RD-W2D2
Lostcauseminka
IncomeLevelofImmigrantsintheUS.docxINCOME LEVEL OF IMMIGRANTS IN THE US 1
Income Level of Immigrants in the US
Student's Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Code & Name
Instructor's Name
Due Date
Income Level of Immigrants in the US
For several decades, the United States of America has been a destination for immigrants, both legal and illegal. According to the United States Census Bureau statistics, 85.7 million immigrants currently reside in the country (Vespa et al., 2018). Most immigrants are attracted to the US by the prospects of favorable economic conditions that grant them decent jobs. Whether these immigrants realize their dreams after arriving in the US is a subject of discussion. The United States is not the best destination for immigrants as there are cases of oppression and racial discrimination in accessing basic needs, education, healthcare, and jobs. This paper will focus on the income level of foreign-born individuals residing in the United States. The level of education and immigration status determines the income level of foreign-born workers in the country.
Literature Review
The Main Reasons Immigrants come to the United States
The majority of the immigrants move to the US in search of decent jobs. Other immigrants visit the US to pursue education in some of the best educational institutions in the world. Many immigrants are attracted to the US by its democracy and intend to practice the American dream. Besides, some want to reunify with their relatives who have been living abroad (Park et al., 2019). The above accounts for the proportion of legal immigrants who make up 51% of the immigrants moving to the United States. The other 49% accounts for illegal immigrants, but they are comprised of people running away from war-tone countries. However, approximately 11.4% of the immigrants from war-ravaged countries are usually deported back. Mexico contributes the highest proportion of illegal immigrants that hit a record of 7.9 million in 2016 (Park et al.,2019).
Top Destinations for Immigrants in the United States
The distribution of foreign-born populations in the United States is uneven across different states. Even though the share of the United States foreign-born population is 14.2%, the share for individual states is variable, ranging from as high as 28.1% in California to as low as 1.9% in West Virginia (Garcia et al., 2017). Most of the States harboring many immigrants are either close to the border or have major urban centers. California and New York are the top destinations for immigrants. Major urban centers like Los Angeles and New York attract immigrants due to ethnic networks that fresh immigrants rely on to settle. The States of Mississippi and West Virginia account for the lowest population of immigrants(Garcia et al., 2017).
Typical Jobs for Immigrants in the United States
Mexico marks the most extensive foreign-born Americans (4%), followed by India, China, and the Philippines. The proximity of Mexico to the United States and the level of economic prosperity highly contribute to the influx of undocumented Mexicans. Differences in educational attainment determine the type of jobs that immigrants do. In 2017, approximately 7.6 million illegal immigrants worked in the United States, down from 8.3 million in 2008 (Lopez et al., 2018). Undocumented immigrants work mainly in the construction sector, food production, processing, and distribution. The majority of immigrants in the United States work in the Agriculture industry. The state of California had the largest share of immigrant workers, approximately 6.7 million as of 2017. Among these workers, 5.2 million were legal workers, while 1.5 million were undocumented immigrant workers. Texas ranks second in the immigrant workers' population with 1.1 million undocumented workers and 2.1 million documented workers (Lopez et al., 2018).
References
Garcia, A. S., & Schmalzbauer, L. (2017). Placing assimilation theory: Mexican immigrants in urban and rural America. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 672(1), 64-82.
Lopez, D., & Feliciano, C. (2018). Who does what? California's emerging plural labor force. In Organizing immigrants (pp. 25-48). Cornell University Press.
Park, S., & Kim, G. (2019). Factor structures of reasons for immigration among older Asian and Latino immigrants in the United States. Innovation in aging, 3(4), igz039.
