Mariel Cuban immigrant adaptation process. It explores the significance of the Mariel identity by comparing the experiences of pre-1980 arrivals with those of the Mariel cohort (1980-1981) and post-Mariel arrivals (1982-1990, 1990-2000). The central question of the study is the extent to which the Marielitos' experience as a group with stigmatization and being labeled as "different" and pathological has persisted in having a different effect on their adaptation to the U.S. from that of other Cuban arrivals before and after Mariel. This study bases its definition of stigma on sociologically grounded theoretical orientation of the construction of a social identity in which a dominant group(s) attribute an undesired difference from what was anticipated to an out-group such that it leads to varieties of discrimination that reduce one's life chances.

Economic Incentive, Embeddedness, and Social Support: A Study of Korean-Owned Nail Salon Workers' Rotating Credit Associations. 
Joong-Hwan Oh

Much of the past research on rotating credit associations (RCAs) in the U.S. Korean community has been conducted in the context of Korean entrepreneurs' success in small businesses. By contrast, little has been known about the significance of RCAs in the lives of Korean immigrant workers. Based on a sample of Korean female workers at Korean-owned nail salons in the New York—New Jersey area, the first aim of this study is to address whether Korean immigrant workers, like Korean immigrant merchants, take into account RCAs as a way to save money or raise capital. Second, this study also speculates about the importance of embeddedness (Granovetter) and social capital (Portes and Sensenbrenner) views for both economic behavior and a likelihood of malfeasance by RCA participants. Lastly, this study regards RCA membership as a mechanism of social support for its participating members. Overall, the analyses provide evidence that RCA membership at nail salons leads to both economic benefit and social support for some of its participants, and that embedded networks and an accompanying sense of trust have some connection to the suppression of its members' latent malfeasance

The Reshaping of Mexican Labor Exports under NAFTA: Paradoxes and Challenges.  Raúl Delgado-Wise and Humberto Márquez Covarrubias

From the perspective of the political economy of development, this article analyzes the role played by Mexican labor in the U.S. productive restructur­ing process under the aegis of the North American Free Trade Agreement. By conceptualizing the labor export–led model it dissects three basic mechanisms of regional economic integration: maquiladoras, disguised maquilas, and labor migration. Not only does this analytical framework cast light on the contributions made by Mexican migrants to the economies of the United States and Mexico, it also reveals two paradoxes: the broaden­ing of the socioeconomic asymmetries between the two countries, and increased socioeconomic dependence on remittances in Mexico.

Changes in the Initial Destinations and Redistribution of Canada's Major Immigrant Groups: Reexamining the Role of Group Affinity.  Feng Hou

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.

Hidden Spaces of Resistance of the Subordinated: Case Studies from Female Migrant Partners in Taiwan.  Hong-zen Wang

This paper explores how contradictory social structures influence power relations between "Vietnamese brides" and their Taiwanese family members. By analyzing two aspects of interaction between "Vietnamese brides" and their husbands' families, i.e., how the families require them to integrate into Taiwanese society and what strategies they employ to escape from these constraints, we argue that contradictory social relations together with commodified marriage and liminality help them to develop strategies of escape into the "hidden space." The development of these strategies indi­cates one thing: hegemony is never fully achieved – it is always negotiated and contested.

Sending States' Transnational Interventions in Politics, Culture, and Economics: The Historical Example of Italy.  Mark I. Choate

This article uses archival evidence to study in depth the historical policies of Italy as a classic sending state. Most of the mass migrations of a century ago came from multinational empires, but Italy was a recently formed independent state. Ambitious to benefit from emigration while assisting and protecting emigrants, Italy reached out to "Italians abroad" in several ways. For example, the state opened a low-cost channel for remittances through a nonprofit bank; promoted Italian language education among Italian families abroad; supported Italian Chambers of Commerce abroad; and subsidized religious missionary work among emigrants. Italy's historical example of political innovation and diplomatic negotiation provides context, comparisons, and possibilities for rapidly changing sending-state policies in the twenty-first century.

