Sociology of Immigration final

Personal examples of symbolic (voluntary) ethnicity?

"ethnic option"-a choice to be or not to be ethnic. hat is obscured in the symbolic ethnicity model is the powerful external machinery of ethnic ascription and the capacity of observers to determine one's ethnicity. We are not always who or what we think we are. We are, ethnically, what others, especially others with power, define us to be—no matter what ethnicity we try to assertIn the U.S., symbolic ethnicity is an important component of American cultural identity, assumed as "a voluntary, personally chosen identity marker, rather than the totally ascribed characteristic" determined by physical appearance.[8] As a sociological phenomenon, symbolic ethnicity is attributed to Americans of European ancestry,

Legal entitlements, protections

"three-quarters guarantee" • Housing, c cooking facilities • Transportation • Workers' compensation • Health care for occupational injuries, but not general health care insurance • Travel costs • Health and safety regulations • Federally funded legal services • Social security tax exemption

Plyer v. Doe (1982) •

, was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States struck down both a state statute denying funding for education to undocumented immigrant children and a municipal school district's attempt to charge undocumented immigrants an annual $1,000 tuition fee for each undocumented student to compensate for the lost state funding.[1] The Court found that any state restriction imposed on the rights afforded to children based on their status as immigrants must be examined under an intermediate scrutiny standard to determine whether it furthers a "substantial" government interest.

"Assimilation"

- Convergence to the norm, reduction in difference • "the decline of an ethnic distinction and its corollary cultural and social differences" - How different or similar to other Americans are immigrants and their children • Importance of comparison and generational change • According to what? - Socioeconomic standing, residential segregation, language use, intermarriage, attitudes, treatment • According to whom? - The norm, average, majority, mainstream ("white")

"Perceptions of immigrant criminality: Crime and social boundaries"Sohoni, Deenesh and Tracy Sohoni.

-Discrepancy between actual rates and public perceptions of immigrant criminality • The study -Analysis of immigrant coverage in the Virginia Gazette(public discourse) Findings • Immigrant illegality • Immigrant criminality • Aiding and abettingtina servility" vis-à-vis White females.Of our three main categories,the dominant category was that of"Immigrant Illegality" (N = 119), with the primary argument focused on the act of being in the country without proper documentation as a form of breaking the law.

"Oaxacans like to work bent over" by Holmes

-Hidden, segregated, normalization, internalization

"Temporary and transnational: gender and emotion in the lives of Mexican guest worker fathers" by Schmalzbauer

-The H-2A program and constructions of fatherhood

Problems of comparisons • What's different?

-The racial distinctiveness of many new immigrant groups -The impact of economic restructuring on immigrant opportunity -Geographic dispersion to nontraditional receiving areas -Border politics and "illegality" -The absence of a foreseeable hiatus in the immigration stream (replenishment)

Holidays and celebrations

-Treasured annual traditions; community gatherings; expressions of identity, pride, solidarity; network formation -Facilitators of settlement and foreignness/stereotypes and isolation

H2 A visa

-season agricultural work -qualify from one of the 59 countries -renewal up to one year, renewable up to 3 years The H-2A program allows U.S. employers or U.S. agents who meet specific regulatory requirements to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary agricultural jobs. A U.S. employer,a U.S. agent as described in the regulations,or an association of U.S. agricultural producers named as a joint employer must file Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker, on a prospective worker's behalf.

H 2B visa

-seasonal non agricultural workers -eligble from one of the 59 states -renewal up to one year, renewable up to 3 years -66,000 with half allocated in first 6 months of fiscal year

H 1 B visa

-workers in speciality occupation -BA degree or above -3 years and option to move once and then convert to permenenet resident status with employement sponsorship -65,000 plus 20,00 for graduates with advance degree

In terms of assimilation, why focus on the second generation and beyond?

