9304124 McHugh Between 1975 and 1989, over 750,000 Southeast Asian refugees were resettled in the United States through a series of scatter policies designed to disperse the refugees throughout the nation. The goal was to inhibit the development of enclaves in order to bring about rapid assimilation into host communities. Family reunification and secondary migration led to a concentration of Southeast Asians in nine states, however. Communities which responded to the initial call for sponsors developed large enclaves, while other areas experienced a net out migration of refugees to other locations. Still other regions saw development of large refugee communities through secondary migration. This research project will examine the evolution of the national geography of the various Southeast Asian refugee groups since 1975 and determine the role of voluntary agencies in defining settlement patterns through sponsor recruitment practices. Primary data from the office of refugee resettlement will be analyzed to trace the development of spatial enclaves over time and to isolate the process by which enclaves came into being. Community-based organizations will be surveyed in four central California cities in order to determine their role in the differential adjustment experiences of refugees who have settled or resettled in those communities. Ethnic enclaves exist, but how, where, and why they form are complex and incompletely understood processes. This study captures the settlement and adjustment process of immigrants and first-born generations in locations where there were no pre- exiting enclaves. Analysis of the roles of active sponsors, community-based organizations, and community response will contribute to an understanding of ethnic enclave formation and development. At the national level, the study will show the influence of voluntary organizations in delimiting the geography of sponsorship and primary resettlement and the effects of secondary mi gration in channeling refugees to emerging enclaves. At a local level, the research examines community organizations as facilitators of cultural exchange between various Southeast Asian groups and host communities. In addition to contributing to the theoretical literature on immigration, acculturation, and enclave formation, results of this research will aid in the development of informed immigration and refugee policy in the United States. ***
