The Manhattan Institute study about immigrant assimilation attempts to measure civic values of immigrants. Participation in the naturalization process and military service are used to gauge this metric. But the study admits that this is problematic:
“Changes in civic assimilation could, in theory, reflect either changes in immigrant civic attitudes or changes — perhaps even anticipated changes — in policy” (4).
Many in the anti-immigration crowd complain about a lack of immigrant assimilation. Although immigrant assimilation into American society has never been quicker or more widespread, our terrible immigration laws encourage many to forgo civic assimilation. This is a clear case of unintended consequences.
This comment raises two obvious questions:
1) Are there any better metrics to gauge immigrant civic assimilation?
2) How much does government hostility toward immigration prevent assimilating?
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The government is as about as hostile to “immigration” as some agencies are to citizens, and Bush frequently acts like a Mexican agent. So, that’s not going to wash.
A discussion of the study and the coverage is at my name’s link.
With 221,644 deportations last year, a thin trickle of legal immigration, the capping of visa programs like the H-1B to a paltry 65,000 a year, and limited student visas, the government is very hostile to immigration.
Black markets, like illegal immigration, only exist when the government outlaws things that people want. Americans want to employ foreign labor, ergo there will be immigration. Whether it is legal or not is up to the government.