Monica McDermott Laura Lopez-Sanders Stanford University
This project examines the process of Latino socioeconomic incorporation and its impact on race and ethnic relations in "new immigrant destinations." Latino immigrants are starting to concentrate in regions that have no recent experience with immigration. However, few researchers have effectively explained the process of Latino incorporation and its impact on new immigrant destinations. Given that more than half of the immigrant population in the U.S. is of Hispanic origin, the degree to which this population successfully incorporates socio-economically will influence the social, political and economic fabric of the nation. A central issue is how Latino immigration will impact the employment opportunities of less educated African Americans in new immigrant destinations. African Americans are the group most likely to compete for jobs and other resources with Latino immigrants and hence are most affected by immigration. To address this, the CO-PI uses a rich data set that includes face-to-face interviews with approximately 180 residents of black, white and Latino origin conducted during and after an economic boom in South Carolina (June-Sept 2005 and June-Sept 2009 respectively). Additionally, the data include unobtrusive observations of social interactions gathered via immersion in black-white-Latino jobs and neighborhoods in South Carolina for a period of twelve months (Sept 2005-Sept 2006).
This research has several broader impacts. First, it contributes to our understanding of how different economic conditions influence the relationships between African Americans and Latinos. Second, it sheds light into the ways in which new immigrants settle in regions without a longstanding history of immigration. Finally, given that black men often face employment discrimination, and that unauthorized immigrants are essentially unprotected by labor law, explaining how these vulnerabilities play out in new labor markets will hopefully result in more equitable employment and immigration policies.
