Alliance of White Anti-Racists Everywhere – Los Angeles
Integration
New Report Highlights Contributions of Immigrant Entrepreneurs to U.S. Economy
01 week ago
BY MARCIA HOHN, IMMIGRANT LEARNING CENTER
At last night’s State of the Union Address, two immigrant entrepreneurs were among the President’s guests—Japan-born Dr. Hiroyuki Fujita, founder, president and chief executive officer of Quality Electrodynamics (QED) in Cleveland, Ohio and Brazil-born Mike Krieger, co-founder of Instagram, a fast growing social mobile startup. Dr. Fijuita and Mike Krieger were rightfully recognized for their entrepreneurial drive and hard-earned success (both businesses are now worth millions of dollars), but they are just two examples of immigrants who came to this country and started businesses. There are many more unsung immigrant entrepreneurs whose U.S. businesses continue to create jobs for Americans and strengthen the U.S. economy.
Many are aware of the giants among immigrant entrepreneurs such as Sergey Brin of Google or Jerry Yang of Yahoo. But there is little recognition of the role important immigrant businesses play in neighborhood revitalization, growth businesses, and transnational businesses. A new report, Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Creating Jobs and Strengthening the Economy, released today by the Immigrant Learning Center, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Immigration Policy Center highlights the vital role immigrant entrepreneurs play across the U.S. economy.
The report focuses on small businesses such as neighborhood storefronts—grocery stores, restaurants, gift shops and real estate firms—which make up the fabric of many neighborhoods. Immigrants are often attracted by low rents available in neighborhoods that have been blighted by economic decline. The arrival of their businesses revives commerce in these areas and provides needed goods and services for residents. As one immigrant storefront owner in Boston said:
Of course my business makes the neighborhood better. It makes this neighborhood more beautiful. The community ignored this neighborhood before. People did not want to move here because it was desolate and unsafe. Now, people want to come here.
The report also mentions growth businesses which, like many small businesses, often hatch from a living room or kitchen. The result of ambition, hard work and vision, these immigrant growth businesses have a strong presence in food and food distribution, transportation, leisure and hospitality as well as building services. One Boston-based entrepreneur, Jill Cheng, had a vision to bring Asia to the world. She began with a small collection of books in Chinese and Japanese, but with the explosion of business with China, her company (Cheng & Tsui Publishers) is now a multi-million dollar business.
Technology and science companies continue to be founded by immigrants at unprecedented numbers—leaping to 46% in venture-backed companies—as documented in a very recent study by the National Foundation for America Policy. These companies are keeping America on the cutting edge of innovation in technology and improving human health—as well as keeping America internationally competitive. Not only do these immigrant founders bring talent and skill but are also likely to have qualities such as a willingness to take risks, a deep appreciation for the opportunities that America gives them and perseverance. Sonny Vu from Vietnam and Sridhar Iyengar, 2nd generation from India, are convinced it was their immigrant backgrounds that made it possible for them to take an idea born in a cramped Boston apartment to a $20 million American company called AgaMatrix that manufactures mobile health monitoring devices.
Immigrant-run transnational businesses are also keeping the U.S. globally competitive. These are businesses that have a “foot in both worlds” and have a variety of business relationships here in the U.S. and their homelands that provide import-export, transfer of goods and remittances across countries or special goods for specific communities groups here and abroad. Transnational businesses also help America companies understand how to do business in other countries, build bridges of communication and bring diversity to the goods and services available in America.
Countless economists and business experts have highlighted the economic contributions of immigrant entrepreneurs to the U.S. economy. Now, it’s Congresses turn. National immigration policies must reflect the economic and social contributions of immigrant businesses and—equally important—that immigrant entrepreneurs come from all backgrounds.
