Categories Of Immigrants Research Articles

Les résultats économiques des réfugiés et réfugiées d’Europe de l’Est admis au Canada entre 1990 et 2007 : une analyse longitudinale par catégorie d’immigration et région d’origine

Canada received more than 6 million immigrants from 1990 to 2007, of whom more than 500,000 were refugees fleeing the conflicts and persecution that plagued the world during that period. However, the labour market outcomes of Eastern European Refugees have not often been examined in detail. Using the Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB), this paper analyzes the early years of economic integration of Eastern European refugees admitted as permanent residents to Canada from 1990 to 2007, when they were aged 25 to 54. Particular attention is paid to Eastern European immigrants because Europeans are generally among those who demonstrate better economic outcomes in the country. Thus, this paper focuses on two key labour market indicators: employment rates and income levels. Labour market outcomes are then examined by immigration categories (government-assisted refugees, privately sponsored refugees and asylum seekers), region of birth, and gender. The results show that asylum seekers (both male and female) generally have an initial advantage on both economic indexes under analysis, but, relative to resettled refugees (those who are government or privately sponsored), this advantage fades over time. Additionally, we observe a significant variation in results depending on the region of origin and male refugees have higher economic participation than female refugees.

Category traversing: early Korean immigrants eluding the U.S. state

ABSTRACT This paper explores category traversing, the process through which migrants navigate state-imposed immigration categories. In the early twentieth century, Asian migrants were categorically excluded from entering the U.S. under the Asiatic Barred Zone, while exemptions were granted to merchants, diplomats and students. Drawing on immigrant case files from the U.S. National Archives, we highlight how Korean migrants navigate student status to circumvent race-based exclusion. At ports of entry, they curated a performance to present as a student in the eyes of immigration officials, with a proper display of scholarly knowledge and financial ability. Even after entry, failure to maintain student status invited scrutiny from officials. Responding to these demands, migrants agentially traversed the categories of student and worker to remain in a country that sought to exclude them. This paper contributes to this special issue by documenting (a) how migrants perform in accordance with state-imposed categories to navigate immigration regimes and (b) how they challenge those categories by traversing them as they see fit.

Language ability and virtual mental healthcare utilisation among immigrant and refugee youth: a population-based cohort study

Background and objectivesThe widespread adoption of virtual care during the pandemic may not have been uniform across populations, including among paediatric immigrants and refugees. We sought to examine the association...

HOW AI CAN REDUCE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AMONG VULNERABLE POPULATION OF NEW IMMIGRANTS: ASSIMILATION ISSUES RESOLVED WITH AI

The relevance of this study is to examine the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the assimilation of vulnerable immigrant groups, in particular, in facilitating their integration into labour markets of new countries and reducing unemployment. The purpose of the article is to identify opportunities and mechanisms for using AI to support immigrants' adaptation, as well as to analyse policies and programmes aimed at attracting and developing immigrant talent in the field of AI. The study uses general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison and generalisation to evaluate available information, statistics and practical examples. The results of the study demonstrate that artificial intelligence has significant potential to support the assimilation of vulnerable categories of immigrants, facilitate their integration into new socio-economic conditions and reduce unemployment among them. Through the use of innovative AI tools and technologies, immigrants can access personalised educational resources, labour market information, and cultural nuances, which will greatly facilitate their adaptation. An analysis of the impact of AI on immigrant assimilation has shown the effectiveness of online courses, mentoring programmes, and specialised training modules in providing the necessary knowledge and skills to successfully enter the labour market of a new country. In particular, advanced training and retraining programmes available through AI platforms have proven to be highly effective in providing immigrants with relevant competencies and facilitating their professional development. Particular attention was paid to the US policy aimed at attracting and supporting skilled immigrants in the field of AI. The paper shows that the active use of AI in the process of immigrants' adaptation facilitates their rapid integration into the new society and plays a crucial role in reducing the unemployment rate among this group. The practical significance of the publication is to provide recommendations for the development of effective strategies for using AI in the process of immigrant integration.

