Chapter 1001: Immigrants Assimilate!

On May 13, 2008, the Manhattan Institute's Center for Civic Innovation was proud to release its first annual index of immigrant assimilation. Authored by Duke University Professor Jacob Vigdor, the index provides the most detailed estimates to date of the assimilation levels of immigrant groups in the United States. The Washington Post did a story on the new report, which it states shows that "immigrants of the past quarter-century have been assimilating in the United States at a notably faster rate than did previous generations . . . . Modern-day immigrants arrive with substantially lower levels of English ability and earning power than those who entered during the last great immigration wave at the turn of the 20th century. The gap between today's foreign-born and native populations remains far wider than it was in the early 1900s and is particularly large in the case of Mexican immigrants . . . ."

The report measured the degree of similarity between the United States' foreign-born and native-born populations. These included civic factors, such as rates of U.S. citizenship and service in the military; economic factors, such as earnings and rates of homeownership; and cultural factors, such as English ability and degree of intermarriage with U.S. citizens. The higher the number on a 100-point index, the more an immigrant resembled a U.S. citizen.

KJ