Successful Integration Of Immigrants Research Articles

Assessing the Efficacy of Canada’s Pre-Arrival Settlement Services on Immigrant Integration: A Comprehensive Analysis of the New Immigration Pre-Landing Settlement Service

Canada has the tradition of welcoming the immigrants from the diverse background. It aims to assess the efficacy of new immigrant pre-arrival settlements on immigrant integrations in Canada. Understanding the importance of immigrant integration, Canada strongly emphasizes on the pre-arrival services with the knowledge to represent the innovative approach. This research studies on the dependent variable i.e. New Immigrant Integration and independent variables i.e. duration of pre-arrival settlement, access to pre-arrival information and resources, and cultural sensitivity of pre-arrival settlement services. The researcher uses quantitative method and examine data from service providers and contemporary immigrants. The study evaluates immigrant integration based on employment rates, dialect abilities, social integration and satisfaction with settlement services. The relationship between independent and dependent variables is assessed using statistical tools i.e. multiple regression prove the hypothesis of the study. The findings in this study contribute to a deeper understanding on the efficacy of Canada's pre-arrival settlements with the evidence. It contributes the insights for the policy makers and service providers for successful immigrant integration in Canadian Society.

A liberalizing effect of happiness? The impact of improvements and deteriorations in different dimensions of subjective well-being on concerns about immigration

Abstract High levels of concerns about immigration pose a threat to the successful integration of immigrants and may even destabilize heterogeneous societies. This study assesses the mechanisms underlying the association between subjective well-being and concerns about immigration. The analyses rely on the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (1999-2017), a long-running data set that follows individuals over time with a total of 60,319 respondents and 329,556 person-year observations. Individuals who are on average more satisfied with their income, housing situation, and life overall are less concerned about consequences stemming from immigration. The impact of changes in subjective well-being reaches beyond the influence of objective well-being; moreover, if the same individuals become less satisfied with any one of these life dimensions, their concerns about immigration increase. In turn, an increase in satisfaction is followed by a decline of immigration-based concerns. These results imply that political measures that strengthen resilience and foster coping mechanisms are critical to reducing concerns about immigration, cultivating societal integration.

Maahanmuuttajataustaisten nuorten luontosuhde ja luonnon virkistyskäyttö

Successful integration of immigrants has been identified as the key for future social and economic well-being in EU. Nature can be used to support integration. Based on survey data collected from students in 7–9th grades in the city of Lahti (n=1,121), we explore immigrants’ and native Finns’ participation in outdoor recreation and their well-being experiences of and relationships with nature. The study applies the framework of integration to discuss how nature supports the integration of immigrant youth in Finland. The results show that nature is an important part of immigrant adolescents’ everyday lives and can support their structural, cultural, interactive and identificational integration. However, there are also some differences between the immigrant and native adolescents. The study results highlight the better inclusion of the youth and multi-cultural nature-relationships in the governance of natural areas and development of nature-based solutions for integration.

Интеграция иммигрантов в социокультурную среду ФРГ через профессионально-языковую подготовку

The article is devoted to the current problem of the shortage of qualified labor in the Federal Republic of Germany and the question of whether the country's economy is acquiring potential specialists for the labor market from among immigrants. The author emphasizes that without successful integration of immigrants, it is impossible not only to acquire human capital for the country's economy, but also there is a real threat to state security in Germany. The article examines what qualities or system of qualities immigrants should acquire in order to increase the level of professional activity component of their ability to integrate into the host country's society, specifies the goals of pedagogical communication in this process and the importance of the adoption of the Skilled Workers Immigration Act (Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz). The author comes to the conclusion that the professional and activity component formed by the immigrant demonstrates its full integration into the business world and multicultural society of Germany.

Интеграция иммигрантов в социокультурную среду ФРГ через профессионально-языковую подготовку

The article is devoted to the current problem of the shortage of qualified labor in the Federal Republic of Germany and the question of whether the country's economy is acquiring potential specialists for the labor market from among immigrants. The author emphasizes that without successful integration of immigrants, it is impossible not only to acquire human capital for the country's economy, but also there is a real threat to state security in Germany. The article examines what qualities or system of qualities immigrants should acquire in order to increase the level of professional activity component of their ability to integrate into the host country's society, specifies the goals of pedagogical communication in this process and the importance of the adoption of the Skilled Workers Immigration Act (Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz). The author comes to the conclusion that the professional and activity component formed by the immigrant demonstrates its full integration into the business world and multicultural society of Germany.