New Report Challenges Notion that Harsh Enforcement Measures Drive Unauthorized Immigrants Out
02 months ago
Last week, a new report released by the Pew Hispanic Center found that nearly two-thirds of all unauthorized adult immigrants currently living in the U.S. (10.2 million) have been here for at least 10 years and nearly half of them (4.7 million) are parents of minor children. The longevity of their U.S. residency and pattern of parenthood suggest that these unauthorized immigrants are integrated into American society, challenging the notion that ramped-up enforcement measures like Arizona’s SB 1070 and Alabama’s HB 56 are effectively driving unauthorized immigrants back to their countries of origin.
Using the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2010 Current Population Survey, the Pew Hispanic Center estimated that:
- 35% of unauthorized adult immigrants have resided in the U.S. for 15 years or more (a number that doubled since 2000)
- 28% for 10 to 14 years
- 22% for 5 to 9 years
- and 15% for less than five years (a number that has fallen by half since 2000)
Pew also found that nearly half of all undocumented immigrants in the U.S. (4.7 million) are parents of minor children. Additionally, Pew estimates that roughly 9 million people in the U.S. live in a mixed-status home—meaning that at least one immigrant parents is undocumented and at least one child is U.S. born.
After living in the U.S. for 10 years or more, many in mixed-status homes, it’s reasonable to assume that these unauthorized immigrants are integrated into American society—they live here, they send their children to school here, they go to church here, they pay taxes here. The idea that harsh state immigration enforcement policies are “working”—that is, forcing unauthorized immigrants to return home—just doesn’t seem to hold water.
As Pew’s report concludes, the data “reflects the fact that relatively few long-duration unauthorized immigrants have returned to their countries of origin.” While some may return to their home countries, others likely migrate to neighboring states, states where they have family or can find work.
Clearly, the current enforcement-only approach to addressing immigration isn’t working. In fact, state immigration laws like Alabama’s HB 56 are actually hurting states’ economies—wasting scant resources, burdening state businesses, stirring distrust in communities and creating a hostile environment that will likely steer foreign investments elsewhere.
What we need, say experts like Doug Massey of Princeton University, is an earned path to legalization—a path that even conservative voters think is necessary. According to Massey, given the recent post-recession dip in migration from Mexico and the apparent lack of self-deportation of unauthorized immigrants who have long resided in the U.S., “there is really only one thing that remains to be accomplished … the creation of a pathway to legalization for long-term undocumented residents.”
Until then, Congress and states legislatures will continue to waste time, resources and money on enforcement measures that do nothing to address the realities of our broken and outdated immigration system.
Photo by Nathan Gibbs.
Children of Immigrant Entrepreneurs Excel Educationally, Report Finds
02 months ago
The contributions of immigrant entrepreneurs—innovation, job creation and economic growth—are often cited by economists as strong reasons to reform our outdated immigration system. However, the kids of immigrant entrepreneurs receive relatively little attention. Delving into the experiences of these adult children of immigrants provides a new lens through which to witness the struggles and triumphs of parents and their children as they pursue the American Dream.
A new report by the Immigrant Learning Center (ILC) puts a human face on the children of immigrant entrepreneurs. Adult Children of Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Memories and Influences shares the stories of 36 children of immigrants representing a wide variety of countries of origin and family businesses. Some were born in the U.S. and others immigrated here in childhood. While their stories differ, they all have one thing in common: their immigrant entrepreneur parents and experiences growing up around the family business heavily influenced their desire to pursue an education and the American dream.
All of the young adults interviewed witnessed firsthand their parents’ struggles as they integrated into their new home in the U.S., ingraining them with a strong work ethic. They spent long hours along side their parents in their place of business. While most gained valuable experience taking on various activities, many parents shielded their kids from manual labor, encouraging them instead to interact with customers, keep the books, or other business-related tasks. Because they often had better English language skills than their immigrant parents, many of them served as de facto language brokers. Spending time working alongside their parents provided them with valuable business and social skills, giving them the confidence that allowed them to excel in school.
Pen Khek Chear, whose parents came to the US as Cambodian refugees, said:
“My dad did not want to teach me to be a jeweler [like him] because he was afraid I would like it. My parents wanted me to get an education and be a ‘respectable professional’ and not have to do ‘hard labor.”
