Since 1965 the foreign-born population of the United States has swelled from 9.6 million or 5 percent of the population to 45 million or 14 percent in 2015. Today, about one-quarter of the U.S. population consists of immigrants or the children of immigrants. Given the sizable representation of immigrants in the U.S. population, their health is a major influence on the health of the population as a whole. On average, immigrants are healthier than native-born Americans. Yet, immigrants also are subject to the systematic marginalization and discrimination that often lead to the creation of health disparities. To explore the link between immigration and health disparities, the Roundtable on the Promotion of Health Equity held a workshop in Oakland, California, on November 28, 2017. This summary of that workshop highlights the presentations and discussions of the workshop.

Fair Progress? Economic Mobility across Generations around the World focuses on an issue that has gotten much attention in the developed world, but will present new data and analysis covering most of the world including developing economies. The analysis considers whether those born in poverty or in prosperity are destined to remain in the same economic circumstances into which they were born, and looks back over a half a century at whether children's lives are better or worse than their parents' in different parts of the world. It suggests local, national, and global actions and policies that can help break the cycle of poverty, paving the way for the next generation to realize their potential and improve their lives.

The children of the past decade's influx of immigrants comprise a second generation far different than any this country has known before. Largely non-white and from the world's developing nations, these children struggle with complex problems of racial and ethnic relations in multicultural urban neighborhoods, attend troubled inner city schools, and face discriminatory labor markets and an economy that no longer provides the abundant manufacturing jobs that sustained previous generations of immigrants. As the contributors to The New Second Generation make clear, the future of these children is an open question that will be key to understanding the long-range consequences of current immigration. The New Second Generation chronicles the lives of second generation youth in Miami, New York City, New Orleans, and Southern California. The contributors balance careful analysis with the voices of the youngsters themselves, focusing primarily on education, career expectations, language preference, ethnic pride, and the influence of their American-born peers. Demographic portraits by Leif Jensen and Yoshimi Chitose and by Charles Hirschman reveal that although most immigrant youths live at or below the official poverty line, this disadvantage is partially offset by the fact that their parents are typically married, self-employed, and off welfare. However, the children do not always follow the course set by their parents, and often challenge immigrant ethics with a desire to embrace American culture. Mary Waters examines how the tendency among West Indian teens to assume an American black identity links them to a legacy of racial discrimination. Although the decision to identify as American or as immigrant usually presages how well second generation children will perform in school, the formation of this self-image is a complex process. M. Patricia Fernandez-Kelly and Richard Schauffler find marked differences among Hispanic groups, while Ruben G. Rumbaut explores the influence of individual and family characteristics among Asian, Latin, and Caribbean youths. Nativists frequently raise concerns about the proliferation of a non-English speaking population heavily dependent on welfare for economic support. But Alejandro Portes and Richard Schauffler's historical analysis of language preferences among Miami's Hispanic youth reveals their unequivocal preference for English. Nor is immigrationan inevitable precursor to a swollen welfare state: Lisandro Perez and Min Zhou and Carl L. Bankston demonstrate the importance of extended families and ethnic community solidarity in improving school performance and providing increased labor opportunities. As immigration continues to change the face of our nation's cities, we cannot ignore the crucial issue of how well the second generation youth will adapt. The New Second Generation provides valuable insight into issues that may spell the difference between regeneration and decay across urban America.

Previous OECD and EU work has shown that even native-born children with immigrant parents face persistent disadvantage in the education system, the school-to-work transition and the labour market. To which degree are these linked with their immigration background, i.e. with the issues faced by ...

Immigrant children and youth are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population, and so their prospects bear heavily on the well-being of the country. However, relevant public policy is shaped less by informed discussion than by politicized contention over welfare reform and immigration limits. From Generation to Generation explores what we know about the development of white, black, Hispanic, and Asian children and youth from numerous countries of origin. Describing the status of immigrant children and youth as "severely understudied," the committee both draws on and supplements existing research to characterize the current status and outlook of immigrant children. The book discusses the many factorsâ€"family size, fluency in English, parent employment, acculturation, delivery of health and social services, and public policiesâ€"that shape the outlook for the lives of these children and youth. The committee makes recommendations for improved research and data collection designed to advance knowledge about these children and, as a result, their visibility in current policy debates.

A large literature shows that the children of immigrants have high upward mobility. However, immigrants vary vastly in how they are selected: while economic immigrants are chosen based on skill and education, refugees migrate at times of conflict and war. In this paper, we study the mobility of immigrants by admission class. Using administrative data linking the universe of immigrant landing documents with tax records in Canada, we estimate intergenerational mobility outcomes by refugee status. We find that for immigrant parents at the 25th percentile of the income distribution, refugee children have an expected rank of 47 percentiles, while the corresponding estimate for non-refugee children is 51 percentiles. Approximately 60% of this gap can be explained by differences in parental attributes upon arrival, indicating that selection contributes to higher mobility. Finally, we show that when correcting for the underplacement of immigrant parents, the absolute upward mobility of refugees at p25 is largely unaffected while that of non-refugees falls by around 2 percentiles.

