Scary trend for some immigrant kids

By Edward Schumacher-Matos

In the early 1990s, sociologist Alejandro Portes and colleagues began an ambitious project of following the progress of 5,200 children of foreign-born immigrants. Immigration studies were rare then and focused on adults.

Portes posited that the real national impact turned not on inflammatory issues such as immigrants’ health care, but on the success of their children.

There was a historical American bargain for the immigrants: They might suffer, but their offspring would advance.

Building on the work of the celebrated sociologist Herbert Gans, Portes and his group said the popular perception of each generation doing better than its parents was wrong. They said some children stagnated in comparison to their parents and others actually did worse.

To test his theories, Portes picked adolescents from ethnic groups in San Diego and Miami. Their average age was 14. The researchers revisited them at 17 and 24, then interviewed a small group who by then averaged 28.

Now come his final findings, published in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. And they are alarming. Most immigrant children in his sample have in fact moved up, overwhelmingly benefiting the country. But a sizable minority, particularly of Mexican-Americans, our single largest immigrant group, are still stagnant or have fallen into an underclass of crime, school dropouts and teen pregnancies.

From Portes’ work and other studies, we know who and why, but just as the government, community leaders, educators and parents were unable in the 1950s and ’60s to prevent the spiraling decay that hit African-American communities, a similar story is playing out with millions of immigrant children. The numbers should be setting off a call for action.

In the Portes sample of Mexican-Americans, nearly 40 percent dropped out of high school and 20 percent of the men were in jail. Other studies show the dropout rate among Mexican-Americans actually goes up in the third generation, confounding expectations.

The Pew Hispanic Center reported this month that 44 percent of Latinos between ages 16 and 25 were in high school or college, compared with 53 percent of blacks and 58 percent of non-Hispanic whites. Nearly two-thirds of Latinos are of Mexican descent.

The reasons for the Mexican-Americans’ performance are many. Their parents tend to have little education and few job skills. As with blacks, single-parent households and lack of parental control can lead to poor early school performance, which leads to leaving school and pursuing deviant lifestyles such as gangs and drugs. Racial discrimination and low expectations by teachers add barriers.

A crucial factor is a radical shift from an industrial-based economy, with many steps up the ladder, to an information-based economy divided, almost like an hourglass, between the educated and the unskilled. Those on the bottom have little chance to get into the top.

Previous immigrants had similar low skills and education but did not face this structural context. Many immigrant children carry an additional weight that some social scientists say has a legacy similar to slavery’s: being here illegally. This status, of the children or the parents, creates deep angst that affects performance and limits opportunities.

Demand for unskilled immigrants for low-wage manual labor will not change in the foreseeable future. Yet, as Portes concludes, the trend for their children is “almost frightening in its implications.” Americans may disagree on immigration, but we should all be assisting these young people who are part of us.

Edward Schumacher-Matos writes for The Washington Post Writers Group.