Pen obtained a Master’s in Social Work from Boston University.
Because of their own struggles, education is very highly valued by immigrant entrepreneur parents, and the young adults interviewed had achieved high education levels. Many of the people interviewed had pursued graduate school after graduating from college. They related how their immigrant parents wanted them to excel educationally, get good, stable jobs, and live more comfortable lives than their parents had. The kids recognized that their parents had performed difficult manual labor, and had sacrificed their weekends and worked all the time so that they could pursue higher education. ILC found that “there is an inherent appreciation among the adult children of immigrant entrepreneurs for the sacrifices their parents made to ensure that they have successful careers and lead normal lives in their adopted homeland.”
Like many American families, the immigrant entrepreneurs highlighted in this study want their children to excel and have opportunities that they themselves did not have. While their children may not always get along with their parents, they recognize the tremendous sacrifices their parents have made for them. Not only did the young adults interviewed excel in school and in their careers, but they also chose careers that allow them to give back to the community. The American Dream is alive and well in these immigrant families.
Photo by leungchopan.
New Report Predicts Continuing Integration of Immigrants into U.S. Society
02 months ago
Anti-immigrant activists like to pretend that immigrants are destined to be poor and to never successfully integrate into U.S. society. However, a new report from the Center for American Progress (CAP) concludes that, in reality, “immigrants are integrating into American life, learning English, and becoming homeowners.” When socioeconomic advancement is tracked over time, it becomes clear that “far from a life in poverty, immigrants are exemplifying the American Dream.” The report, entitled Assimilation Tomorrow, was co-authored by renowned demographer Dowell Myers (a professor in the School of Policy, Planning, and Development at the University of Southern California) and by John Pitkin (president of Analysis and Forecasting, Inc., in Cambridge, Massachusetts). This report is the companion piece to another study which was released by CAP last year, entitled Assimilation Today.
Assimilation Tomorrow uses Census data as a basis for projecting where immigrants who came here during the 1990s are likely to find themselves socioeconomically by 2030. The report predicts that, in the coming decades, more and more of these immigrants will buy homes, become U.S. citizens, and earn higher incomes:
- Homeownership: Only 25.5 percent of immigrants who arrived in the United States during the 1990s were homeowners in 2000. By 2030, 71.9 percent of these immigrants are likely to own homes.
- U.S. citizenship: Only 13.2 percent of immigrants who arrived in the United States during the 1990s were U.S. citizens in 2000. By 2030, 70.6 percent of these immigrants are likely to be U.S. citizens.
- Income: Only 55.7 percent of immigrants who arrived in the United States during the 1990s earned incomes above the “low-income” level in 2000. By 2030, 70.3 percent of these immigrants are likely to earn incomes above the “low-income” level.
In other words, integration into U.S. society takes time, just as it always has. Newcomers don’t climb the socioeconomic ladder of an unfamiliar country overnight. That is why integration is most accurately tracked over the course of decades, not simply a few years. As the report notes, when immigrant integration is examined over an appropriate span of time, it becomes apparent that, “contrary to the critics, immigrants are integrating into American life, and doing so in impressive ways.”
The report concludes that all Americans have a stake in the successful integration of immigrants into the U.S. economy and U.S. society. As tens of millions of baby boomers retire over the next few decades, the demand for immigrant workers will grow. Immigrant taxpayers will play an increasingly important role in funding the revenue-starved Social Security and Medicare programs. And the housing market will become more and more dependent upon immigrant homebuyers. In short, the successful integration and upward mobility of immigrants will serve as a much-needed economic stimulus for the nation as a whole.
Photo by Andy Dean Photography.
Non-Citizens Eager to Serve in U.S. Military Blocked by Government Bureaucracy
02 months ago
BY MARGARET D. STOCK, COUNSEL TO THE FIRM, LANE POWELL PC
This Veterans Day, we celebrate those who have proudly served in the U.S. military, including immigrants. Immigrants have long served in all branches of the U.S. military as infantry soldiers, medics, foreign-language translators, and in every other job open to them. At last count, foreign-born service members made up about 8% of the 1.4 million military personnel on active duty. However, some highly qualified non-citizens have been blocked from serving due to the Obama Administration’s suspension of a recruiting program called the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI). Frustrated by the government bureaucracy responsible for halting MAVNI, those non-citizen volunteers are petitioning the government in hopes of reopening the program.
