Immigrants and Politics Blog

[A special issue by Carlos Ulises Decena and Margaret Gray (PhD, CUNY Graduate Center) on immigrants in New York State well beyond the large city]
The Border Next Door: New York Migraciones
Carlos Ulises Decena , Margaret Gray
A special issue of Social Text 24:3 (#88)

Addressing how national immigration concerns play out at urban, rural, and suburban levels in the state of New York, this special issue of Social Text offers new insight into an area of study that has long been focused primarily on cities. As new Latino/a immigrants change the culture and social fabric of small communities and reshape policy concerns, suburban and rural regions are becoming key locations for anti-immigrant acts and immigrant social justice organizing. This special issue presents immigrant stories and community and advocacy responses that underscore the need to recognize the diversity of Latino/a immigrant experiences, and it explores the widely varying responses of towns, counties, and both new and established immigrant groups to the race, ethnic, and class tensions usually associated with cities.
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[Janelle Wong writes: "An analysis of Asian American politics in California in the New York Times (2/27/07, A-11), with critical data provided by our very own co-blogmaster Karthick Ramakrishnan (Go Karthick!). Ricardo Ramirez and I were discussing the need --highlighted in this article--for reporters to be careful in their description of the proportion of voters in immigrant communities -- are they referring to voters among adults? voters among adult citizens?
Also, note that in some places, like California, the Asian American portion of the electorate is comparable to or even larger than the African American portion of the electorate. This article shows such trends are attracting the attention of political
consultants and campaign managers."]
February 27, 2007
Asians Flex Muscles in California Politics
By CINDY CHANG

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[KR: Sent in by Chris Zepeda. Similar to research by Burch, Hochschild, Weaver, and others, this may mean that policies meant to combat discrimination may need to pay more attention to color than other ethnic characteristics. And, although height may matter, it is not a protected category for anti-discrimination.]
Lighter and taller equals a bigger paycheck for immigrants
Release Date: Jan 25, 2007

A new study by Vanderbilt University Professor of Law and Economics Joni Hersch found legal immigrants in the United States with a lighter skin tone made more money than those with darker skin.
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[KR: This report by the Migration Policy Institute reminds me of Cara Wong and Grace Cho's piece [in Transforming Politics, Transforming America] on military service as a means of securing citizenship, both today and in the past. Interesting to note that, in limited circumstances, people can be recruited abroad; presumably, expanding that clause might lead to charges of having mercenary armies.]

The Foreign Born in the Armed Services
By Laura Barker and Jeanne Batalova PhD
Migration Policy Institute

Link to report

[MB: The Latino National Survey (LNS) team provides a comprehensive review of the state of Latino politics research in this important contribution to the APSR Centennial Volume. Congratultions!]

Title: “Su Casa Es Nuestra Casa: Latino Politics Research and the Development of American Political Science”
Journal: American Political Science Review. Vol 100, No. 4, November 2006, pp 515-21.
Authors:Luis R. Fraga, John A. Garcia, Rodney E. Hero, Michael Jones-Correa, Valerie Martinez-Ebers, and Gary M. Segura

“Since the 1970s, Latino politics research has evolved, alternately responding to real-world political events and demographic changes, embracing new and emerging trends in the broader discipline, and offering new insights of its own that contribute to the development of political science. In so doing, there have emerged both an intellectual foundation and a growing body of empirical results, each of which challenges long-held theories and findings in the discipline more broadly. Thus, Latino politics research is central in refining and broadening our understanding of American politics. Immigration, social marginality, and their uncertain status as a racial or ethnic minority make this population unique and raise important obstacles in applying existing interpretations and orthodoxies from the discipline’s other traditions to this emerging and rapidly growing segment of American society. The major contributions of this line of inquiry are identified in five key areas: pluralism, group identity and mobilization, political participation, institutions and representation, and assimilation.We conclude with some thoughts regarding how the evolution of American society and its Latino population will pose important questions for future generations of political scientists.”

Download from APSA website

[MB: Hot off the presses.... December 2006 article in SSQ on group consciousness among Asian and Latino Americans. This article is one of the first to provide a comparative study, not only between API and Latinos but also within each category, looking at national origin differences. Kudos to SSQ for continuing to publish high quality work in this area.]