THEORETICAL MODELS OF IMMIGRANTS INTEGRATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES

The successful integration of immigrants is probably now the main issue of the European Union states. The integration gives a sense of equality for everyone without exception. However, it is not only the recognition of European values, but also the study of the language of a new country, traditions, the need to intersect with native persons and assimilated immigrants. The development of a specific model for the immigrants integration into the EU countries, makes it possible to link up with the European society without causing discontent and protest from the local population.

Immigrants and Asylum Seekers’ Digital Entrepreneurship Competence: Evaluation of the Theoretical Framework

Abstract The article reveals the concept of digital entrepreneurship and its framework for education of immigrants and asylum seekers in Baltic Sea countries. The research has been carried out in the boundaries of the Nordplus Adult project with participation of partner organisations from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden. As stated in the article, digital entrepreneurship is supposed to be one of the opportunities in promoting successful integration of immigrants and asylum seekers into labour market. Therefore, by supporting the development of entrepreneurship as an integral part of adult education, and modelling new methods of combining new digital technologies and entrepreneurship education it is intended to help both immigrants and asylum seekers to acquire relevant competence for successful integration into labour markets. The article’s purpose is to disclose the relevance of digital entrepreneurship as a new competence of immigrants and asylum seekers with respect to their needs for successful integration into the socio-economic situation of a host country. The method of data collection was interview with experts. The experts found the efficiency of the framework important to some degree. In the experts’ opinion, educational goals based on the framework are achievable. However, diversity of the target group could be a risky factor.

Psychological individual differences as predictors of refugees’ local language proficiency

AbstractLearning the local language is important for the successful integration of immigrants. Previous research has identified a number of sociodemographic factors that are associated with the effectiveness of local language acquisition among immigrants, but little is known about the influence of psychological differences on immigrants’ local language acquisition. In the present research, individual differences in general mental ability (GMA), work search intention, and personality traits Conscientiousness and Openness were studied among recently arrived Syrian (n = 1054) and Eritrean (n = 500) refugees in the Netherlands. The results revealed that in addition to the effects of age of arrival, local length of stay, premigration educational attainment, and psychological distress, GMA and work search intention were positively associated with refugees’ local language proficiency. Additionally, work search intention was found to strengthen the effect of GMA on local language proficiency. No positive linear effects were observed for Conscientiousness and Openness. Some evidence was found for curvilinear relationships between psychological predictors and local language proficiency. Implications are discussed.

Cheguei primeiro! Autoctonia e nostalgia nacional como mecanismos de redução do preconceito

Este estudo explorou novos mecanismos através dos quais o modelo da identidade endogrupal comum melhora as atitudes intergrupais (Gaertner & Dovidio, 2000). Especificamente, explorou-se se representações identitárias mais inclusivas de grupo único e de dupla identidade melhoram as atitudes intergrupais, através da redução da nostalgia nacional, da autoctonia e das emoções intergrupais negativas, relativamente a 3 grupos de imigrantes a residir em Portugal (i.e., africanos, brasileiros e ucranianos). Participaram neste estudo 305 participantes de origem portuguesa, que preencheram um questionário com as medidas de interesse. Os resultados revelaram que, tal como esperado, a representação identitária de grupo único esteve associada a atitudes intergrupais mais positivas (i.e., verificou-se uma diminuição da distância social e aumento dos sentimentos positivos), através da redução da autoctonia e das emoções intergrupais negativas. No entanto, contrariamente ao esperado, as representações identitárias inclusivas não estiveram associadas a atitudes positivas, através da redução da nostalgia nacional. Este trabalho mostrou, pela primeira vez, que identidades inclusivas são uma estratégia que pode reduzir a adesão a argumentos autóctones, promovendo assim atitudes mais positivas e uma integração bem-sucedida dos imigrantes que chegam à Europa.

Multidimensional measure of immigrant integration

The successful integration of immigrants into a host country's society, economy, and polity has become a major issue for policymakers in recent decades. Scientific progress in the study of immigrant integration has been hampered by the lack of a common measure of integration, which would allow for the accumulation of knowledge through comparison across studies, countries, and time. To address this fundamental problem, we propose the Immigration Policy Lab (IPL) Integration Index as a pragmatic and multidimensional measure of immigrant integration. The measure, both in the 12-item short form (IPL-12) and the 24-item long form (IPL-24), captures six dimensions of integration: psychological, economic, political, social, linguistic, and navigational. The measure can be used across countries, over time, and across different immigrant groups and can be administered through short questionnaires available in different modes. We report on four surveys we conducted to evaluate the empirical performance of our measure. The tests reveal that the measure distinguishes among immigrant groups with different expected levels of integration and also correlates with well-established predictors of integration.

