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The Integration of Immigrants into American Society
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ISBN 978-0-309-37398-2 | DOI: 10.17226/21746
AUTHORS
BUY THIS BOOK Panel on the Integration of Immigrants into American Society; Mary
C. Waters and Marisa Gerstein Pineau, Editors; Committee on
Population; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and
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Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
The Integration of Immigrants into American Society
Panel on the Integration of Immigrants into American Society
Mary C. Waters and Marisa Gerstein Pineau, Editors
Committee on Population
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
The Integration of Immigrants into American Society
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001
This activity was supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the National
Science Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the U.S. Citizenship and Im-
migration Services of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, with additional
support from the National Academy of Sciences Kellogg Fund. The contribution of
the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Develop-
ment in sponsoring the planning meeting for this activity is also acknowledged. Any
opinions, fndings, conclusion, or recommendations expressed in this publication
do not necessarily refect the views of the organization or agencies that provided
support for the project.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-37398-2
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-37398-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015958960
Digital Object Identifer: 10.17226/21746
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
(2015). The Integration of Immigrants into American Society. Panel on the Inte-
gration of Immigrants into American Society, M.C. Waters and M.G. Pineau, Eds.
Committee on Population, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Educa-
tion. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/21746.
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
The Integration of Immigrants into American Society
The National Academy of Sciences was established in 1863 by an Act of Con-
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elected by their peers for outstanding contributions to research. Dr. Ralph J.
Cicerone is president.
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extraordinary contributions to engineering. Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., is president.
The National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) was
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Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
The Integration of Immigrants into American Society
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
The Integration of Immigrants into American Society
PANEL ON INTEgRATION OF IMMIgRANTS
INTO AMERICAN SOCIETy
MARy C. WATERS (Chair), Department of Sociology, Harvard
University
RICHARD ALBA, Department of Sociology, Graduate Center of the City
University of New York
FRANk D. BEAN, Center for Research on Immigration, Population and
Public Policy, University of California, Irvine
IRENE BLOEMRAAD, Department of Sociology, University of
California, Berkeley
MICHAEL FIX, Migration Policy Institute
NANCy FONER, Department of Sociology, Hunter College, and
Graduate Center of the City University of New York
CHARLES HIRSCHMAN, Department of Sociology at the Daniel
J. Evans School of Governance and Public Policy, University of
Washington
DANIEL T. LICHTER, Department of Policy Analysis and Management,
Department of Sociology, and the Cornell Population Center, Cornell
University
DOUgLAS S. MASSEy, Department of Sociology and Public Affairs and
the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University
CECILIA MENJIVAR, Department of Sociology, University of Kansas
S. kARTHICk RAMAkRISHNAN, Department of Public Policy and
Political Science, University of California, Riverside
AUDREy SINgER, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings Institution
DAVID T. TAkEUCHI, Boston College School of Social Work
kEVIN J.A. THOMAS, Department of Sociology, Demography, and
African Studies, and the Population Research Institute, Pennsylvania
State University
STEPHEN TREJO, Department of Economics, University of Texas at
Austin
RICHARD WRIgHT, Department of Geography and Public Affairs,
Dartmouth College
HIROkAzU yOSHIkAWA, Department of Globalization and Education
at the Steinhardt School and Global TIES for Children Center,
New York University
MARISA gERSTEIN PINEAU, Study Director
THOMAS J. PLEWES, Senior Staff Offcer
MARy gHITELMAN, Program Assistant
TINA M. LATIMER, Program Coordinator
v
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
The Integration of Immigrants into American Society
COMMITTEE ON POPULATION
2015
kATHLEEN MULLAN HARRIS (Chair), Department of Sociology, UNC
Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
JERE R. BEHRMAN, Department of Economics, University of
Pennsylvania
VICkI A. FREEDMAN, Institute for Social Research, University of
Michigan
MARk D. HAyWARD, Population Research Center, University of Texas
at Austin
HILLARD S. kAPLAN, Department of Anthropology, University of New
Mexico
SARA S. MCLANAHAN, William S. Todd Professor of Sociology and
Public Affairs, Princeton University
EMILIO A. PARRADO, Department of Sociology and Population Studies
Center, University of Pennsylvania
DAVID R. WEIR, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research,
University of Michigan
JOHN R. WILMOTH, Population Division/DESA, United Nations
THOMAS J. PLEWES, Director
TINA M. LATIMER, Program Coordinator
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
The Integration of Immigrants into American Society
Preface
n the years since the publication of the institution’s last major report on
immigration, The New Americans (National Research Council, 1997),
Ithere have been massive shifts in the demographics, legal status, geo-
graphic location, and overall impact of immigration. These shifts have
raised new concerns about the integration of immigrants in the United
States. The aim of this project was therefore to facilitate a more informed
and fact-based discussion of this topic.
