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.

This book approaches the issue of immigrant integration as a democratic justice problem. Based on Honneth’s recognition theory, it introduces the concept of ‘Just Integration’, which challenges the capacity of the actual recognition order of the host society to include its immigrants as full members. The study criticizes the current political obsession to restore the social cohesion of the host society in the face of immigration. It argues that this perception inhibits host societies from recognizing their immigrants as individuals who have authentic skills, qualifications and identities in addition to their ethnic, cultural and religious attachments. The author applies the concept of ‘Just Integration’ to the real pathologies that immigrants/refugees suffer in Canada and Turkey, providing guidelines for progress towards better integration of immigrants within host societies and institutions.

Contents: (1) Overview; (2) Current Law and Policy; Worldwide Immigration Levels; Per-Country Ceilings; Other Permanent Immigration Categories; (3) Admissions Trends: Immigration Patterns, 1900-2008; FY 2008 Admissions; (4) Backlogs and Waiting Times: Visa Processing Dates: Family-Based Visa Priority Dates; Employment-Based Visa Retrogression; Petition Processing Backlogs; (5) Issues and Options in the 111th Congress: Effects of Current Economic Conditions on Legal Immigration; Family-Based Preferences; Permanent Partners; Point System; Immigration Commission; Interaction with Legalization Options; Lifting Per-Country Ceilings. Charts and tables.

This joint publication by the OECD and the European Commission presents a comprehensive international comparison across all EU, OECD and G20 countries of the integration outcomes for immigrants and their children, through 25 indicators organised around three areas: labour market and skills ...

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.

Recent acts of terrorism in Britain and Europe and the events of 9/11 in the United States have greatly influenced immigration, security, and integration policies in these countries. Yet many of the current practices surrounding these issues were developed decades ago, and are ill-suited to the dynamics of today's global economies and immigration patterns. At the core of much policy debate is the inherent paradox whereby immigrant populations are frequently perceived as posing a potential security threat yet bolster economies by providing an inexpensive workforce. Strict attention to border controls and immigration quotas has diverted focus away from perhaps the most significant dilemma: the integration of existing immigrant groups. Often restricted in their civil and political rights and targets of xenophobia, racial profiling, and discrimination, immigrants are unable or unwilling to integrate into the population. These factors breed distrust, disenfranchisement, and hatred-factors that potentially engender radicalization and can even threaten internal security.The contributors compare policies on these issues at three relational levels: between individual EU nations and the U.S., between the EU and U.S., and among EU nations. What emerges is a timely and critical examination of the variations and contradictions in policy at each level of interaction and how different agencies and different nations often work in opposition to each other with self-defeating results. While the contributors differ on courses of action, they offer fresh perspectives, some examining significant case studies and laying the groundwork for future debate on these crucial issues.

This topical book sheds light on immigrants’ subjective well-being by analysing the main factors associated with self-reported life satisfaction among immigrants and natives. It thereby draws upon subjective components of well-being, which are now receiving growing attention in well-being research. It also fills in a gap in migration research, which has not yet focused on the study of immigrants’ well-being. Starting from a broader focus on Europe, the book then looks more closely at Italy. This is a key country in the immigration policy field in Europe, but where the study of immigrants’ integration from a subjective perspective has been rarely addressed so far. The book provides suggestions for constructing and implementing immigration and integration policies by not only taking into account the needs of the host societies, but also the experiences, opinions, requirements and expectations of immigrants. This book is very useful for academic and policy researchers working on immigrant integration issues.

In this open access book, experts on integration processes, integration policies, transnationalism, and the migration and development framework provide an academic assessment of the 2011 European Agenda for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals, which calls for integration policies in the EU to involve not only immigrants and their society of settlement, but also actors in their country of origin. Moreover, a heuristic model is developed for the non-normative, analytical study of integration processes and policies based on conceptual, demographic, and historical accounts. The volume addresses three interconnected issues: What does research have to say on (the study of) integration processes in general and on the relevance of actors in origin countries in particular? What is the state of the art of the study of integration policies in Europe and the use of the concept of integration in policy formulation and practice? Does the proposal to include actors in origin countries as important players in integration policies find legitimation in empirical research? A few general conclusions are drawn. First, integration policies have developed at many levels of government: nationally, locally, regionally, and at the supra-national level of the EU. Second, a multitude of stakeholders has become involved in integration as policy designers and implementers. Finally, a logic of policymaking—and not an evidence-based scientific argument—can be said to underlie the European Commission’s redefinition of integration as a three-way process. This book will appeal to academics and policymakers at international, European, national, regional, and local levels. It will also be of interest to graduate and master-level students of political science, sociology, social anthropology, international relations, criminology, geography, and history.

In Scandinavian countries immigration is a sensitive issue and legislators’ approach to the questions it has raised has varied over the years. Whatever immigrant and integration policies are adopted in a democratic society, it is clear that the legislation and the authorities have to ensure that the individual rights of the immigrants residing in its territory are respected. With Canada as a point of reference, this book draws attention to weaknesses in the regulation and implementation of integration provisions threatening the immigrants’ individual rights in the EU member states of Denmark, Finland and Sweden. The study challenges readers to critically review the meaning of rights and the notion of global caring. It takes a critical look at how vulnerable immigrants fare in a largely immigrant nation with a welfare capitalism legacy, when compared to three European nations which claim to embrace institutional welfare models. This book will be of great interest to scholars and decision-makers interested in Scandinavian or Canadian immigration and integration policies.