Multi-professional work practices in the field of immigrant integration – examples of collaboration between the police and social work

Development of the professional competences and work practices are required when promoting successful immigrant integration in a constantly diversifying society. One work method applied in this field is multi-professional collaboration. Cooperation between the authorities at the local level reduces the overlap between services and brings together expertise and resources, resulting in not only added value but also more proactive and less costly service. Thus, collaboration can involve actors from various sectors, like NGOs or ethnic minority communities. In this article examples of collaboration in two different multi-ethnic contexts are introduced: first, in school and second, in a suburb. The focus here is especially on the joint work practices of the police and social work besides the other actors in these two surroundings. Despite the differences in their work orientation, mutual aims and practices are found. Collaboration between the police and social work is valued not just in facing problematic situations, but also in emerging environments where the host society and immigrants can exchange their views and expand common strategies for an active interaction and coexistence.

Working Together: Building Successful Policy and Program Partnerships for Immigrant Integration

Supporting and investing in the integration of immigrants and their children is critically important to US society. Successful integration contributes to the nation's economic vitality, its civic and political health, and its cultural diversity. But although the United States has a good track record on immigrant integration, outcomes could be better. A national, coherent immigrant integration policy infrastructure is needed. This infrastructure can build on long-standing partnerships between civil society and US public institutions. Such partnerships, advanced under Republican- and Democratic-led administrations, were initially established to facilitate European immigrants' integration in large American cities, and later extended to help refugees fleeing religious persecution and war. In the twenty-first century, we must expand this foundation by drawing on the growing activism by cities and states, new civil society initiatives, and public-private partnerships that span the country.A robust national integration policy infrastructure must be vertically integrated to include different levels of government and horizontally applied across public and private sector actors and different types of immigrant destinations. The resultant policy should leverage public-private partnerships, drawing on the energy, ideas, and work of community-based nonprofit organizations as well as the leadership and support of philanthropy, business, education, faith-based, and other institutions. A new coordinating office to facilitate interagency cooperation is needed in the executive branch; the mandate and programs of the Office of Refugee Resettlement need to be secured and where possible expanded; the outreach and coordinating role of the Office of Citizenship needs to be extended, including through a more robust grant program to community-based organizations; and Congress needs to develop legislation and appropriate funding for a comprehensive integration policy addressed to all, and not just humanitarian immigrants.The federal investments in immigrant and refugee integration we propose are a big ask for any administration; they seem especially unlikely under the Trump administration, whose efforts focus on enforcement and border control, targeting undocumented and legal immigrants alike. Yet immigrant integration is not and should not be a partisan issue. Federal politicians across the political spectrum need to realize, as many local officials and a large segment of the public already do, that successful immigrant integration is a win-win for everybody. When immigrants have more opportunities to learn English, to improve their schooling and professional training, to start businesses, and to access citizenship, we all benefit. A majority of the American public supports immigrant integration, from proposals for learning English to a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Local and state governments are setting up initiatives to promote integration. If the federal government will not act, cities, states, and civil society organizations must continue to work together to build an integration infrastructure from the bottom up.

How successful is immigrant group integration in the United States and Western Europe? A comparative review and analysis

This article examines how successful immigrant integration is on the two sides of the Atlantic through a systematic comparison of five countries: four in Western Europe (Britain, France, Germany, and the Netherlands) and the United States. The focus is on low-status immigrant groups, such as Mexicans in the United States and Turks in Western Europe. The comparison reveals that no one country is a clear winner or loser. How successful a country is in integrating immigrants and their children depends on the institutional context or domain being examined. The analysis explores a range of domains: race and religion as well as the labor market, residence, education, mixed unions, and national identities.

The public view of immigrant integration: multidimensional and consensual. Evidence from survey experiments in the UK and the Netherlands

ABSTRACTDespite the growing interest in immigrant integration in a wide range of scholarly literature, there is less interest in how integration might be understood by the public. Using a survey-embedded conjoint experiment in the Netherlands and the UK, we ask the public what they think constitutes successful immigrant integration. We show that the public has a multidimensional view of integration, which goes beyond a simple preference for cultural assimilation. We discover that there is a remarkably stable hierarchy of preference of integration outcomes, which is a matter of wide spread consensus in both our countries among different social groups and people with different attitudes on immigration. Using the British data we also show an integration penalty for immigrants of non-white origins. Our article places public opinion of immigrant integration at the heart of a rapidly expanding research agenda into the social and political impacts of immigration.