Research note

Ethnic Self-Identification of First-Generation Immigrants.  Laura Zimmermann, Klaus E. Zimmermann and Amelie Constant

This paper uses the concept of ethnic self-identification of immigrants in a two-dimensional framework. It acknowledges that attachments to both the country of origin and the host country are not necessarily mutually exclusive. There are three possible paths of adjustment from separation at entry, namely the transitions to assimilation, integration, and margin­alization. We analyze the determinants of ethnic self-identification in this process using samples of first-generation male and female immigrants, and controlling for pre- and post-immigration characteristics. While we find strong gender differences, a wide range of pre-immigration characteristics like education in the country of origin are not important.

Book Reviews

The Mediterranean in the Age of Globalisation: Migration, Welfare and Borders by Natalia Ribas-Mateos
MICHAEL COLLYER

The Housing Divide: How Generations of Immigrants Fare in New York City's Housing Market by Emily Rosenbaum and Samantha Friedman
RICHARD A. WRIGHT

Sex at the Margins: Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry by Laura Maria Agustin
LYNEL LONG

The New Americans: A Guide to Immigration since 1965. Edited by Mary Waters and Reed Ueda (with Helen B. Marrow)
GRETA GILBERTSON

International Migration Review

Volume XLI, Number 2, Summer 2007
Table of Contents

Irregular Migration, Human Smuggling, and the Eastern Enlargement of the European Union.
Michael Jandl

This article examines the consequences of the latest round of EU-Enlargement in May 2004 on irregular migration across Central and Eastern Europe. Drawing on a unique collection of both quantitative and qualitative data related to irregular migration and human smuggling, the article first presents some long-term trends in irregular migration across the region before taking up more recent developments in 2003 and 2004. While border apprehensions have broadly declined since about 2000 there is ample evidence for an increasing role of human smugglers in facilitating irregular migration. In addition, there are noticeable changes in the modus operandi of human smugglers.

Migration Control and Migrant Fatalities at the Spanish African Borders.  Jurgen Carling

This article addresses the dynamics of migration control along the Spanish-African borders and the associated problem of migrant deaths. The past decade and a half has seen rising numbers of migration attempts, large investments in control measures, and resulting geographical and organiza­tional responses on the part of smugglers. Advanced surveillance and inter­ception infrastructure on the border is a necessary but far from sufficient element in controlling unauthorized migration. The growth in the number of migrant deaths seems to result from an increased number of migration attempts. The risk of dying in the attempt appears to be constant or slightly falling.

Romantic Relationships among Immigrant Adolescents.  Rosalind Berkowitz King and Kathleen Mullan Harris

We examine the importance of the family and friendship group as two crucial developmental contexts for adolescent relationship experiences. We focus particularly on immigrant adolescents who make up an increasing proportion of the youth population and who come from cultural context; with stronger family traditions than native-born adolescents. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we model the characteristics associated with having romantic relationships and participating in sex-related activities within relationships for immigrant adolescents, children of immigrants and adolescents in native-born families. First generation adolescents are less likely to enter romantic relationships than adolescents in native-born families, but those who do participate engage in similar sex-related activities as native-born youth. This evidence suggests that immigrant youth who enter romantic relationships are selective of the more assimilated to native adolescent norms of hetero­sexual behavior. The peer group is especially important for immigrant adolescents because it provides opportunities for romantic relationship involvement.

Academic Performance of Young Children in Immigrant Families:  The Significance of Race, Ethnicity, and National Origins.  Jennifer E. Glick and Bryndl Hohmann-Marriott

Children of immigrants come from diverse backgrounds and enter school with different family migration experiences and resources. This paper addresses two basic questions: (1) to what extent does generation status exert an independent effect on early school performance net of race/panethnicity, language proficiency, and the family resources available to children as they enter formal schooling? and (2) to what extent do these broad conceptualizations of children in immigrant families mask variation by national origins? We take advantage of longitudinal data on a kinder­garten cohort from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study to examine children from diverse backgrounds. Considerable variation in academic performance persists across racial/panethnic groups as well as by country­-of-origin background and linguistic ability even when adjusting for family background, resources, and previous academic performance. We find some intriguing evidence of early "segmentation" among children from various groups, suggesting some convergence within race and ethnicity for some children. However, this conclusion should not be overstated, because the results also point to the great diversity by national origins that are masked by reliance on racial/panethnic groupings.