. The second-generation Chinese and Korean Americans experienced pressures both to cultivate their Chinese and Korean membership and to downplay or minimize it. For those labeled "Asian," the ethnic bind is part of the social terrain on which ethnic identity is produced, with ethnic options emerging out of the contests and negotiations surrounding them the racialization of ethnic culture became powerfully apparent in the context of situations in which they were thought to have knowledge of Asian cultural practices, perhaps imag- ined generic ones or perhaps those specifically associated with societies other than that of their parents. second generation, presenting two kinds of identity dilemmas for them. The first involved challenges to one's identity as "American" and, more specifically, about the nature of one's ties and relationship to U.S. society and cul- ture. Second, the connotation of "foreignness" also meant that the second genera- tion faced preconceived notions about the character and strength of their ties to an ethnic culture and identity: they were assumed to be "authentic ethnics." Thus the second generation felt compelled, on the one hand, to downplay their distinctive ethnic backgrounds in order to establish themselves as "American." On the other hand, they felt a certain compulsion to cultivate their ethnic background, to sim- ply meet the expectations of others or perhaps to take advantage of the social cap- ital implied by this background.

Nonimmigrant categories

2015: 10.9 million nonimmigrant visas - 78% business or pleasure (36 countries have waivers) - 6% students - 4% temporary work visas (H-1B, H-2A/B) - 500,000 nonimmigrants overstayed their visas - 2013: 178 million nonimmigrant admissions

Second generation •

Any native-born child with at least one foreign-born parent. -14 Amendment

How do young people who migrate to the US as young children experience undocumented status as they transition into adulthood? -Focus on howyoung people perceive and experience membership over time

By the end of childhood, the youth in this study feel 'American' because they came of age and attended schools in the United States. The 'objective fact' of a lack of legal status becomes salient, however, as college, job, credit card and driver's license applications require a Social Security Number. Gonzales presents convincing evidence that undocumented status then 'cools out' the social mobility aspirations of undocumented youth as they become adults. Undocumented students' schooling experiences influence their identity development, aspirations, and means of resisting illegality. EEs, without special school-based support, were made aware of how arduous college will be, for themselves and their families. These obstacles lowered their aspirations and mitigated the sense of damage to their sense of self. Although their worlds shrunk when they left school and they took low-wage jobs that often lacked worker protections, many had families and maintained some social activity. They, 'despite greater levels of education [than their parents], end up in similar jobs making comparable wages because of limitations imposed by their own immigration status' (1

"Immigrant workers and the Fourth of July" Rosenzweig

Examines working-class July 4th public celebrations and speculates on their cultural meaning and historical context, including in contrast to the "genteel Fourth." On the simplest level, such behavior represented a release from, and an implicit rejection of, the discipline, order, hierarchy, and sobriety of the workday and workplace and provided a vision of a less structured, less demanding, less constrained world. At times, it could also serve as a vehicle for expressing the hostility felt toward social betters and bosses whose rules governed on other days of the year. Finally, these celebrations affirmed the solidarity of the ethnic community. That thousands chose to commemorate America's birthday under the auspices of an Irish nationalist society—and in a manner that recalled rural Ireland— reveals the importance that many placed on emphasizing the Irish portion of their Irish-American identity.

What happens once immigrants arrive? • What are the economic and political, consequences of their presence?

Economic Conseuqnce: -As a result, immigrants pay less in federal, state, and local taxes and use federally-funded entitlement programs such as Medicaid, SNAP, and other benefits at higher rates than natives. - That means they do not compete for the same jobs and put minimal downward pressure on natives' wages. A popular view is that immigrants are taking jobs from American citizens. However, although immigrants increase the supply of labor, they also spend their wages on homes, food, TVs and other goods and services and expand domestic economic demand. This increased demand, in turn, generates more jobs to build those homes, make and sell food, and transport TVs.For unauthorized immigrants it's a similar story: They have essentially no bargaining power and virtually no labor or employment rights. If they complain about workplace safety violations or being paid less than the minimum wage, for example, an employer can fire them or threaten them with deportation. That puts downward pressure on the wages and working conditions of workers—both native- and foreign-born—in the occupations and in the places where unauthorized workers are present.The key intuition here is that while unauthorized immigrant workers add to the supply of labor, they also consume goods and services, thereby generating economic activity and creating jobs. They fear that newcomers with different languages, religions, and cultures are reluctant to assimilate into American society and to learn English.