Introduction to research on immigrant and ethnic minority families in Europe

1.IntroductionResearch on immigrants and ethnic minorities has two broad objectives. First, the study of people who move from one societal context to another offers a unique opportunity to gain a better understanding of how various factors influence individuals' choices and actions. The research on immigrants and their descendants thus contributes to wider social science discussions on the role of structure and human agency and economy and culture in human action and social phenomena (Bourdieu 1977; Giddens 1984). These discussions are closely related to the classical methodological dilemmas of social science research, the roots of which extend back to ancient Greek philosophy. Should social scientists explain social phenomena from 'bottom up' or from 'top down' (individualism versus holism) and should they look for universalistic (science-based) explanations or (context-) specific accounts (Bhaskar 1978; Hollis 1994; Von Wright 1971)?Second, research on immigrants and ethnic minorities is very much driven by the desire and need to improve our understanding of the factors that promote or hinder successful integration of immigrants and their descendants (Kulu and Gonzalez-Ferrer 2014). While conventional research has considered assimilation of immigrants to be the expected outcome, recent literature has emphasised the importance of immigrant integration and cultural diversity (Alba and Nee 1997; Berry 1992; Gordon 1964; Portes and Zhou 1993). It is normally desired that immigrants and ethnic minorities achieve a high level of structural assimilation or integration, i.e., they should have the same educational, employment, and housing opportunities and outcomes as natives, but they may maintain their cultural distinctiveness, e.g., practise their own religion or speak their own language at home. The recent literature on transnationalism has challenged the classical debate of assimilation/integration versus separation/marginalisation, arguing that immigrants and their descendants may wish to live 'in-between' old and new home countries and that this practice should be supported (Glick Schiller 2010; Vertovec 2004). However, it remains far from clear whether living in 'transnational space' is a new form of successful integration in our globalised world, or rather reflects marginalisation (or incomplete integration) in a world where nation states are still important.There is a large literature investigating the employment and educational patterns of immigrants and their descendants (Adsera and Chiswick 2007; Kogan 2007; Rebhun 2010; Rendall et al. 2010). Decent educational and employment prospects are seen as critical for the successful integration of immigrants and their descendants and are assumed to significantly shape other domains of their lives. Research on family dynamics among immigrants and their descendants is equally important in this context. Family patterns of immigrants and ethnic minorities provide another perspective on their integration or the lack of it; family lives are also interwoven with both structural and cultural dimensions of the integration process. Further, research has argued that the prevalence of inter-ethnic marriages is the ultimate litmus test of immigrant integration in a society (Coleman 1994; Feng et al. 2012; Kalmijn 1998). The spread of mixed marriages can be seen as a signal that there are no (more) borders between groups that cannot be crossed in society, leaving a free choice in the marriage market for both majority and ethnic minority populations. Besides the choice of partner, the timing and type of union are also important indicators of changing social norms and behaviour among immigrants. These changes often depend on the time spent in the host country, or only become visible in the following generations.The aim of this paper is to provide an introduction to the special collection of Demographic Research on partnership dynamics among immigrants and their descendants in five selected European countries. …

Resolute Enforcement is Not Just for Restrictionists: Building a Stable and Efficient Immigration Enforcement System

This essay, part of a symposium held at the University of Virginia, defends the importance of resolute enforcement in sustaining generous immigration policy, particularly America’s singularly high lawful admission levels and relatively successful immigrant integration record. Drawing on other studies and the author’s experiences in government service, the paper explores the risks to humane policy when the public perceives that migration is out of control. The public reaction to the Mariel boatlift, Congress’s enactment of harsh enforcement measures in 1996, and the Obama administration’s stern response to the child migrant crisis of 2014 illustrate the point. Though the current period is relatively quiet on the public opinion front, that situation is fragile, highly dependent on the relatively low net inflow of unauthorized migrants. The essay then examines specific ideas for building a truly effective and sustainable enforcement system. All would work far better if accompanied by an expansive one-time statutory legalization program – which is both a humane response to the reality of long-resident populations and a step that would empower more resolute enforcement against newer violators. (1) E-Verify holds real promise, but Congress and the executive are too complacent about its vulnerability to identity fraud. Congress should provide strong inducements for states to share driver’s license photos to be used in E-Verify’s “photo tool.” (2) Stronger enforcement against visa overstays would foster a culture of compliance with the immigration laws. It is a misconception that we need first to build a biometric exit monitoring system; existing biographic data systems, built in the wake of 9/11, are sufficient once the political will to curb and deter overstays exists. (3) Revitalized and carefully designed cooperation with state and local law enforcement agencies (LEAs) is also a crucial element. The essay recounts the history of Secure Communities (SC), a fundamentally sound and efficient program that wound up losing support through mistakes in implementation, bad timing (rolled out when it could affect many long-resident unauthorized migrants based on minimal apparent criminal violations), and skillful litigation attacking immigration detainers. The Secretary of Homeland Security terminated SC in November 2014, replacing it with a new Priority Enforcement Program. This change addressed most LEA objections but preserved key enforcement efficiencies pioneered through SC, while laying the groundwork for eventually rebuilding sound LEA cooperation. (4) Congress should restore wider versions of discretionary relief from removal available in immigration court, to provide a more professional and reliable means (as compared to prosecutorial discretion) to soften the harsh edges of enforcement and thereby foster public support.