The story of West Indian immigrants to the United States is generally considered to be a great success. Mary Waters, however, tells a very different story. She finds that the values that gain first-generation immigrants initial success--a willingness to work hard, a lack of attention to racism, a desire for education, an incentive to save--are undermined by the realities of life and race relations in the United States. Contrary to long-held beliefs, Waters finds, those who resist Americanization are most likely to succeed economically, especially in the second generation.

""Cultural Identity and Mental Health is a unique book because it defines culture and identity from a developmental perspective; therefore delving more deeply into the psychological, social and biological aspects of the immigrant and refugee experience in the U.S.A. and it explains how these experiences help to shape the development of the person's cultural identity. The book presents a very detailed discussion on the concept of acculturation and reviews all of the available literature on the subject. It also covers the sociological, anthropological, political and economic aspects of the immigrant and refugee experience and how these variables impact on mental health, thus presenting the experience of migration from a very broad and humanistic perspective. This book embarks on a deep exploration of the psychodynamic experience of immigration, while at the same time covering the epidemiological risk factors and protective factors related to the immigrant experience; thus, presenting ample and up to date empirically-based data. The book has a unique chapter addressing the true and accurate statistics of immigrant criminality and explores and analyzes this data under a new lens, helping to dispel the myths that result from contemporary anti-immigrant rhetoric. It also explains the types of crimes committed by immigrants, immigrants as victims of crime, cultural crimes, and motivations and the explanatory narratives presented by those who violate immigration laws. In addition, it also covers the history of immigrant criminality in the United States. The book has another important chapter addressing Immigrant Narratives and the role and importance of the personal-historical narrative in life-story construction, and the narrative as a therapeutic tool that can help to repair the trauma of loss and dislocation suffered by many immigrants when they leave their country of origin and begin a life in a new host country. It also introduces the role of the new immigrant narratives in contemporary literature and how this literature can be used by teachers and parents to help integrate the experiences of the different generations of the immigrant family, as well as to educate the younger generations of Americans about the country's new cultural diversity. There is a chapter that explains the new concept of Transnational Identities that result from the improved communication technologies, as well as from more accessible travel, which have deeply changed the immigrant experience and are part of the new phenomenon of globalization. Another interesting chapter analyzes the phenomenon of Return Migrations comparing the points of view of the returning immigrant with those of the ones who stayed behind, further analyzing this topic from a psychological and socioeconomic perspective. It also explains the psychological meaning of Pilgrimages in which the pilgrim visits, not necessarily the land of his or her actual birth or upbringing, but the land of the ancestral family history, in an attempt to bridge the gaps between the generations and to better integrate the pilgrim's sense of ethnic and cultural identity. In addition, this book also has an extensive and well-documented chapter on the refugee experience, outlining the current world-wide refugee crisis and explaining the sociopolitical reasons behind the crisis, as well as offering new evidence-based treatments for this population. This is a very comprehensive and well-written book that covers adults, children, adolescents and families and describes the sociocultural experience of the various generations of immigrants in their adaptation to life in the U.S. It also explores the immigration-related family separations as well as the psychological impact faced by the children that stay behind and later re-unify with their parents in the U.S., as well as those families that are separated by deportation. Finally, the book also presents a comprehensive chapter on culturally-sensitive and culturally-competent evidence-based mental health treatments for the various generations of these populations, including recommendations on ethno-pharmacology. One of the many strengths of the book are the very compelling and clearly explained clinical cases, which help to illustrate the theoretical concepts that are presented in each chapter. This book is a very timely and very valuable contribution to the bio-psycho-social study of the immigrant experience to the U.S. in its first generation and beyond, and is an essential tool for students and professionals in the social sciences, in the fields of social work, psychology, medicine and psychiatry, and for members of government organizations responsible for urban planning, policy and budgets, as well as for agencies dealing with the reception, placement and assistance of immigrants and refugees. ""--

America's approach to terrorism has focused on traditional national security methods, under the assumption that terrorism's roots are foreign and the solution to greater security lies in conventional practices. Europe offers a different model, with its response to internal terrorism relying on police procedures. Managing Ethnic Diversity after 9/11 compares these two strategies and considers that both may have engendered greater radicalization--and a greater chance of home-grown terrorism. Essays address how transatlantic countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands have integrated ethnic minorities, especially Arabs and Muslims, since 9/11. Discussing the "securitization of integration," contributors argue that the neglect of civil integration has challenged the rights of these minorities and has made greater security more remote.

From debates on Capitol Hill to the popular media, Mexican immigrants are the subject of widespread controversy. By 2003, their growing numbers accounted for 28.3 percent of all foreign-born inhabitants of the United States. Mexican Immigration to the United States analyzes the astonishing economic impact of this historically unprecedented exodus. Why do Mexican immigrants gain citizenship and employment at a slower rate than non-Mexicans? Does their migration to the U.S. adversely affect the working conditions of lower-skilled workers already residing there? And how rapid is the intergenerational mobility among Mexican immigrant families? This authoritative volume provides a historical context for Mexican immigration to the U.S. and reports new findings on an immigrant influx whose size and character will force us to rethink economic policy for decades to come. Mexican Immigration to the United States will be necessary reading for anyone concerned about social conditions and economic opportunities in both countries.