COVID-19 hospitalization, mortality and premature mortality by a history of immigration in Ontario, Canada: a population-based cohort study

Immigrants in high-income countries experienced inequities in COVID-19 severe outcomes. We examined hospitalization and death throughout the pandemic, and change during the vaccine era, in Ontario, Canada. We conducted a population-based study using linked immigration and health data, following two cohorts for 20 months from January 1, 2020 (pre-vaccine) and September 1, 2021 (vaccine era). We used multivariable Poisson generalized estimating equation regression to estimate adjusted rate ratios (aRR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI), accounting for age, sex and co-morbidities. We calculated age-standardized years of life lost (ASYRs) rates by immigrant category. Of 11,692,387 community-dwelling adults in the pre-vaccine era cohort and 11,878,304 community-dwelling adults in the vaccine era cohort, 21.6% and 21.4% of adults in each era respectively were immigrants. Females accounted for 57.9% and 57.8% of sponsored family, and 68.4% and 67.6% of economic caregivers, in each era respectively. Compared to other Ontarians in the pre-vaccine era cohort, hospitalization rates were highest for refugees (aRR [95% CI] 3.41 [3.39-3.44]) and caregivers (3.13 [3.07-3.18]), followed by sponsored family and other economic immigrants. Compared to other Ontarians, aRRs were highest for immigrants from Central America (5.00 [4.92-5.09]), parts of South Asia (3.95 [3.89-4.01]) and Jamaica (3.56 [3.51-3.61]) with East Asians having lower aRRs. Mortality aRRs were similar to hospitalization aRRs. In the vaccine era, all aRRs were attenuated and most were similar to or lower than other Ontarians, with refugees and a few regions maintaining higher rates. In the pre-vaccine era ASYRs were higher for all immigrant groups. ASYRs dropped in the vaccine era with only refugees continuing to have higher rates. Immigrants, particularly refugees, experienced greater premature mortality. aRRs for most immigrant groups dropped substantially after high vaccine coverage was achieved. Vaccine outreach and improvements in the social determinants of health are needed. Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canada Research Chairs Program.

Does timing matter? Language course participation and language outcomes amongst new immigrants

Host country language acquisition is widely considered an important factor to prevent the social and economic exclusion of immigrants. High-income countries invest considerably in language courses for new immigrants, yet hitherto our understanding of when participation in such courses seems to stimulate language acquisition remains limited. As a result, this article addresses whether the timing of language course enrolment is related to course outcomes in terms of credentialed language proficiency. This study benefits from longitudinal population data including all new migrants entering Flanders (Belgium) in 2009–2021, to assess whether associations between language course timing and outcomes persist, for different legal categories of immigrants, when controlling for compositional factors. Findings indicate that for most immigrant categories, negative associations between course postponement and host country language attainment are explained by migration background and human capital. However, amongst family and humanitarian migrants, a negative association between course timing and outcomes persists. This persistent negative linkage suggests a stronger vulnerability to less effective (informal) learning trajectories and downward spiralling opportunities and motivation in the case of language course postponement, but also highlights the need for future research using causal estimation strategies. As such, research on language course timing and outcomes contributes to the literature highlighting that timing – e.g. regarding asylum procedures, housing, but also language programmes – matters in immigrants’ trajectories of integration in host countries.

Birth and postnatal outcomes among infants of immigrant parents of different admission categories and parents born in Canada: a population-based retrospective study.

