In recent decades, increasing immigrant flows have given rise to important population changes. The composition of U.S. immigrants is now majority Hispanic and a large proportion of all immigrants have low education levels. These population changes could have profound effects on American society. The proposed study examines whether the variations in immigrant composition across metropolitan areas shape economic inequality and mobility. Three hypotheses are derived from sociological and economic theories on labor market outcomes. First, large numbers of new immigrants with low education levels are most likely to displace Hispanic workers. In turn, the displacement and corresponding decrease in wage mobility among Hispanic workers increase society's income inequality. Second, very low levels of education and a lack of English proficiency cause wage and income stagnation among immigrants with these traits; therefore, a greater percentage of recent immigrants with little education and poor English skills contributes to greater income inequality. Third, characteristics such as having a foreign college degree or being Hispanic or non-white have negative effects on wage and income mobility, so larger percentages of immigrants with these traits increase income inequality. The proposed study uses data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) and the U.S. Census. The SIPP provides information on individuals' histories of migration, employment and education as well as 48 months of prospective data on work activities, wages, and income. The 1990 and 2000 censuses provide data to measure immigrant composition in metropolitan areas. The mobility analyses address individual/household trajectories in the context of metropolitan areas of residence. Job displacement trajectories and wage/income growth during a 48-month period are determined by individual/household factors and immigrant population characteristics in the metropolitan area where the individual/household resides. Multi-level transition and growth models are appropriate for this multi-level phenomenon. The inequality analyses address the full income distribution rather than just the mean or median. Immigrant population composition may have a different impact at positions other than the median, such as at the first quartile vs. the third quartile or the lower tail vs. the upper tail. Quantile regression models perform full-distribution analysis, capturing the shape change in the distribution caused by variations in immigrant population composition. The study's intellectual merit comes through its substantive and methodological contributions to the literature on stratification, inequality, and immigration. While most past research has focused on snapshot analyses of job displacement, this study goes further, providing a longitudinal analysis of job displacement as well as wage and income mobility. This study's methods address the multi-level features of mobility and the full distributional features of inequality, allowing a linkage between mobility and inequality. Finally, by looking at the 1996-1999 data from the SIPP's nationally representative sample and at the 1990 and 2000 censuses, this study provides fresh findings and timely policy implications. The proposed study has four broader impacts: it will (1) promote teaching, training and learning as the findings will be integrated into my two courses on immigration and into my advising of Ph.D. dissertation candidates, and through the inclusion of a Ph.D. graduate student in the research team; (2) disseminate findings to the Maryland Office for New Americans, a state agency assisting immigrants' settlement and promoting immigrants' economic, civil and political participation; (3) allow me to present findings at multi-disciplinary and practitioner conferences, publish in sociological journals, and disseminate findings through news media; and (4) provide information for policy makers and the public regarding the ongoing debate over immigration.