Started under the Bush Administration in 2008, MAVNI was a highly successful military recruiting program open to certain legal aliens who were also U.S. licensed medical professionals or who spoke certain strategic languages. Applicants were required to pass special immigration and security screening before being approved for enlistment and were put on an accelerated path to U.S. citizenship. If they failed to serve honorably for five years, they could lose their U.S. citizenship.
Although MAVNI was highly successful and saved the Pentagon hundreds of thousands of dollars, the program came to an end in 2010 when newly confirmed Obama Administration political appointees failed to extend it, even though MAVNI was scheduled to continue for several more years. Many blame government inefficiencies at the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Department of Defense, which is primarily responsibility for the program and has reportedly experienced turbulence in the last year.
In the meantime, hundreds of frustrated MAVNI applicants began a White House petition, asking family members, friends, and colleagues for their signatures in a quest to get the attention of the Obama Administration and get the MAVNI program re-opened. Under White House petition rules, the MAVNI applicants need 25,000 signatures on their petition to earn a response. At this point, they have about 700.
Unlike many White House petitions that ask for legal changes or budget appropriations, the MAVNI petition does not seek Congressional legislation or taxpayer money. Leon Panetta, the Secretary of Defense, can put the program back into operation immediately by signing a memo. One would hope that the White House petition process might get Secretary Panetta’s attention, as MAVNI applicants report that letters and Congressional inquiries have not yet resulted in any action.
There is no question that MAVNI is critical in filling military shortages of medical professionals and foreign language speakers. In fact, senior military leaders testified repeatedly before Congress about the value of the program. MAVNI recruits many highly educated people who would not normally find an easy path to serving America due to America’s dysfunctional legal immigration system.
This Veterans Day, let’s hope the administration recognizes the vital role immigrants have and continue to play in the U.S. military and makes a greater effort to reopen the MAVNI program.
Photo by USACEpublicaffairs.
Dayton, Ohio Passes Plan to Revitalize Economy through Immigrant Integration
03 months ago
Shortly after Alabama began implementing their anti-immigration law (HB 56), Dayton, Ohio passed legislation that welcomes and integrates immigrants with the hope that they will revitalize their slowing economy. Faced with a declining population, Dayton’s City Commission voted unanimously last week to adopt the Welcome Dayton Plan—a plan that is tapping into the very economic stimulus that Alabama is driving out.
The Welcome Dayton Plan focuses on four aspects crucial to attracting and integrating immigrants—business and economic developments, increased government participation, improved access to health services, and involvement in the culture, arts, and educational opportunities. Specifically, the Welcome Dayton Plan seeks to:
- Create an inclusive community-wide campaign around immigrant entrepreneurship that facilitates startup businesses, opens global markets and restores life to Dayton neighborhoods.
- Offer language services to access government and health services, and educate immigrants about government participation and laws.
- Issue “municipal identification cards for community residents who are not eligible for any other accepted identifying document.”
- Advocate for immigrant friendly laws at the state and federal levels through the City and County lobbying efforts.
By welcoming immigrants, Dayton expects to grow their local economy, increase the number of small business and integrate immigrants into their communities—a far cry from the current chaos in Alabama. In a survey leading up to the plan, officials asked residents how the arrival of immigrants has impacted Dayton. The response? “Businesses were started. Jobs were created. Houses were rehabilitated. Underused buildings were reused and rejuvenated.”