Title: “Together They Become One: Examining the Predictors of Panethnic Group Consciousness Among Asian Americans and Latinos”
Journal: Social Science Quarterly. Vol 87, No. 5, December 2006, pp 993-1011.
Author:Natalie Masuoka

“Objective. This article examines panethnic consciousness as it applies to the two fastest-growing minority groups in the United States: Asian Americans and Latinos. Given the challenges of diversity and immigration faced by these two communities, I examine the individual-level factors that help strengthen their panethnic group identity.
Methods. Drawing from data provided by the 2000 Pilot National Asian American Political Survey and the 1999 National Survey on Latinos, I use ordered probit models to determine the predictors of panethnic consciousness among both Asian Americans and Latinos.
Results. The models confirm that for Asian Americans, high income, involvement in Asian-American politics, being a Democrat, and the role of racial discrimination encourage panethnic consciousness. For Latinos, the important factors are higher levels of education, gender, being foreign born, involvement in Latino politics, and perceptions of discrimination.
Conclusions. The findings here stress the importance of social contextual factors such as racial discrimination on the formation of panethnic identity.”

Download from Blackwell Synergy

[MB: I just ran across this article doing a search for Arab/Muslim Americans and political participation, a topic that is woefully under-researched (as we all know). While the model specifications could use some improvement (where is income?), this is a terrific first step in understanding Muslim civic engagement here in the U.S. that scholars of immigrant politics and minority politics should build on.]

Title: “The Political Participation and Engagement of Muslim Americans: Mosque Involvement and Group Consciousness.”
Journal: American Politics Research. Vol 33, No. 4, April 2005, pp 521-544.
Author:Amaney Jamal

“Although studies on civic and political engagement highlight the importance of religious institutions in the political mobilization of Americans, few studies have examined the role of religious institutions in ethnic or minority communities. Furthermore, little is known about the causal mechanisms that link minorities in religious institutions to broader forms of political participation. Through an examination of patterns of Muslim American political behavior and their levels of mosque participation, the author argues that the mosque, similar to other religious institutions in the United States, takes on the multifaceted role of mobilization vehicle and school of civic participation. The author also discovers that mosques promote and foster a sense of group consciousness among Arab and Black Muslims.”

Download from Sage Journals Online

[From Rodolfo de la Garza, Columbia]

Columbia University is hosting an immigrant conference focusing on politics and policy in Fall 2006. Papers will be posted to the website which may be found at:
http://sipa.columbia.edu/resources_services/faculty_curriculum/immigration_policy.html

[KR: Got the following announcement from Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado at at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. At our working group meeting at APSA, Jonathan shared some very interesting stories about the marches and reactions from conservatives in Nebraska]

Understanding Immigration and the Changing Communities of the Americas
Lessons from New Destinations across the Globe

The conference brings together scholars, policy-makers, NGOs and community representatives interested in exchanging views about the failures and successes of immigration policy reforms as well as immigrant integration efforts across the country and around the globe. Deadline for submission is Oct. 30, 2006.

Link to call for submission

Title: “Mexican Immigrant Self-Employment Along the U.S.-Mexico Border: An Analysis of 2000 Census Data .”
Journal: Social Science Quarterly. Vol 87, No. 1, March 2006, pp 91-109.
Authors: Marie T. Mora and Alberto Dávila

“This study explores the entrepreneurial tendencies of Mexican immigrants in metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) on the U.S. side of the Mexican border vis-à-vis the U.S. interior. Using 2000 Census data available in the 5% Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, we empirically analyze the self-employment rates and earnings of Mexican immigrants residing in U.S. cities near Mexico versus those in nonborder MSAs. Our findings indicate that Mexican immigrants in MSAs along the U.S.-Mexico border have significantly higher self-employment rates (but lower earnings) than their counterparts in the rest of the United States and non-Hispanic whites in border cities. Explanations for these findings include the existence of trade opportunities in U.S. border cities as well as intense labor market competition that crowds a greater share of immigrants into self-employment. Immigration reform that curtails the immigration flow from Mexico might hinder small business formation and economic development on the U.S. side of the Mexican border.”

Download from Blackwell Synergy