Women and Immigration

Abstract

The diverse New Immigrant Population Diverse OriginsWhile immigrants to the United States come from all over the world, in the last 3 decades migration has primarily originated from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia. One third of the foreign-born population in the United States is from Mexico, and a total of 55% originate from Latin America (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). The four states with the largest numbers of immigrants (California, Hawaii, New Mexico, and Texas) have already become "majority/minority" (less than 50% White) states (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011a). Educational and Professional DiversityImmigrants arrive in the United States with varied levels of education. At one end of the spectrum are highly educated immigrant adults (Portes & Rumbaut, 2006) who comprise a quarter of all U.S. physicians, 24% of the nation's science and engineering workers with bachelor's degrees, and 47% of scientists with doctorates. Many highly educated and skilled immigrant adults, however, find a dramatic decrease in employment opportunities when they immigrate