Dayton City officials based the plan on nation-wide studies that show immigrants create new businesses and complement the American workforce. For example, a White House report noted that immigrants started 25% of the highest growth companies between 1990 and 2005, companies which supported 220,000 jobs in the U.S. and generated $67 billion in U.S. business income. A Brookings Institute study also indicated that “U.S. global competitiveness rests on the ability of immigrants and their children to thrive economically and to contribute to the nation’s productivity.” Dayton officials have done their homework and are not acting in response to fear. Rather, they are building a plan based on economic facts.
Alabama, on the other hand, has voted to alienate immigrants through harsh enforcement policies that drive out those who add to their economy. The Welcome Dayton Plan, however, recommends that police perform immigration status checks only for the suspects of serious crimes. According to a CNN report, “such a policy could protect undocumented immigrants stopped for minor offenses from fearing deportation.”
According to the Dayton Daily News, city residents, business owners, and scholars support the plan. University of Dayton professor Linda Majka summed up Dayton’s attitude well: “One reason the American Dream is still alive is that people keep coming to us who believe in it. Dayton has the opportunity to get this right.”
Photo by joe gauder.
Better Immigrant Integration Leads to Economic Growth
04 months ago
Over the weekend, more than 27,000 people became American citizens during 285 naturalization ceremonies held across the country in honor of Citizenship Day (September 17). Becoming a citizen, however, is hard work. A new country, new rules, high costs, and little targeted support for new immigrants make what should be a journey of exploration and opportunity one that may be frustrating and lonely. Not surprisingly, problems such as these are a major obstacle to naturalization. Scholars note that despite the steady rise in naturalization rates over the decades, a shocking number of people do not naturalize are actually eligible to do so. In 2008, for example, while more than one million LPRs naturalized, more than eight million were eligible to do so. Developing better integration programs, however, may improve naturalization efforts and lead to economic growth.
What keeps people from naturalizing? According to the Migrant Integration Policy Index III (MIPEX) survey of 31 European and North American counties, U.S. naturalization fees “are now higher than in 25 of the 30 other MIPEX countries. Half ask for just normal administrative fees similar to obtaining passports.” Furthermore, the process of acquiring citizenship in the United States can be uncertain, lacking “legal time limits (unlike in 13 MIPEX countries). Basic English and civics classes, are also grossly underfunded and the moneys that have been allocated are frequently in danger of being cut. In fact, Congress may not approve funding for these and other integration programs in the DHS Appropriations Bill for FY2012.
Integration is often an overlooked but key component of U.S. immigration policy. Successful integration of immigrants fuels their success, strengthens communities, and builds bridges between newcomers and other community members. Time and again, an influx of immigrants has been shown to reverse economic decline and breathe new life into urban areas, small towns, and rural communities. Moreover, integration can be a key to entrepreneurship and future economic growth.
Urban theorists Richard Florida and Charlotta Mellander found that nations which focus more on immigrant integration have higher levels of economic competitiveness, are more innovative, and have higher rates of entrepreneurship. Solid integration policies offer benefits to both the immigrant and the receiving community. The investment in immigrants, therefore, is an investment in the country’s own well-being.
The good news is that, unlike many aspects of immigration reform, the challenge for improving integration and naturalization efforts is less about reforming existing law and more about generating support for sufficient planning and resources to create a more robust integration program.
Developing a national integration policy—coordinating efforts across various federal, state and local entities—would allow us to leverage existing programs and efforts with an eye towards thinking about the big picture of immigration. New immigrants and descendants of the Mayflower alike would benefit from such coordination, which could offer better, smarter ways to link communities together.
In many communities, these efforts are already underway. Groups like Welcoming America work with individual communities to find links between newcomers and other residents. Gatherings like the National Immigrant Integration Conference, now in its fourth year, bring together people who focus on any number of issues—economic development, education, literacy, civic engagement—that are not exclusively focused on immigration, but who recognize the value of integration of new immigrants to their work. Harnessing that interest offers a new way to talk about immigrants and integration that might lead us to one day think of citizenship as a process rather than a certificate.
Photo by Samantha Decker.