If ethnicity takes a symbolic, optional form after immigration ceases, what form does it take when the immigrant population is replenished with new waves of immigrants?

Ethnic boundaries "are patterns of social interaction that give rise to, and subsequently reinforce, in-group members' self definition and outsiders' confirmation of group distinctions" (Sanders 2002, p. 327). In practice, ethnic boundaries provide a basis on which individuals distinguish "us" from "them" in everyday life. This study shows that immigrant replenishment is a significant factor determining ethnic identity formation among later-generation Mexican Americans. It demonstrates that ongoing immigration shapes the extent to which ethnicity is a symbolic, optional, and inconsequential aspect of identity. The data reveal two types of boundaries that are reinforced by the large presence of immigrants. The first are intergroup boundaries, which animate distinctions between Mexican Americans and non-Mexicans.MexicanAmericansconfront intergroup boundaries in two ways. First, they experience the indirect effects of nativist sentiment aimed at immigrants. Foreign-born Mexicans are the primary targets of anti-immigrant antipathy, but expressions of this antipathy have the indirect effect of sharpening the boundariesbetweenMexicanAmericansandnon-Mexicans.Second,Mexican immigrant replenishment refreshes the salience of race in the lives of Mexican Americans. In a context of heavy Mexican immigration, skin color serves as a cue of ancestry, nativity, and, in some cases, legal status. The most apparent way in which the large immigrant population shapes race is that Mexican Americans are sometimes mistaken for foreigners. But even Mexican Americans with lighter skin are marked by nonMexicans as "foreign" when the latter use surname as an indicator of ancestry and nativity Mexican immigrants define "authentic" Mexican ethnicity, and Mexican Americans are treated as ethnicoutsiders when they are unable to live up to the criteria for group membership that coethnics impose. Mexican Americans respond to such boundaries by attempting to avoid them altogether and by challenging thosewhoimpose them..

How does an Asian racial identity, ascribed on the basis of perceived physical characteristics, operate to affect the kinds of ethnic choices that Asian Americans face? - What kinds of constraints and opportunities does it present?

Findings • Assumption of sameness - Assumed knowledge • Assumption of foreignness - Establishing "Americanness" • Assumption of authentic ethnicity - Culture, language - Ethnic capital

What happens once immigrants arrive? • What are the social, and cultural consequences of their presence?

Immigrants tend to cluster in certain geographic areas and occupations. Since they usually depend on the assistance of kin and others in their primary networks, ethnic neighborhoods and enterprises are often essential stepping stones for their social and economic adaptation. -There has always been variation in the experience of different ethnic groups with social mobility and ethnic or racial identification. Choosing to identify themselves as American or try to stay rooted in their homeland country.social and spatial mobility across generations, competence in the English language, naturalization, and intermarriage and ethnic identity

H-2 visa program as part of Immigration Nationality Act of 1952 - H-2A

Nationality Act of 1952:The Act abolished racial restrictions found in United States immigration and naturalization statutes going back to the Naturalization Act of 1790. The 1952 Act retained a quota system for nationalities and regions. Eventually, the Act established a preference system which determined which ethnic groups were desirable immigrants and placed great importance on labor qualifications. The Act defined three types of immigrants: immigrants with special skills or relatives of U.S. citizens who were exempt from quotas and who were to be admitted without restrictions; average immigrants whose numbers were not supposed to exceed 270,000 per year; and refugees. The Act allowed the government to deport immigrants or naturalized citizens engaged in subversive activities and also allowed the barring of suspected subversives from entering the country. It was used to bar members and former members and "fellow travelers" of the Communist Party from entry into the United States, even those who had not been associated with the party for decades. The act also allowed the government to prevent polygamists from entering the country. It specifically stated under Title II, chapter 2, "GENERAL CLASSES OF ALIENS INELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE VISAS AND EXCLUDED FROM ADMISSION", Section 212, sub (a), part (11): "Aliens who are polygamists or who practice polygamy or advocate the practice of polygamy". So if you are a polygamist, advocate of polygamy or your religious belief or ideology advocates the practice of polygamy, technically you won't be allowed in the United States. It expanded the definition of the "United States" for nationality purposes, which already included Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, to add Guam. Persons born in these territories on or after December 24, 1952 acquire U.S. citizenship at birth on the same terms as persons born in other parts of the United States.[5] A 1962 guideline explained procedures under the Act:[6]