Most studies of disparities in birth and postnatal outcomes by parental birthplace combine all immigrants into a single group. We sought to evaluate heterogeneity among immigrants in Canada by comparing birth and postnatal outcomes across different immigration categories. We conducted a population-based retrospective study using Statistics Canada data on live births and stillbirths (1993-2017) and infant deaths (1993-2018), linked to parental immigration data (1960-2017). We classified birthing parents as born in Canada, economic-class immigrants, family-class immigrants, or refugees, and evaluated differences in preterm births, small-for-gestational-age (SGA) and large-for-gestational-age (LGA) births, stillbirths, and infant deaths among singleton births by group. Among 7 980 650 births, 1 715 050 (21.5%) were to immigrants, including 632 760 (36.9%) in the economic class, 853 540 (49.8%) in the family class, and 228 740 (13.4%) refugees. Compared with infants of Canadian-born birthing parents, infants of each of the 3 immigrant groups had higher risk of preterm birth, SGA birth, and stillbirth, but lower risk of LGA birth and neonatal death. Compared with infants of economic-class immigrants, infants of refugees had higher risk of early preterm birth (0.9% v. 0.8%, adjusted risk ratio [RR] 1.08, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.15) and LGA birth (9.2% v. 7.5%, adjusted RR 1.12, 95% CI 1.10-1.15), but lower risk of SGA birth (10.2% v. 11.0%, adjusted RR 0.92, 95% CI 0.90-0.94), while infants of family-class immigrants had higher risk of SGA birth (12.2% v. 11.0%, adjusted RR 1.01, 95% CI 1.00-1.02). Risk of stillbirth, neonatal death, and overall infant death did not differ significantly among immigrant groups. Heterogeneity exists in outcomes of infants born to immigrants to Canada across immigration categories. These results highlight the importance of disaggregating immigrant populations in studies of health disparities.

Stratified pathways into platform work: Migration trajectories and skills in Berlin’s gig economy

Platform labour scholars have noted the prevalence of migrant workers in the gig economy. This paper builds on this research but interrogates the broad concept of ‘migrant labour’. The study draws on biographical interviews with platform workers in grocery delivery and domestic work platforms in Berlin, Germany as well as expert interviews with union representatives, migrant organisations and white-collar platform company employees. Through an examination of the mobility strategies of platform workers in this subset of the platform economy, the study reveals a stratification of migrant trajectories and of skills needed to engage in platform work across different types of labour platforms. The study finds that platform companies draw on a workforce that consists of recently arrived young migrants with comparatively high education, language skills and digital literacy. Through close analysis of an understudied section of the gig economy, the paper contributes to the ongoing theorisation of the nexus of migration regimes and platform-mediated labour regimes. The findings complicate the notion of ‘accessibility’ of platform work and call for the inclusion of visa regimes, immigration categories and particular skill sets in future research on platform labour.

Virtual care use among older immigrant adults in Ontario, Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic: A repeated cross-sectional analysis.

The critical role of virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns about the widening disparities to access by vulnerable populations including older immigrants. This paper aims to describe virtual care use in older immigrant populations residing in Ontario, Canada. In this population-based, repeated cross-sectional study, we used linked administrative data to describe virtual care and healthcare utilization among immigrants aged 65 years and older before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Visits were identified weekly from January 2018 to March 2021 among various older adult immigrant populations. Among older immigrants, over 75% were high users of virtual care (had two or more virtual visits) during the pandemic. Rates of virtual care use was low (weekly average <2 visits per 1000) prior to the pandemic, but increased for both older adult immigrant and non-immigrant populations. At the start of the pandemic, virtual care use was lower among immigrants compared to non-immigrants (weekly average of 77 vs 86 visits per 1000). As the pandemic progressed, the rates between these groups became similar (80 vs 79 visits per 1000). Virtual care use was consistently lower among immigrants in the family class (75 visits per 1000) compared to the economic (82 visits per 1000) or refugee (89 visits per 1000) classes, and was lower among those who only spoke French (69 visits per 1000) or neither French nor English (73 visits per 1000) compared to those who were fluent in English (81 visits per 1000). This study found that use of virtual care was comparable between older immigrants and non-immigrants overall, though there may have been barriers to access for older immigrants early on in the pandemic. However, within older immigrant populations, immigration category and language ability were consistent differentiators in the rates of virtual care use throughout the pandemic.