Immigrant and Native-Born Differences in School Stability and Special Education:  Evidence from New York City.  Dylan Conger, Amy Ellen Schwartz and Leanna Stiefel

Using the literature on achievement differences as a framework and moti­vation, along with data on New York City students, we examine nativity differences in students' rates of attendance, school mobility, school system exit, and special education participation. The results indicate that, holding demographic and school characteristics constant, foreign-born have higher attendance rates and lower rates of participation in special education than native-born. Among first graders, immigrants are also more likely to trans­fer schools and exit the school system between years than native-born, yet the patterns are different among older students. We also identify large variation according to birth region.

In this paper two gaps in North American immigrant homeownership research are addressed. The first concerns the lack of studies (especially in Canada) that identify changes in homeownership rates by skin color over time, and the second relates to the shortage of comparative research between Canada and the United States on this topic. In this paper the homeownership levels and attainment rates of Black, Chinese, Filipino, White, and South Asian immigrants are compared in Canada and the United States for 1970/1971-2000/2001. For the most part, greater similarities than differences are found between the two countries. Both Canadian and U.S. Chinese and White immigrants have the highest adjusted homeownership rates of all groups, at times even exceeding comparably positioned native-born households. Black immigrants, on the other hand, tend to have the lowest ownership rates of all groups, particularly in the United States, with Filipinos and South Asians situated between these extremes. Most of these differences stem from disparities that exist at arrival, however, and not from differential advancement into homeownership.

Mobility of the Foreign-Born Population in the United States, 1995-2000:  The Role of Gateway States. 
Katherine Hempstead

This study uses the 2000 PUMS to examine mobility among the foreign-born population and the role of the gateway states. Between 1995 and 2000, net domestic migration of the foreign-born population to gateway states was negative. Yet the rate of out-migration from gateway states was lower than that from non-gateway states. Overall, the findings do not sup­port the idea that gateway states are "losing their hold" on their foreign-born population. Yet trends in international and domestic migration are increasing the foreign-born population of non-gateway states relative to gateway states, and reducing differences in their characteristics.

A Global Labor Market: Factors Motivating the Sponsorship and Temporary Migration of Skilled Workers to Australia. 
Siew-Ean Khoo, Peter McDonald, Carmen Voigt-Graf and Graeme Hugo 

The recruitment of skilled foreign workers is becoming increasingly important to many industrialized countries. This paper examines the factors motivating the sponsorship and temporary migration of skilled workers to Australia under the temporary business entry program, a new development in Australia's migration policy. The importance of labor demand in the destination country in stimulating skilled temporary migration is clearly demonstrated by the reasons given by employers in the study while the reasons indicated by skilled temporary migrants for coming to work in Australia show the importance of both economic and non-economic factors in motivating skilled labor migration.

Sailing through Suez from the South: The Emergence of an Indies-Dutch Migration Circuit, 1815-1940.
Ulbe Bosma

This paper shows the importance of colonial garrisons and colonial migra­tory circuits in the history of European migration. During the nineteenth century the overwhelming majority of European-born migrants to the Dutch East Indies were military personnel. Rapidly decreasing mortality rates and a large influx of European military personnel in the decades of colonial wars were responsible for the remarkable growth of the European colonial population throughout the second half of the nineteenth century. As a consequence an extensive colonial-metropole migration circuit emerged. Contrary to expectations, neither the opening of the Suez Canal nor impe­rialist expansion resulted in a significant increase of white civilian emigration to colonial Indonesia in the late nineteenth century. Instead, sailings through Suez went north as frequently as south. It was only at a much later stage, following the end of World War I, that the tobacco and rubber plantations as well as the oil industry of the Outer Regions of the Indies archipelago generated an unprecedented demand for expatriate labor. 