The panel formally met six times over the period from January 2014
to March 2015 in order to collect information to assist in its deliberations
and to prepare this report. During this time, an active national debate over
the course of U.S. immigration policy was ongoing, highlighted by the
November 2014 announcement by President Obama of the Immigration
Accountability Executive Action, intended to provide relief from deporta-
tion for parents of citizen children and people who arrived as children and
to prioritize the deportation of felons, along with further strengthening
border enforcement. These actions could signifcantly affect the path to
integration into U.S. society of millions of immigrants, particularly those
in the country without proper documentation. The Executive action also
expanded the population eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA) Program and extended the period of DACA and work
authorization, from 2 to 3 years and allowed parents of U.S. citizens and
lawful permanent residents who have been present in the country since
January 1, 2010, to request deferred action and employment authoriza-
tion for 3 years under the new Deferred Action for Parental Accountability
(DAPA) Program. However, the expansion of DACA and establishment of
vii
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
The Integration of Immigrants into American Society
viii PREFACE
DAPA were quickly blocked by federal courts. At the time this report was
completed, the implementation of the Executive action was unsettled, and
its possible effects are unknown.
At the same time he announced the Executive action, President Obama
established the White House Task Force on New Americans, an interagency
group tasked with reviewing the federal government’s immigrant integra-
tion efforts in order to make recommendations to improve these services.
The task force released an initial report in April 2015, and its fndings and
recommendations are cited throughout this report. The Task Force will re-
port its fnal fndings and recommendations to the President in November
2015.
The panel’s charge was to address the questions of immigrant integra-
tion in multiple domains. We did this by our own research, by inviting
leading researchers to meetings to offer their perspectives on these ques-
tions, and by commissioning papers to address specifc issues. The presen-
tations and subsequent panel deliberations gave the panel the opportunity
to develop the perspectives and articulate the challenges shared here. This
volume is the product of that study process, and drafting the report was a
collaborative enterprise.
We thank everyone who made presentations to the panel, including
Erwin de Leon, The Urban Institute; Roberto Gonzalez, Harvard Graduate
School of Education; Robert P. Jones, Public Religion Research Institute;
Ali Noorani, National Immigration Forum; Jeffrey Passel, Pew Research
Center; Anne Piehl, Rutgers University; Alex Piquero, University of Texas
at Dallas; and Veronica Terriquez, University of Southern California. A spe-
cial note of appreciation is owed to those who contributed commissioned
papers: Catherine Barry, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Leighton
Ku, George Washington University; and Charis Kubrin, University of Cali-
fornia, Irvine. We particularly thank Cristina Rodriguez of Yale University
who prepared a paper for us on the legal aspects of immigrant integration
that was the foundation of Chapter 2; this report is very much strengthened
by her contributions. We also thank Youngmin Yi, Department of Sociol-
ogy, Cornell University, who prepared three tables for Chapter 6.
This report was authored by the committee. Despite having many
other responsibilities, members of the committee generously donated their
time and expertise to the project. Members contributed to the study by
drafting and revising chapters, providing background readings, leading
discussions, making presentations, and critically commenting on the vari-
ous report drafts. The perspectives that members brought to the table were
instrumental in synthesizing ideas throughout the committee process. The
committee worked together remarkably well and with a great commitment
to balance and to reviewing the available evidence to draw conclusions on
a very complex and contentious topic. It was a pleasure to serve with them.
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
The Integration of Immigrants into American Society
PREFACE ix
Several members of the staff of the National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine made signifcant contributions to the report.
The panel was established under the auspices of the Committee on Popu-
lation, directed by Thomas Plewes, who was instrumental in developing
the study and providing guidance and support to the staff throughout the
project. We are all greatly indebted to our study director, Marisa Gerstein
Pineau, who worked tirelessly, wrote brilliantly, edited ruthlessly, and with
great humor and equanimity managed a task that never should have been
possible in such a short period of time. Special thanks are due to Danielle
Johnson, Tina Latimer, and Mary Ghitelman, who provided logistics and
report preparation support throughout the project. Kirsten Sampson Snyder
ably guided the volume through report review, Robert Katt served as editor,
and Yvonne Wise managed the report production process.
The project was undertaken with the support of the Carnegie Corpora-
tion of New York, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Russell Sage
Foundation, and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Particular thanks go to Geri Mannion of the Carnegie Corporation of
New York; Patricia White of NSF; Aixa Cintron-Velez of the Russell Sage
Foundation; and Jason Ackleson, Delancey Gustin, Michael Hoefer, Tiffany
Lightbourn, Laura Patching, and Nathan Stiefel of USCIS, all of whom rep-
resented these sponsoring organizations throughout the study development
and information gathering processes and made innumerable contributions
to the fnal product. Patricia White also provided the panel with original
analysis of polling data for our report while on sabbatical at the National
Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. We are grateful to them
and their organizations for their support.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen
for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with
procedures approved by the institution’s Report Review Committee. The
purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical com-
ments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound
as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for
objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review
comments and draft manuscript remain confdential to protect the integrity
of the deliberative process.
We thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Claire D. Brindis, Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health and Ado-
lescent and Young Adult Health-National Resource Center, University of
California, San Francisco; Katharine M. Donato, Department of Sociology,
Vanderbilt University; Elena Fuentes-Affick, Pediatrics and Academic Af-
fairs, University of California, San Francisco; Tomás Jiménez, Department
of Sociology, Stanford University; Michael Jones-Correa, Department of
Government, Cornell University; John R. Logan, Spatial Structures in the
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