Literacy education for low-educated second language learning adults in multilingual contexts: the case of Luxembourg

Mastery of literacy skills in the language(s) of the host country is considered a key element for the successful integration of immigrants. The current paper focuses on possibly one of the most challenging aspects of the issues of linguistic integration of immigrants, i.e., literacy acquisition by “low-literate” adult immigrants in a “multilingual” environment such as Luxembourg. It documents Luxembourg’s current state of literacy education policies and practices with regard to low-literate adult L2 learners. Also, it contains a participatory observation on a French literacy course in Luxembourg in order to look into the actual implementation and effectiveness of such courses in more detail. In doing so, we look into the relevant policies and practices of two other multilingual countries, i.e., Canada and Belgium, in order to situate the present practices of Luxembourg within larger contexts and provide insights into how to promote better policy and education options for low-literate adult immigrants in Luxembourg.

Social Capital and Employment Outcomes of Zimbabwean Immigrants in the United States

Understanding of cultural and contextual factors that may influence settlement is vital for successful immigrant integration. This study explored the effect of social capital on employment outcomes of Zimbabwean immigrants (N = 103) in the USA using a triangulation mixed methods design. Participants completed a survey that assessed their social capital and employment outcomes. Twelve participants were selected from those who had completed the survey to participate in in-depth interviews that asked about their life experiences. The results of a multiple logistic regression analysis identified network diversity as a significant inverse predictor of underemployment (p = 0.04) controlling for educational attainment. Qualitative results elaborated on how social capital contributed to or minimized underemployment. Implications for practice are also suggested.

Integration of Highly Qualified Sub-Saharan Immigrants in Prague

Successful integration of immigrants into the host society demands a creation of specific conditions that would facilitate immigrants their adaptation to a new sociocultural, economic and political environment. Therefore, the process of integration itself is not only a task for immigrants, but also for a majority. One of the key factors for a creation of truly cohesive society is the support of positive aspects of mutual inter-cultural relations. This could be reinforced by implementation of “adequate” integration programs adapted to the local context as well as sensible use of mass media. If the host society does not dispose of effective instruments to integrate its “own citizens”, it is generally difficult to create strategies for insertion of immigrants of different cultural backgrounds (such as Sub-Saharan Africans). Basic features of the integration process of Sub-Saharan Africans and political reactions of the major society were identified in Prague, Paris, London and Liege.

New immigrant settlement in a mid‐sized city: a case study of housing barriers and coping strategies in Kelowna, British Columbia

The successful integration of immigrants into a new society is based on their attainment of several basic needs, including access to adequate, suitable and affordable housing. While this has long been a concern in Canadian cities, such as Vancouver, Toronto, and Montréal, it is also increasingly an issue in growing mid‐sized cities such as Kelowna, in the interior of British Columbia. While Kelowna's real estate market is one of the most expensive in the country, there is little published data or literature on the housing experiences of immigrants in the city. This study examines the housing experiences and stresses of a small group of immigrants in Kelowna's rental housing market. This study uses data from five focus groups with 34 new immigrants and 20 interviews with key informants, conducted in Kelowna in summer 2008. The evidence indicates that for this group of immigrant newcomers, the housing search process in Kelowna's rental housing market met with significant barriers in locating affordable rental housing. Of these barriers, the most commonly cited were: (a) high housing costs; (b) lack of reliable housing information, including lack of access to organizations that provide housing help (government or not); and (c) prejudice by landlords based on the immigrants' ethnic and racial background.This study points to the need for more comparative studies on the housing experiences of immigrants in mid‐sized cities in Canada to better understand which groups of immigrants are more successful than others in finding affordable housing in these mid‐sized cities, and why.