California Passes Other Half of DREAM Act Package
05 months ago
While many applauded Governor Jerry Brown’s recent efforts to make college more affordable for all of California’s students, others insisted the state didn’t go far enough. Back in July, Gov. Brown signed AB 130—a bill that allows undocumented students enrolled in California’s public colleges and universities to receive privately-funded university scholarships from non-state funds. At the time, however, its companion bill, AB 131—which would allow undocumented students to apply for state-sponsored financial aid—was stuck in California’s Senate Appropriations Committee. Last week, despite opposition from immigration restrictionists, both California’s State Assembly and Senate approved AB 131 which is now on its way to Gov. Brown’s desk. Many predict Gov. Brown will sign the measure based on promises he made during his campaign.
As previously reported, AB 131 builds on AB 130 by allowing undocumented students to apply for and receive Board of Governors Fee Waivers at community colleges, Cal Grants at universities (only after such grants are awarded to eligible documented students), and some types of financial aid administered at the university or college level (such as UC Grants). It would also expand eligibility for California in-state tuition to those who graduate from California adult schools and vocational schools, as long as the student also attended a California high school for at least one year.
Immigration restrictionist, as expected, were quick to call AB 131 “too expensive” for the state, despite findings from the California Assembly Committee on Appropriations that AB 131 would “not increase overall spending” on institutional aid in the state. In fact, a recent study by the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment finds that AB 131 could play a critical role in boosting the overall number of college grads necessary to keep California’s economy strong. The Public Policy Institute of California estimates by 2025, the state will not have enough college graduates to keep up with economic demand.
Although Congress failed to pass a national DREAM Act bill last December, it’s clear that states want immigration reforms that benefit their economies in the long run. What better way to invest in state economies than granting undocumented students access to greater educational opportunities and better jobs, which in turn means more taxable income for the state? Nationally, there are 1.9 million undocumented children who could benefit from the DREAM Act.
Pending Gov. Brown’s signature, California will join Texas and New Mexico in states that offer financial aid to undocumented students. Currently, 12 states (California, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Nebraska, New Mexcio, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Washington) offer in-state tuition to undocumented students.
Passing legislation that makes higher education more affordable for California’s students is clearly a great step forward, but California is only one state. Until Congress passes legislation that makes higher education affordable to all students across the country, the United States will continue to miss out on future entrepreneurs, doctors, teachers, and scientist and the vital tax revenues they generate.
Photo by SEIU International.
What the New Budget Law Could Mean for Immigrant and Refugee Programs
05 months ago
BY ERIC SIGMON, LUTHERAN IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE SERVICE*
On August 2, after a number of press conferences and late-night negotiation sessions, President Obama signed into law the Budget Control of Act of 2011, legislation that prevented the U.S. government from defaulting on its debt and requires deep cuts into future federal spending. While deficit cutting laws may not sound very interesting to the average reader, this new law will decrease the size and role of the federal government over the next decade. Over the next four months, Congress will have to make decisions that will shape the government’s capacity to provide protection and life-saving assistance to refugees, adjudicate immigration benefits, and enforce U.S. immigration laws along the border and in the interior (apprehensions, detentions, deportations).
Depending on what is cut, there could be a huge impact on the budgets of the immigration agencies within the Department of Homeland Security, which, in turn, would have a huge impact on immigrant and refugee communities.
The Budget Control Act mandates $917 billion in cuts over the next ten years by implementing spending caps on discretionary federal spending. (Note: Federal entitlement programs are exempt from these spending caps.) The bill also places an additional cap on “security” spending for the next two years, forcing Congress to divide up an estimated $5 billion in cuts among the Departments of Homeland Security, State, Defense, Veterans Affairs, and a couple of smaller federal agencies.
The law also creates a Congressional Joint Select Committee, commonly referred to as the Super Committee, a bipartisan working group of 12 members of Congress to recommend at least $1.2 trillion in additional spending cuts that need to be generated by 2021. The law requires Super Committee approval by November 23, 2011, a Congressional vote by December 23, 2011, and enactment into law by January 15, 2012.
