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NATO AIR
05-13-2008, 04:13 PM
Interesting, makes me hopeful for my wife.... Of course we have our Mexican problem though.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/12/AR2008051202575.html?hpid=topnews

Study Says Foreigners In U.S. Adapt Quickly

By N.C. Aizenman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 13, 2008; A02

Immigrants of the past quarter-century have been assimilating in the United States at a notably faster rate than did previous generations, according to a study released today.

Modern-day immigrants arrive with substantially lower levels of English ability and earning power than those who entered during the last great immigration wave at the turn of the 20th century. The gap between today's foreign-born and native populations remains far wider than it was in the early 1900s and is particularly large in the case of Mexican immigrants, the report said.

The study, sponsored by the Manhattan Institute, a New York think tank, used census and other data to devise an assimilation index to measure the degree of similarity between the United States' foreign-born and native-born populations. These included civic factors, such as rates of U.S. citizenship and service in the military; economic factors, such as earnings and rates of homeownership; and cultural factors, such as English ability and degree of intermarriage with U.S. citizens. The higher the number on a 100-point index, the more an immigrant resembled a U.S. citizen.

In general, the longer an immigrant lives in the United States, the more characteristics of native citizens he or she tends to take on, said Jacob L. Vigdor, a professor at Duke University and author of the study. During periods of intense immigration, such as from 1870 to 1920, or during the immigration wave that began in the 1970s, new arrivals tend to drag down the average assimilation index of the foreign-born population as a whole.

The report found, however, that the speed with which new arrivals take on native-born traits has increased since the 1990s. As a result, even though the foreign population doubled during that period, the newcomers did not drive down the overall assimilation index of the foreign-born population. Instead, it held relatively steady from 1990 to 2006.

"This is something unprecedented in U.S. history," Vigdor said. "It shows that the nation's capacity to assimilate new immigrants is strong."

A possible explanation, Vigdor said, was that the economic expansion of the 1990s created more job opportunities at all levels, speeding the economic integration of immigrants. It could also be that because today's immigrants begin at such a low starting point, "it's easier to make progress to the next level up" of integration than it would be if the immigrant had to improve on an already high level of integration.

Vigdor also said his findings included cause for concern: most notably, the fact that the 2006 assimilation index of 28 is less than the previous low point of 42 in 1920. The difference indicates the substantial change in the composition of today's immigrants compared with earlier immigration waves.

NATO AIR
05-13-2008, 04:15 PM
The assimilation chart is excellent... it breaks down economic, cultural and civic assimilation based on country of origin, showing some fascinating differences.

Hagbard Celine
05-13-2008, 04:17 PM
This is obviously lib propaganda put out to make good, patriotic Christian Americans complacent about the Mexican threat.

NATO AIR
05-13-2008, 04:21 PM
Bottom line of the study....


"If you're in the country illegally, a lot of the avenues of assimilation are cut off to you," he said. "There are lot of jobs you can't get, and you can't become a citizen."

Send the illegals home somehow, someway. Take them out of the shadows and into the light of day.

Hagbard Celine
05-13-2008, 04:25 PM
Bottom line of the study....



Send the illegals home somehow, someway. Take them out of the shadows and into the light of day.

If that were to happen, life in America would be happy and gay. I wonder if it could happen as early as May?

Kathianne
05-13-2008, 07:52 PM
Bring on the migration from the Philippines. Too many are willing to 'take' our economics, while leaving the civics behind.

Kathianne
05-13-2008, 07:53 PM
Bring on the migration from the Philippines. Too many are willing to 'take' our economics, while leaving the civics behind.

Seriously, I think we should allow as many immigrants as possible, I'm in favor of quadrupaling the numbers from Mexico, but they should be going through the legal channels.