Immigrant Integration
Stories
We heard the story of a Tucson high school student who was granted a full scholarship to the University of Arizona through his participation in the college-preparation program Gear-Up. When Gear-Up learned that he was undocumented, the student not only lost the scholarship but was asked to repay the support costs provided him by Gear-Up since second grade. We heard about a mother of three children, working in Tucson, who lives in daily fear of being deported and separated from her American-born, U.S. citizen children. Finally, we heard of the increasing numbers of immigrant families who are leaving Arizona for Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado, fearing that Arizona’s new Employer Sanctions Law will eliminate their job prospects here.
Research
The failure of immigration reform legislation shows that our legislators and the American public at large remain unconvinced that reform is necessary. Dowell Myers, a USC urban planning professor, has written a new book that explains why non-Latino baby boomers – an important segment of the voting public – should care about immigration. Myers shows that as the baby boomers begin to retire over the next 20 years, the ratio of seniors to working-age residents will skyrocket. Unless we increase the number of skilled workers in the country, the U.S. will lack both the tax base to support these retired workers and the job skills necessary to replace their skilled labor. Also, without a strong and growing middle class, baby boomers trying to sell their high-priced homes will find no buyers. Myers argues that we must begin to invest now in educational opportunities for new immigrant children, so that they can become the skilled workforce of the coming decades. Myers also shows that, despite the recent boom in new immigrants, immigration in the United States is leveling off, and is likely to continue dropping as a result of the shrinking birth rate in Mexico, among other factors. New immigrants are those who are least likely to have advanced educational, language, and career skills. But history has shown that longer-settled immigrants do gain the skills necessary to integrate into the American society and economy – if we invest properly in education and career development. Our country’s prosperity relies on a cross-generational social contract, in which working adults invest in children, primarily through public education, so that they in turn will be cared for as aging seniors. Myers argues that the cultural gap between white baby boomers and immigrant youth has led many Americans to forget their own self-interest in sustaining this social contract.
Possible Action Steps