America's Newcomers and the Dynamics of Diversity (review)

In America's Newcomers and the Dynamics of Diversity, Bean and Stevens set an ambitious agenda, asking who America's newcomers are, how they are integrating economically and socially, and what effects they have on those already in the U.S. They seek answers by summarizing and synthesizing the theoretical and empirical research done to date and offering some new data analysis, largely drawn from U.S. Census and Current Population Survey statistics. Part of the ASA Rose Series, the book targets academics and those involved in public policy. It covers a lot of ground and would serve as a valuable introduction to the field of immigration or a comprehensive overview for long-time students of migration.

America's Newcomers devotes two chapters to a brief overview of migration theories, changing U.S. immigration law and the demographic shift of immigration — notably the overwhelming move to migration from Asia and Latin America. The authors also present an extended discussion of Mexican migration, which they argue requires special attention. Two main points stand out, themes that are repeated and developed throughout the book. First, migration is fundamentally changing the ethnoracial composition of the U.S. such that we can no longer talk about race as a black/white divide. Second, migrants benefit the U.S. by contributing to demographic growth and filling jobs. The authors note that with the exception of the recession in the late 1980s and early 1990s, job growth continuously outpaced migration inflows, suggesting that the U.S. needs newcomers.

The bulk of the book, chapters 4 through 8, investigates various measures of assimilation, where "assimilation means convergence of newcomer and host groups, with each affecting the other." Bean and Stevens consider immigrant welfare use, economic incorporation (mainly educational achievement and earnings), acquisition and adoption of English, and patterns of intermarriage. The authors conclude that immigrants are integrating in ways similar to the early twentieth century Europeans. Within two or three generations, educational attainment, earnings and English language use largely resemble the white population, the benchmark Bean and Stevens use to measure incorporation. Latinos are the one exception, in particular Latino men and those of Mexican origin. Bean and Stevens contend, however, that assimilation is mostly a matter of time, probably needing an extra generation or two. Since these groups constitute a large chunk of the undocumented population, they start from a more disadvantaged position.

The welfare chapter, written with Jennifer Van Hook, is particularly thought provoking. The authors blend a sensitivity to how methodological choices shape research findings — choices as basic as whether to use the household or individual as the unit of analysis — with a careful consideration of policy implications. They dispute arguments of welfare dependence among immigrants and the contention that American welfare provisions act as a "welfare magnet." They show that legal immigrants' use of welfare is not substantially different than that of the native-born population. Refugees, particularly elderly refugees, have relatively high receipt of cash benefits, while refugees and groups with a high percentage of undocumented individuals receive more noncash assistance. The authors argue that changes to formal admissions criteria — advocated by some — would do little to affect welfare receipts. Refugee policy is grounded in humanitarian concerns and illegal migration is outside formal policy. Instead, the best way to avoid welfare use would be through employment programs targeting low-skilled immigrants.

Chapters 9 and 10 bring home the main themes of the book by considering how immigration affects American residents. Bean and Stevens separate out what they see as Americans' twin concerns over immigration: worry about the economic impact of foreign arrivals and concern over immigrants' effect on sociocultural identity. They conclude that, on the whole, immigration is beneficial in both domains.

The authors provide a nuanced reading of economic data, pointing out that the consequences of immigration are far from uniform. The aggregate economic and labor market effects of immigration appear positive, though small. However, individuals and areas possessing more capital...