Immigration Act of 1965)-

One of the main components aimed to abolish the national-origins quota. This meant that it eliminated national origin, race, and ancestry as basis for immigration. It created a seven-category preference system, which gave priority to relatives of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents and to professionals and other individuals with specialized skills. Immediate relatives and "special immigrants" were not subject to numerical restrictions. Some of the "special immigrants" include ministers, former employees of the U.S. government, foreign medical graduates, among others. For the first time, immigration from the Western Hemisphere was limited. It added a labor certification requirement, which dictated that the Secretary of Labor needed to certify labor shortages. Refugees were given the seventh and last category preference with the possibility of adjusting their status. However, refugees could enter the United States through other means as well like those seeking temporary asylum.

White ethnics largely assimilated (language, residence, work, associations, culture, intermarriage, etc.) • But "ethnicity" persisting • Becoming more of a choice • Factors influencing choice:

Popularity, knowledge about ancestors, family relations, surname, effect of others' identification, physical appearance, neighborhood, relations - Exposure to language, food, holidays, rituals (weddings, funerals)

What happens once they arrive? • What are the possibilities and problems of settlement?

Problems: -language barriers -finding employement -housing -services which pose the biggest hurdles include health care, legal advice and access to mental health or social services -transportion:Firstly, your driver's licence may not be recognized in your new country, which means there may be costs associated with becoming qualified. Secondly, that language barrier can, again, make understanding or even finding useful local public transit -cultural differences:This can range from social customs to more significant issues such as attitudes towards gender, religious diversity, ethnicity and sexuality, which can all be vastly different in a new country.services a hard task. -children:Children are likely to be quickly immersed in a new culture through their schools and may begin to seem "foreign" to their own parents. find a balance between teaching your children to respect your own cultural standards and values and allowing them to integrate. Language barrier parents may not be able to help child with his hw and the child make struggle with school because of it. -racism and prejudice -Isolation Missing the support of friends, family and extended social circles is a big factor for most migrants. -weather adjusted to different climates

Symbolic ethnicity (by Gans)

Puzzle: Increasing salience of white ethnicity in third generation, but different from earlier manifestations - Not dependent on sustained contact with co-ethnics, cultures, organizations - Intermarriage, and many other forms of assimilation • Hypothesis: People are less and less interested (dependent) in their ethnic cultures and organizations—both sacred and secular—and are instead more concerned with maintaining their ethnic identity, with the feelingof being Jewish, or Italian, or Polish, and with finding ways of feeling and expressing that identity in suitable ways. 2000 More voluntary, or asserted; more freedom, choice; more symbolic - Before taken-for-granted, anchored to groups and roles, and was rarely a matter of choice (involuntary) • Now, can't be taken-for-granted, thus the need to be more explicit in performing/feeling it • Ethnicity as expressive, a leisure-time activity • Nostalgic allegiance to the culture of the immigrant generation, or old country (food, songs, holidays, home country causes)In sociology, symbolic ethnicity is a nostalgic allegiance to, love for, and pride in a cultural tradition that can be felt and lived without having to be incorporated to the person's everyday behavior; as such, a symbolic ethnic identity usually is composed of images from mass communications media.. Symbolic ethnicity is pride in one's ethnicity even if one does not integrate all of the traditions, beliefs, and values of that ethnicity into their everyday life.

