The National Research Council will convene a study committee of leading academic experts in the United States to study the integration of immigrants into American society and its consequences. U.S. immigration has changed considerably in recent years in terms of countries of origin, receiving communities, and education levels. New data sources are available to explore both the short and long-term implications of these changes for the long term integration of immigrants into their new communities. Because the study will play a critical role in informing the important national debate on these issues, effective communication of the report?s major messages will be critical. The National Academies Press will publish a consensus report of the panel that will be available on the web and in hard cover.
The geographic profile of immigration is changing. Immigrant families are increasingly moving to nontraditional receiving states and communities, the U.S. economy is sputtering, and, though there have been recent administrative changes in U.S. immigration enforcement policy, the larger issues of immigration reform are still unresolved. High rates of immigration into the United States and the scattering of that population have led many groups to express concern about the effects of immigration on the economic prospects of the native born, on the rate at which our population is growing, on the fiscal burden at various levels of government, on crime rates and threats to national security, and recently on the ability of immigrants to integrate themselves into the social fabric of the nation. It is an opportune time for the National Academy of Sciences to revisit the issue of the challenges of integration of immigrant families in the United States and to seek to come to a better understanding the consequences of immigration on American society.
Broader Impacts
The importance of immigration as a public policy issue has been well documented. An overriding concern on the part of many is to what extent the new Americans are being integrated into U.S. society. Immigrant integration is the process by which the characteristics of members of immigrant groups and host societies come to resemble one another. The process, which has both economic and socio-cultural dimensions, begins with the immigrant generation and continues through the second generation and beyond. As immigration has grown as a public policy issue, the literature on immigration integration has expanded as well, particularly over the past two decades since publication of the study: The New Americans: Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration. The National Academy of Sciences will revisit the issue of the challenges of integration of immigrant families in the United States and, with the passage of time and the accumulation of a growing literature and improved sources of data, to create a better understanding of the consequences of immigration on American society.
The National Research Council's Committee on Population conducted the first phase of a multi-year study that will (1) summarize what we know about how immigrants are integrating into American society; (2) discuss what the implications of this knowledge are for informing various policy options; and, (3) identify any important gaps in our existing knowledge and data availability. This study continues the contribution of the National Research Council to the literature on integration and the effects of immigration publishing a number of studies over the last 20 years that have been influential in public policy debates. Several of these, beginning with the important study, The New Americans: Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration, have helped to define the key issues. The 17-member Committee of distinguished sociologists, demographers, economists and goegraphers inaugurated the two-year study in October 2013. The committee is chaired by Dr. Mary Waters of Harvard University. The seed funding provided in this award has been joined by funding from Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Russell Sage Foundation, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. It is expected to help shape Congressional and public debate over immigation policy and to inform the work of the White House Task Force on New Americans.
