Emerging U.S. Immigrant Geographies: Racial Wages and Migration Selectivity

Abstract

Objective The maturing of the post-1965 children of immigrants and the recent emergence of immigrant settlement outside of traditional locations have implications for understanding immigrant economic incorporation. This analysis examines how changing immigrant geographies will affect the economic prospects of immigrants and a maturing second generation, and addresses sociological and economic perspectives on internal migration and immigrant progress. Methods Using the 2000 5 percent Public Use Microdata Files (PUMS), I employ endogenous switching regression models in analyzing the selectivity of internal migration and state residence patterns to the wages of immigrant, 1.5 generation, and U.S.-born workers. Results Nonwhite immigrant and 1.5-generation workers evade racial wage penalties through migration, but not through residing in emerging immigrant states. Conclusions Understanding the selectivity of internal migration to wages across racialized labor markets is important in assessing new immigrant geographies and prospects for the second generation.

The shaping of selection: Secondary migration, scale, and changing immigrant geographies

“…Post‐1990 changes in the patterns of immigrant destinations, whether from primary or secondary (subsequent) migration, ensured that these debates would increasingly occur beyond the neighbourhood. As immigrants and their descendants began to repopulate decades‐old immigrant concentrations and establish new ones well outside of border states and major immigrant cities (Singer, ; Suro & Singer, ), researchers looked to the determinants of new flows and counterflows (Ellis, Wright, & Townley, ; Fernández, Howard, & Amastae, ; Kritz, Gurak, & Lee, ; Lichter & Johnson, ) and to consequences of new locations for immigrants and the second generation (Crowley et al, ; Donato, Tolbert, Nucci, & Kawano, ; Goodwin‐White, ; Kandel & Parrado, ; Kritz, Gurak, & Lee, , Stamps & Bohon, , Turner, , Zúñiga & Hernández‐León, ). Although the new destinations literature has not always concerned itself specifically with spatial assimilation, it shares an emphasis on documenting and evaluating the dispersion of immigrant groups away from traditional locations of immigrant concentration, especially beyond metropolitan or state scales.…”

“…Hall () does this most explicitly, testing a “regional variant of the spatial assimilation model” with longitudinal data and finding that immigrants' earnings and employment benefit from interstate moves, especially if they move to states with smaller immigrant populations and especially if they have more advantageous personal characteristics. Goodwin‐White () finds that immigrants improve wage outcomes through internal migration although those in new destination states are negatively selected. These contribute to earlier research (discussed below) on immigrant mobility or residence beyond the neighbourhood level, as well as to studies of migration selection.…”

Spatial dispersion of U.S. national origin groups: Characteristics of dispersed immigrants and settlement places

“…Several studies have documented the growing numbers of immigrants now living in nontraditional states and selected metropolitan areas (Bump, Lowell, & Pettersen, ; Crowley, Lichter, & Turner, ; Donato, Tolbert, Nucci, & Kawano, ; Frey, ; Iceland, ; Martin, Matthews, & Lee, ; Singer, ). Most of what is known about immigrant dispersion, however, is based on studies for the total foreign‐born or Hispanics rather than immigrants from different national origins (Crowley & Evert, ; Donato et al, ; Ellis, Wright, & Townley, ; Fischer, ; Frey, ; Goodwin‐White, ; Lichter & Johnson, ; Odem & Lacy, ). Only the settlement changes of Mexicans have been well documented because there are sufficient numbers of them in most large datasets to study their settlement patterns in different places (Durand, Massey, & Capoferro, ; Griffiths, ; Leach & Bean, ; Zúñíga & Hernández‐León, ).…”

Is Social Mobility Spatial? Characteristics of Immigrant Metros and Second Generation Outcomes: 1940–1970 and 1970–2000

“…A resurgence of interest in immigrants’ residential choices has been precipitated by the post-1990s moves of immigrants to a broader array of US destinations, either as initial or as secondary moves (Kandel & Parrado, 2005; Crowley et al , 2006; Stamps & Bohon, 2006; Fernández et al , 2007; Singer et al , 2008; Hall, 2009; 2013; Lichter & Johnson, 2009; Goodwin-White, 2012; Hall & Crowder, 2014). Many of the young children of these immigrants will come of age in locations their parents chose with regard to perceived opportunities and constraints.…”