The readings • "'In Ticuani, he goes crazy'":smith robert

The second generation renegotiates gender." • "Race, ethnic options, and ethnic binds: Identity negotiations of second-generation Chinese and Korean Americans." - "Becoming ethnic or becoming American? Reflections on the divergent pathways to social mobility and assimilation among the new second generation" "'In Ticuani, he goes crazy': The second generation renegotiates gender" • How the second generation negotiates gender in three contexts • Illustrated in the lives of novios -Their respective pursuits of their ethnic and gender projects sometimes put them in conflict, and this conflict reveals how each other thinks and lives gender.

& H-2B (1986) 1986, the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)

The H-2B nonimmigrant visa program allows employers to hire foreign workers for temporary or seasonal non-agricultural jobs when they cannot find enough U.S. workers. The H-2B nonimmigrant visa program allows work in the U.S. at temporary or seasonal non-agricultural jobs as long as the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers are not adversely affected.1 Employers must first apply to the U.S. Department of Labor for temporary labor certification affirming that U.S. workers are not available for the job. 2 Employers then petition the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for permission to hire foreign individuals as H-2B nonimmigrants. The H-2B visa does not offer the workers a path to lawful permanent residence or citizenship. 3 H-2B jobs are most commonly in landscaping, amusement parks, housekeeping, forestry, construction and restaurants. There is an annual limit of 66,000 new H-2B visas available each fiscal year. In 2012, the U.S. State Department reports that just over 50,000 new H-2B visas were issued. However, in 1986, the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) separated agricultural and non-agricultural temporary workers into the current H-2A and H-2B sub-categories. 6 The reason for this owed to "considerable advocacy to protect rights of temporary agricultural workers" whereas "the existing H-2B non- agricultural temporary worker program was virtually ignored in the legislative debate."

• Illegal immigration reform and immigrant responsibility act (1996);

This act states that immigrants unlawfully present in the United States for 180 days but less than 365 days must remain outside the United States for three years unless they obtain a pardon. If they are in the United States for 365 days or more, they must stay outside the United States for ten years unless they obtain a waiver. If they return to the United States without the pardon, they may not apply for a waiver for a period of ten years. Among other things, it explicitly gave the Attorney General broad authority to construct barriers along the US-Mexico border and authorized the construction of a secondary layer of border fencing to buttress the already completed 14 mile primary fence. Construction of the secondary fence stalled due to environmental concerns raised by the California Coastal Commission.

Arizona SB 1070 (2010)

U.S. federal law requires all aliens over the age of 14 who remain in the United States for longer than 30 days[5] to register with the U.S. government.[6] U.S. Federal law also requires aliens older than 18 to possess proper identification at all times; violation of this requirement is a federal misdemeanor crime.[7] The Arizona act additionally made it a state misdemeanor crime for an alien to be in Arizona without carrying the required documents,[8] required that state law enforcement officers attempt to determine an individual's immigration status during a "lawful stop, detention or arrest", when there is reasonable suspicion that the individual is an illegal immigrant.[9][10] The law barred state or local officials or agencies from restricting enforcement of federal immigration laws,[11] and imposed penalties on those sheltering, hiring and transporting unregistered aliens.[12] The paragraph on intent in the legislation says it embodies an "attrition through enforcement" doctrine.[13][14]racial profiling

DACA (2012);

What Is DACA? Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a kind of administrative relief from deportation. The purpose of DACA is to protect eligible immigrant youth who came to the United States when they were children from deportation. DACA gives young undocumented immigrants: 1) protection from deportation, and 2) a work permit. The program expires after two years, subject to renewal.Able to get an education, driver license without being deported

• IRCA (1986

required employers to attest to their employees' immigration status; made it illegal to hire or recruit illegal immigrants knowingly; legalized certain seasonal agricultural illegal immigrants, and; legalized illegal immigrants who entered the United States before January 1, 1982 and had resided there continuously with the penalty of a fine, back taxes due, and admission of guilt; candidates were required to prove that they were not guilty of crimes, that they were in the country before January 1, 1982, and that they possessed at least a minimal knowledge about U.S. history, government, and the English language.[5] Another study stated that if hired, wages were being lowered to compensate employers for the perceived risk of hiring foreigners.[6] The hiring process also changed as employers turned to indirect hiring through subcontractors. "Under a subcontracting agreement, a U.S. citizen or resident alien contractually agrees with an employer to provide a specific number of workers for a certain period of time to undertake a defined task at a fixed rate of pay per worker".[6] "By using a subcontractor the firm is not held liable since the workers are not employees. The use of a subcontractor decreases a worker's wages since a portion is kept by the subcontractor. This indirect hiring is imposed on everyone regardless of legality".[6]

