Immigration and Women: Understanding the American Experience

10. “Making History”: Drawing Conclusions, Looking Forward

| 235 10 “Making History” Drawing Conclusions, Looking Forward We need to treasure our roots, our history. Immigrant women came here from different parts of the world, of different backgrounds , with different cultures. One hundred years from now, they will become history. Can you imagine? One hundred years from now, young girls will see movies, read books about them, and say, “One hundred years ago, this happened. They made history.” It’s amazing. —Kieu Chinh One of the final questions that we asked the women we interviewed was whether they consider themselves to be members of a community of immigrant women. We were struck by the number of women who said no or “I never thought about it.” Several women did say yes—and said it quite adamantly and proudly. And yet those repeated hesitations that we noticed offer evidence for our assertion that the gendered face of immigration is not yet part of the public imagination. Those hesitations also offer further evidence of the multidimensionality of the locution “immigrant woman.” Additionally , perhaps a question about community belonging invokes images of other subcommunities: ethnic or religious communities, for example, rather than a community across such groups. Further, some individuals hesitate because they do not self-identify as an immigrant. Hung Liu’s self-naming in her selfportraits (figs. 10.1, 10.2, and 10.3) suggests an incarnation, or transmigration, as she drops the “immigrant” label once she becomes a “citizen”—mirroring the present state of legal terminology in immigration law. Her incarnation gives her a settled, confident, and more determined face, as well as one of age and wisdom. The goal of this book—throughout the forays into specific topics of means of migration, work, culture, and activism—has been to use a gen- 236 | “Making History” dered lens to understand immigration to the United States as we profile our present-day population of immigrant women. By examining this intersection between the social locations of gender and nativity, we have asked how these women express agency. What have the women in this book taught us about this gendered side of immigration and about their own agency as migrants and women? In this chapter, we summarize the profile of today’s immigrating women, synthesize the interpretations from these women’s “emic” perspectives regarding their own agency, and glean from these interpretations some recommended directions for public policy. Figure 10.1. Proletarian. Artwork by Hung Liu. “Making History” | 237 Immigration and Women: At the Intersections of Nativity and Gender There are a number of trends that we have identified across the demographic data and the interviews that help us pull together a portrait of this diverse, multidimensional community of immigrant women. First, we found evidence to support what researchers have termed a “feminization of migration” among adult migrants to the United States. Comparing U.S. Census data, there are more foreign-born women (who migrated as adults) than foreignborn men living in the country today. Each year, a growing proportion of new lawful permanent residents are women, outnumbering men. Further, Figure 10.2. Immigrant. Artwork by Hung Liu. 238 | “Making History” although the estimated undocumented population continues to be majority male, there is also a growing female presence in this population. A high proportion of new lawful permanent resident women are in managerial and professional jobs. Although this trend reflects the tendency of available employment visas to favor managerial-level positions, it is nonetheless noteworthy that these visas are increasingly going to women as well as men. On the basis of these data and our interviews, we learned that large numbers of women are migrating autonomously, suggesting a pattern rather than an exception. Although women tend to receive the larger proportion of family -reunification visas, thus illustrating that women are being sponsored by family members who have already settled, even within these numbers are Figure 10.3. Citizen. Artwork by Hung Liu. “Making History” | 239 women sponsored by other women, breaking the predominant historical pattern of men leading the chain migration, with wives trailing later. In addition to our findings regarding a feminization of migration, we have learned that on average, immigrant women are more highly educated than in previous generations and are also more likely to be employed. Although a striking number are filling positions in the domestic employment sector— and, in fact, the country’s pool of domestic workers is predominantly foreign -born—many professional/middle-class sectors...