If the Super Committee fails to agree on legislation or if Congress fails to pass the Committee’s recommendations that meet the law’s specifications, Congress must apply across-the-board cuts. This means that if Congress fails to pass a bill that reduces spending by at least $1.2 trillion, cuts would be phased in annually through 2021 to cut a total of $600 billion from the Department of Defense and a total of $600 billion among the other federal agencies.
When Congress returns to Washington next week, members will need to immediately find a way to comply with the new discretionary spending caps and work towards a grand compromise to meet the $1.2 trillion targets. At least theoretically, everything is on the table for cuts, including funding for refugee assistance, naturalization support, integration services, border enforcement, detention, and immigration courts.
It’s too soon to know how Congress will make these new spending cuts and what impact they will have on immigration and refugee programs. However, it is clear that Congress has an opportunity to make smart choices about how to allocate its limited resources. Let’s hope they protect the essential services and programs that provide support and relief to immigrants, refugees and their communities.
Photo by World Relief Spokane.
*Eric B. Sigmon is the Director for Advocacy at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, a national organization recognized for its advocacy leadership and for providing services to refugees and migrants through over 60 grassroots legal and social service partners across the United States.
What’s the Value of Keeping Undocumented Youth in the Shadows?
06 months ago
The real life psychological ramifications of young immigrants struggling with their unauthorized status are often glossed over in the larger immigration debate. In a recent journal article, Learning to Be Illegal: Undocumented Youth and Shifting Legal Contexts in the Transition to Adulthood, University of Chicago professor Roberto G. Gonzales uses 150 interviews with young Latino adults to examine how unauthorized youth deal with their legal status as they come of age. Gonzales finds that as unauthorized immigrant children transition into adulthood, many “learn to be illegal,” figuring out how to exist in a society that was once welcoming, but now prohibits their participation.
Under U.S. law, all children have the legal right to a K-12 education, regardless of their immigration status. After graduation, however, unauthorized youth quickly learn that they cannot legally work, vote, receive financial aid for college or drive in most states. In addition, they have the added fear of deportation. Throughout his research, Gonzales found that unauthorized youth “uniformly noted a jolting shift at around age 16, when they attempted to move through rites of passage associated with their age…as respondents tried to take these steps into adult life, they were blocked by their lack of a Social Security number.” One student noted:
I never actually felt like I wasn’t born here. Because when I came I was like 10 and a half. I went to school. I learned the language. I first felt like I was really out of place when I tried to get a job. I didn’t have a Social Security number. Well, I didn’t even know what it meant. You know Social Security, legal, illegal. I didn’t even know what that was.
Gonzales found that nearly 60 percent of the unauthorized youth interviewed discovered they were unauthorized when applying for college. Most of those who did not attend college discovered their immigration status when attempting to work. Sadly, the end result for both groups was universal disappointment—their chances of finding a good job or attending an esteemed university severely diminished by their immigration status as were their chances of contributing to society.
These youth, however, have not given up on pursuing their educational aspirations. Many are working on the passage of federal legislation known as the DREAM Act, legislation which would solve many of the issues facing these youngsters. The DREAM act would allow unauthorized youth to eventually gain citizenship by going to college or joining the military after high school. While passage of the DREAM Act is currently an unlikely political reality, the Obama Administration has the ability defer the deportations of certain unauthorized youth who would likely have qualified for the DREAM Act.
So what can we do about America’s unauthorized youth? While Congress remains gridlocked on legislation that would enable unauthorized youth to fully participate in society, Gonazles asks the larger question—what is lost when we keep unauthorized youth—many of whom will remain in the U.S., regardless of their status—in the shadows?
Whether they become a disenfranchised underclass or contributing members to our society, their fate rests largely in the hands of the state.
We must ask ourselves if it is good for the health and wealth of this country to keep such a large number of U.S.-raised young adults in the shadows. We must ask what is lost when they learn to be illegal.
Sadly, the answer to that question is “too much.” While Congress continues to play politics with reform efforts, America loses out on the raw potential these unauthorized youth bring to the table.
Photo by j valas images.