Immigrants in the United States: How Well Are They Integrating into Society?

By Tomás R. Jiménez: "Even though immigration is intertwined with the history of the United States, fears about immigrants' ability to integrate remain an area of concern. Yet an examination of immigrants? integration across five major indicators ? language proficiency, socioeconomic attainment, political participation, residential locale, and social interaction with host communities ? shows they are integrating reasonably well. Remarkably, the process has unfolded almost entirely without policy intervention. The author examines the laissez faire policy approach to integration, raising concerns about how the state of public education and size of the US unauthorized population may remain powerful barriers to immigrants' full social, economic, and political integration." MPI, April 2011.