Navigating bureaucratic violence in Canada’s two-step immigration system

ABSTRACT In recent years, Canada has moved towards a system of ‘two-step’ immigration, wherein a growing proportion of new permanent residents are selected from people who are already in the country on a temporary work permit. While the ‘two-step’ selection approach has been lauded as improving immigrants’ labour market outcomes, the process to achieve permanent residence can be complex and the stringent selection criteria prevent many migrants from attaining permanent status. In this paper, we examine the administrative burden that migrants with precarious status encounter in their interactions with state immigration bureaucracies as they try to attain permanent residence through economic programmes. The research is based on a qualitative analysis of interviews with 20 migrants with precarious status in the provinces of Ontario, Alberta and Quebec. Participants describe the stressful life consequences resulting from confusing and opaque administrative processes, unpredictable wait times, costly application fees, bureaucratic errors and a lack of accountability. We theorise how such experiences of administrative burden can compound into forms of bureaucratic violence that prolong migrant precarity, exacerbating the legal violence inherent in state immigration categories which deny full social rights to migrants without permanent residence.

Mental health and neurocognitive disorder–related hospitalization rates in immigrants and Canadian-born population: a linkage study

ObjectivesMental health and neurocognitive conditions are important causes of hospitalization among immigrants, though patterns may vary by immigrant category, world region of origin, and time since arrival in Canada. This study uses linked administrative data to explore differences in mental health hospitalization rates between immigrants and individuals born in Canada.MethodsHospital records from the Discharge Database and the Ontario Mental Health Reporting System for 2011 to 2017 were linked to the 2016 Longitudinal Immigrant Database and to Statistics Canada’s 2011 Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort. Age-standardized hospitalization rates for mental health–related conditions (ASHR-MHs) were derived for immigrants and the Canadian-born population. ASHR-MHs overall and for leading mental health conditions were compared between immigrants and the Canadian-born population, stratified by sex and selected immigration characteristics. Quebec hospitalization data were not available.ResultsOverall, immigrants had lower ASHR-MHs compared to the Canadian-born population. Mood disorders were leading causes of mental health hospitalization for both cohorts. Psychotic, substance-related, and neurocognitive disorders were also leading causes of mental health hospitalization, although there was variation in their relative importance between subgroups. Among immigrants, ASHR-MHs were higher among refugees and lower among economic immigrants, those from East Asia, and those who arrived in Canada most recently.ConclusionDifferences in hospitalization rates among immigrants from various immigration streams and world regions, particularly for specific types of mental health conditions, highlight the importance of future research that incorporates both inpatient and outpatient mental health services to further understand these relationships.

Introduction: “ongoing” mobilities in the Early-Modern Spanish world

ABSTRACT Lives characterised by staggered, stepwise or “ongoing” mobility were ubiquitous in the Early-Modern Spanish world. However, individuals who repeatedly alternated long-distance relocation with prolonged periods of sojourn in different places have attracted limited attention from historians. Contemporary migration studies, by contrast, increasingly stress the importance of considering experiences of mobility from a longitudinal perspective. By doing so, they highlight how, over time and through repeated migrations, individuals and families often transcend official immigration categories, acquire and deploy skills, rely on, create and destroy relational networks, and produce narratives that allow them to make sense of both their trajectories and their experiences of social and place insertion. Drawing on insights from this scholarship and the “new mobilities paradigm,” adopting a narrative, biographical or life-cycle approach, to the mobile lives of enslaved individuals in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, of mestizo children travelling to and from Spain, of Canarian migrants, royal officials and merchants, the contributors to this special issue aim to further our understanding of how the experiences of these individuals were central to the construction and transformation of religious ideas, personal and political identities, and familial, commercial and patronage networks that articulated the early modern Spanish world.