DAPA (2014)

was a planned American immigration policy to grant deferred action status to certain illegal immigrants who have lived in the United States since 2010 and have children who are either American citizens or lawful permanent residents. Deferred action is not full legal status but would come with a three-year, renewable work permit and exemption from deportation. DAPA was a presidential executive action, not a law passed by Congress.[1]

• Mexican immigration post Bracero Program and

was a series of laws and diplomatic agreements, initiated on August 4, 1942, when the United States signed the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement with Mexico. The agreement guaranteed decent living conditions (sanitation, adequate shelter and food) and a minimum wage of 30 cents an hour; it also allowed the importation of contract laborers from Guam as a temporary measure during the early phases of World War II.[1] The agreement was extended with the Migrant Labor Agreement of 1951, enacted as an amendment to the Agricultural Act of 1949 (Public Law 78) by Congress,[2] which set the official parameters for the bracero program until its termination in 1964.[3

Benefits for employers

• Get to "chose" an ideal demographic - Not subject to US discrimination rules, market - "Three months experience"* - Tied to employer • Tax exemption (social security, unemployment) • Stable, reliable, productive workforce (generally) - And fewer costs of reproduction

"Time and the transition to illegality"

• Marked as insiders and outsiders -Conflicting meanings of membership • Transition from childhood to adulthood -First suspends then heightens illegality • Illegality becomes a master status -Dominates and stigmatizes

Contexts of reception

• Not just about the characteristics (selectivity) of immigrants -Who they "are," where they come from ... • Character/impact of host society on immigrants -The world they enter

Dimensions of reception

• Pre-existing ethnic or race relations • Character of labor markets • Strength of immigrant/ethnic community • Impact of government policies and programs - Nationally, regionally, and locally • Changing nature of international boundaries • Natives' perceptions, attitudes • Media coverage,

"Close to slavery" "No way to treat a guest" "Recruitment revealed"

• Recruitment fees and fraud • Debt • Terms of employment • Health • Family separation • No overtime • Power imbalance and isolation - Few options • Ethnic, age, gender discrimination • Domestic workers • National borders and equality • Work and living violations

"Raising the status of the cashier: LatinaWhite Interactions in an ethnic market" Agius, Jody and Jennifer Lee.

• Research questions: - What is the nature of interactions between the customers and foreign-born Latina cashiers who work in grocery markets opened and operated by Latinos? - What do these interactions indicate about the racial/ethnic and social order in which they are embedded? • Setting: "La Canasta" - Successful with Latinos and whites - At first opposed by whites • Method: participant observation and interviews FINDINGS: • Whites underestimate amount of White shoppers (1) • Whites cited convenience, but not price, as reason for shopping there • Latina cashiers routinely provide friendlier and more deferential treatment to white customers than to their non-white counterparts (Latinos, blacks, and Asians) • White customers, especially women, raved about the service (2), especially in contrast to "national" supermarkets (4) - And don't feel the need to "dress up" (3)• Presence of and deference to White women raises their status (5) • Find that the everyday routine service interactions between white,female customers and the Latina cashiers reproduce the racial/ethnic and social hierarchy, and thereby replicate the pattern of "La • Background:

Assimilation

• Social scientists have largely assumed that the fading of ethnic boundaries and the resulting symbolic, optional, and inconsequential nature of ethnic identity are functions of the measures that assimilation models commonly employ: socioeconomic status, residential location, language abilities, and intermarriage. • But... - This model is framed by a backdrop of radically reduced levels of immigration.