International Migrants, Governmental Context of Reception, and Second-Generation Educational Integration

Ngoc-Thoa Khuu , University of California, Irvine
Frank D. Bean, University of California, Irvine

This research investigates how governmental context of immigrant reception affects immigrant integration. During the 1980s, the United States received refugees from communist countries and allocated significant resources to their resettlement and integration. Using the U.S Census data, we examine whether and to what extent refugee status (proxied by respondents’ origin country and arrival year) contributes to the educational attainment of the adult children of these Cold-War refugees. After controlling for demographic and socioeconomic factors, we find that this group has higher attainment than the adult children of other legal migrants. We suggest that part of this effect that occurs beyond the part mediated by English proficiency and naturalization reflects an additional reception boost for refugees who departed from war-afflicted, communist countries. We discuss the results as suggesting the pivotal role of reception in immigrant integration, which carries important implications for both international migration and integration policies.

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 Presented in Session 225. International Migration