The Influence of Immigration and Generation Change on America Religion

The U.S. continues to be a major player on the world stage. It is also a country whose religion continues to play a role in both politics and society. Because of this, it is important to understand the trends and changes going on with American religion in order to better understand the changes a major world player is experiencing. After the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, the number and categories of immigrants changed enormously. Based on the data of immigrants, I analyzed their nationality and numbers and found that Christianity believers decreased, the religiously unaffiliated people increased and the new religions’ believers, Islam, Hinduism etc., continually increased. I also found that the number and the characteristics of Christianity changed simultaneously in US. Finally, I used the generation change in American itself to explain why the number of religiously unaffiliated people increased so quickly.

The making of irregular migration: post-Brexit immigration policy and risk of labour exploitation

This article highlights the role states have in creating the conditions under which labour exploitation can occur. Specifically, it identifies several immigration policy decisions related to the UK’s exit from the European Union that will likely result in an increase in the number of irregular migrants in the United Kingdom and how this increase, when combined with measures that have progressively restricted the rights and entitlements of various immigration categories, creates an environment conducive to labour exploitation. It presents measures that could help address this problem, including changes to immigration policies and the strengthening of the labour market enforcement system.

Kidney transplantation and withdrawal rates among wait-listed first-generation immigrants in Italy.

BackgroundMultiple barriers diminish access to kidney transplantation (KT) in immigrant compared to non-immigrant populations. It is unknown whether immigration status reduces the likelihood of KT after wait-listing despite universal healthcare coverage with uniform access to transplantation.MethodsWe retrospectively collected data of all adult waiting list (WL) registrants in Italy (2010–20) followed for 5 years until death, KT in a foreign center, deceased-donor kidney transplant (DDKT), living-donor kidney transplant (LDKT) or permanent withdrawal from the WL. We calculated adjusted relative probability of DDKT, LDKT and permanent WL withdrawal in different immigrant categories using competing-risks multiple regression models.ResultsPatients were European Union (EU)-born (n = 21 624), Eastern European-born (n = 606) and non-European-born (n = 1944). After controlling for age, sex, blood type, dialysis vintage, case-mix and sensitization status, non-European-born patients had lower LDKT rates compared to other immigrant categories: LDKT adjusted relative probability of non-European-born vs. Eastern European-born 0.51 (95% CI: 0.33–0.79; P = 0.002); of non-European-born vs. EU-Born: 0.65 (95% CI: 0.47–0.82; P = 0.001). Immigration status did not affect the rate of DDKT or permanent WL withdrawal.ConclusionsAmong EU WL registrants, non-European immigration background is associated with reduced likelihood of LDKT but similar likelihood of DDKT and permanent WL withdrawal. Wherever not available, new national policies should enable coverage of travel and medical fees for living-donor surgery and follow-up for non-resident donors to improve uptake of LDKT in immigrant patients, and provide KT education that is culturally competent, individually tailored and easily understandable for patients and their potential living donors.

Social exclusion at the intersections of immigration, employment, and healthcare policy: A qualitative study of Mexican and Chinese immigrants in California

While immigrants in the US suffer poor access to healthcare in general, access within immigrant populations varies notably by legal status and employment. Intersections between immigration, employment, and healthcare policy have shaped immigrants' access or exclusion from healthcare; however, little research has examined how immigrants experience and navigate these intersections. Drawing on social exclusion theory and the theory of bounded agency, we aimed to investigate Mexican and Chinese immigrants' experiences of exclusion from healthcare as one key dimension of social exclusion–and how this was shaped by interactions with the institutions of immigration and employment. The examination of two ethnic immigrant groups who live under the same set of policies allows for a focus on the common impacts of policy. We selected Mexican and Chinese immigrants as the two largest subgroups in California's Latinx and Asian immigrant population. We use a policy lens to analyze qualitative data from the mixed-methods Research on Immigrant Health and State Policy (RIGHTS) Study, involving 60 in-depth interviews with Mexican and Chinese immigrants in California between August 2018–August 2019. We identified two primary themes: pathways of social exclusion and access, and strategies used to address social exclusion. Findings show that immigrants' exclusion from healthcare is fundamentally linked to legal status and employment, and that immigrants navigate difficult choices between opportunities for improved employment and changes in legal status. We argue that multiple categories of legal status affect immigrants' employment opportunities and social position, which, in turn, translates to stratified healthcare access. Our findings support the literature establishing legal status as a mechanism of social stratification but challenge legal-illegal binary paradigms.