Research Note

Nativity, Duration of Residence, Citizenship, and Access to Health Care for Hispanic Children.     
T. Elizabeth Durden

This article examines differences in access to a regular source of health care for children of Hispanic subgroups within the United States. Particular attention is paid to the impact of the immigration status of the mother – including nativity, duration in the United States, and citizenship status – and its affect on access to health care for Hispanic children. Data are pooled from the National Health Interview Survey for 1999-2001 and logistic regression models are estimated to compare Mexican American, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Other Hispanic children with non-Hispanic whites and blacks. While initial disparities are recorded among the race/ethnic groups, in the final model, only Mexican American children display significantly less access to health care than non-Hispanic whites. The combined influence of the mother's nativity, duration, and citizenship status explains much of the differentials in access to a regular source of care among children of Hispanic subgroups in comparison to non-Hispanic whites.

Book Reviews

            A Nation by Design: Immigration Policy in the Fashioning of America by Aristide R. Zolberg

ELIOT DICKINSON

            Latinos and the New Immigrant Church by David A. Badillo

RODOLFO SORIANO-Nuňez

                Immigration and Crime edited by Ramiro Martinez and Abel Valenzuela, Jr.

ORLANDO RODRIGUEZ

                The Legal Elements of European Identity: EU Citizenship and Migration Law by Elspeth Guild

WILLEM MAAS

International Migration Review

Volume XLI, Number 1, Spring 2007

Table of Contents

Did Manufacturing Matter? The Experience of Yesterday’s Second Generation: A Reassessment. Roger Waldinger

Research on the “new second generation” takes the success of the earlier second generation of southern and eastern Europeans as its point departure, but with little empirical basis.  The hypothesis of “segmented assimilation” asserts that the children of the 1880-1920 immigration moved ahead due to the availability of well-paying, relatively low-skilled jobs in manufacturing.  By contrast, defenders of the conventional approach to assimilation accent diffusionary processes, while conceding that the specific means by which the children of immigrants improved on their parents’ condition remains a matter about which relatively little is known.  This article returns to the world of the last second generation, just before it disappeared, to inquire into the extent and nature of the economic differences separating the adult immigrant offspring of the time from their third-generation-plus counterparts.  Using data from the 1970 Census of Population, this article shows that manufacturing mattered, but in ways neither expected nor consistent with either of today’s prevailing, theoretical approaches.

Child Mortality and Socioeconomic Status: An Examination of Differentials by Migration Status in South Africa.  Kevin J.  A. Thomas

This study examines child mortality and socioeconomic status among migrants and non-migrants. It also examines child mortality by migration status in all quintiles of socioeconomic status, comparing immigrants to the native-born and internal migrants to non-migrants. The results show that among migrants, child mortality decreased faster as socioeconomic status increased than among non-migrants. The results also show a cross-over in the likelihood of child mortality by immigration status as socioeconomic status increased. In the poorest socioeconomic quintiles immigrants had a greater likelihood of child mortality than the native-born while in the wealthiest quintiles child mortality was greater among the native-born.

Theorizing Migration Policy: Is There a Third Way?  Christina Boswell

This article critically reviews theories of migration policy according to two criteria: methodological rigor and explanatory plausibility. It finds that political economy accounts are theoretically robust, but at the price of over-simplification. Neo-institutional theories offer more sophisticated accounts, but fall short on a number of methodological and explanatory counts. As an alternative, this article suggests a theory focusing on the functional imperatives of the state in the area of migration, which shape its responses to societal interests and institutional structures.

Migration Estimation Based on the Labour Force Survey:  An EU-15 Perspective.  Mónica Martí and Carmen Ródenas

It can be observed in the research that the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU LFS) only allows a satisfactory estimation of the stocks of non-nationals or those born abroad in some countries, whereas it proves to be less than adequate in most of them with regard to migration flows. We believe that this very limited success is due to a two-fold statistical problem of imprecision and bias, which is intensified by the embarrassing question of answer impossible. These difficulties exist among the Member States to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the characteristics of the migratory domain and the particular features that the EU LFS acquires in each country.