Contemporary family sponsorship and older parent reunification immigration under New Zealand\u2019s neoliberal immigration regime

A neoliberal immigration regime often takes an “economic” lens to frame and reframe immigration regulation based on a rational cost–benefit analysis of what immigration might bring to immigration-receiving countries. Under such a regime, skilled and business immigration is framed as an “economic” immigration category, which can channel in financial and human capital, while family and international humanitarian immigration is regarded as a “social” immigration category assumed to produce immigrants who are more dependent and not able to bring immediate and direct economic gain for immigrant-receiving countries. In New Zealand (NZ), such a neoliberal trend is very much alive within its contemporary immigration policy development. The paper aims to illustrate the neoliberal trend of NZ immigration policy that relates to the entry of immigrants’ family members, especially the older parents. In order to achieve this goal, a detailed review of the evolving NZ family immigration policy over the last three decades and a descriptive analysis of NZ family immigration intake will be presented. By combining the policy review and descriptive analysis together, the paper can inform a better understanding of how the neoliberal immigration regime has had an impact on the patterns of family immigration in NZ.

Linguistic justice for immigrants

AbstractShould speakers of immigrant languages have fewer language rights than members of long‐settled nations? In this article, I argue that the interests of immigrant and native groups are normatively equally recognition‐worthy. Any legitimate differential recognition must follow from the different interests immigrants have in language. I distinguish three categories of immigrants: strictly temporary immigrants, immigrants that have become or are to be citizens and linguistically very wealthy immigrants. The purpose of distinguishing these types is to get a better grasp on the needs and interests of immigrants, by creating sub‐profiles. I argue that the first group is entitled to minimal language recognition. The second group, I argue, should be granted equal consideration of their languageinterests, but that does not necessarily mean equallanguagerecognition. The third group—linguistically very wealthy immigrants such as English‐speaking immigrants—typically outrivals the local population in terms of the fulfilment of their language identity interests. Their language interests warrant the need of integration into the national language(s), not the need for equal language recognition.

IMMIGRANT INCOMES AND CREDIT

Immigrants to Canada earn more the longer they live here. Their incomes are also influenced by factors including official language fluency, immigration category, and racial discrimination. In this article we address one factor – access to affordable credit. Immigrants consume almost half of their savings in moving to Canada. This can leave little leftover to pay for recertification or licensing fees. Newcomers with professional accreditations earned outside Canada who cannot recertify or become licensed on their arrival often find work that is not commensurate with their training. This is a loss to both immigrants and those born in Canada who might benefit from their skills. Small, low-interest loans, or “microcredit” may be one way to achieve faster certification. The figure on the right shows data from Windmill Microlending, a registered charity providing microloans to immigrants. Red dots represent the income of an immigrant loan recipients (red) and non-recipients (green) measured against their time in Canada. The lines show the average rise in pay for immigrants the longer they live in Canada. On average, loan recipients receive a 26% increase in income following disbursement and a faster rate of increase in income over time.

Perceived beneficiaries and support for the globalization of higher education: a survey experiment on attitudes toward international students

AbstractForeign students are one of the most significant immigrant categories in many North American and Western European countries. Yet, as their numbers have swelled, many governments have experienced increasing pressures to cap their entry. This is true despite the sizable benefits that foreign students bring to host countries, and despite standard political economy concerns about immigrants—that they take away jobs or abuse public entitlements—not applying to foreign students. We field a nationally-representative survey experiment in the UK, one of the top destinations for foreign students, to examine potential activators of public support for capping the number of foreign students. Results show that support for caps is most activated when citizens are primed to think about foreign students competing with domestic students for scarce admissions slots at universities.