Wealth in Middle- and Old- Age in Mexico:  The Role of International Migration.  Rebeca Wong, Alberto Palloni, and Beth J. Soldo

This article examines the impact that past migration to the U.S. has on the current economic well-being of individuals in middle or old age who have returned to Mexico. A priori, the net effect of U.S. migration on wealth among return migrants is difficult to predict; there are counteracting factors that can affect wealth positively or negatively. Using data from the Mexican Health and Aging Study 2001 and correcting for selection factors, the long-term effect of U.S. migration for return migrants was found consistently positive in terms of their accumulated personal wealth at middle and old age. The article speculates about the possible mechanisms that can explain this apparent advantage.

Early Child Care and the School Readiness of Children from Mexican Immigrant Families. Robert Crosnoe

Combining conceptual models from immigration and educational research, this study investigated whether a normative antecedent to the transition to formal schooling in the contemporary U.S.—early child care—links Mexican immigrant status to various aspects of school readiness.  Regression models with nationally representative data revealed that children from Mexican immigrant families were over-represented in parental care and under-represented in center-based care compared to their native peers from other race/ethnic populations, which helped to explain a significant but small portion of their generally lower rates of both math achievement and externalizing symptoms in kindergarten.  This mediating role of early child care, however, paled in comparison to family socioeconomic circumstances.

Politics not Economic Interests:  Determinants of Migration Policies in the European Union.  Simon Hix and Abdul Noury

In this article we examine the determinants of European Union (EU) migration policies. We look at the passage of six pieces of migration and immigrant integration legislation in the fifth European Parliament (1999-2004). Based on the sixty-one roll-call votes on these bills we create a ‘migration score’ for each Member of the European Parliament. We then use regression analysis to investigate the determinants of these scores. We find that the strongest determinants of policy outcomes on migration issues in this arena are the left-right preferences of EU legislators. These are stronger predictors than the economic preferences of national parties’ constituents or the economic interests or political preferences of the member states.

Neighborhood and School Factors in the School Performance of Immigrants’ Children.  Suet-Ling Pong and Lingxin Hao

This article examines the effects of neighborhoods and schools on the achievement gaps between adolescents of different nativities and ethnicities. We show that neighborhood and school conditions are better for natives’ than for immigrants’ children, and they are the worst for Hispanic immigrants. Using cross-classified hierarchical models, we find that introducing neighborhood and school characteristics helps to account for the disadvantage of Mexican immigrants’ children but to reveal the advantage of Filipino immigrants’ children, compared to native non-Hispanic Whites. Neighborhood and school effects are not universal: they influence school performance of immigrants’ children more than that of natives’ children

Immigrant Transnational Organizations and Development:  A Comparative Study.  Alejandro Portes, Cristina Escobar and Alexandria Walton Radford

This article explores how ninety Colombian, Dominican, and Mexican transnational immigrant organizations pursue philanthropic projects that aid in the development of their country or community of origin.  We find that each nationality’s context of exit and reception affects the origin, strength, and character of their organizations.  We produce “maps” of the interaction of transnational organizations with each country of origin and conduct multivariate regressions to establish determinants of key organizational characteristics, including their degree of formalization and form of creation.  Generally, Colombian organizations assume more middle-class forms, Dominican organizations stem largely from politics in the country of origin, and Mexican organizations are primarily hometown associations with greater involvement of the national state.  We observe that regardless of nationality, transnational immigrant organizations’ members are older, better-established, and possess above-average levels of education, suggesting that participation in transnational activities and assimilation are not incompatible.  The character of proactive activities by each national state are examined.  Theoretical implications for immigrant adaptation and community/national development are discussed.

Book Reviews

Racial Politics in an Era of Transnational Citizenship:  The 1996 “Asian Donorgate” Controversy in Perspective
By Michael Chang

Elusive Citizenship:  Immigration, Asian Americans, and the Paradox of Civil Rights
By John S. W. Park          

Probationary Americans:  Contemporary Immigration Policies and the Shaping of Asian American Communities
By Edward J. W. Park and John S. W. Park
LINDA TRINH VÕ

Les Diasporas
By Stephane Dufoix
ROGER WALDINGER

European Migration:  What Do We Know?
Edited by Klaus F. Zimmermann
WILLEM MAAS

 Migration Policies and Political Participation:  Inclusion or Intrusion in Western Europe
By Pontus Odmalm
GÖKÇE YURDAKUL