Crossroads: The Psychology of Immigration in the New Century

psychological research literature (C. Suárez-Orozco & Carhill,
2008), and in clinical training (APA, 2007a).
Immigrant children demonstrate both resiliencies and
vulnerabilities compared with their nonimmigrant peers. For
example, children in immigrant homes are more likely than
nonimmigrants to have parents who are married and work
full time (Passel & Cohn, 2009). Many children in immigrant
homes, however, are at greater risk for growing up in poverty,
with 21% of immigrant-origin children living in poverty
versus 17% in U.S.-born families, and 49% living in lowincome
homes versus 36% in U.S.-born families (Mather,
2009). Though their parents tend to be working, their jobs
often pay below subsistence wages (Mather, 2009). Those
whose parents are not proficient in English, do not have
U.S. citizenship, have low levels of education, and have lived
in the U.S. fewer than 10 years are the most likely to live in
poverty (Mather, 2009). Poverty rates vary widely by country
of origin. Children from India, the Philippines, China, Korea,
Canada, and Europe are at the least risk, and those from Africa
and the Caribbean are less likely to be at risk than U.S.-born
Black children, while Latino and refugee children from Iraq,
Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen are at greatest risk for poverty
(Mather, 2009).
Immigrant Family Separations
For the first generation, the immigrant journey often results
in serial migration and prolonged family separations (Mitrani,
Santisteban, & Muir, 2004). A study of 400 immigrant
newcomer early adolescents from China, the Dominican
Republic, Haiti, Mexico, and Central America found that 75%
spent between 6 months to 10 years apart from one or both
parents during the migratory process (C. Suárez-Orozco, Bang,
& Kim, 2011). Immigrant parents often have to make the
difficult decision to leave their children behind with relatives
for a period of time as they establish themselves (Foner, 2009).
Other examples of disrupted families due to migration include
when upper-middle-class families from such places as Hong
Kong and Taiwan send middle- and high-school students to
study abroad as “astronaut kids,” living with the mother while
the father remains in the country of origin (Ong, 1999), or
as “parachute kids,” living with extended or fictive kin while
both parents remain in the country of origin (Zhou, 2009).
Another long-documented practice is sending children, such
as unruly adolescents, back to the country of origin to be
resocialized by their grandparents (R. C. Smith, 2005).
Life Span Considerations
Increasingly, infants and toddlers are being sent back to
extended family while parents remain in the United States
to work, reuniting in the United States with their parents at
school age (Bohr, Whitfield, & Chan, 2009; Gaytán, Xue, &
Yoshikawa, 2006). In recent years, families with unauthorized
parents have involuntarily been wrenched apart by workplace
and in-home raids conducted by immigration authorities
(Chaudry et al., 2010).
Separated families often desire reunification, which may
take years, especially when complicated by financial hurdles
and immigration regulations (Menjívar & Abrego, 2009).
If children immigrate to a new country separately, parental
contact during the separation period (e.g., letters, phone
calls, or personal visits) contributes to the well-being of
the children, but the separation–reunification processes can
create negative psychological experiences for the children
(C. Suárez-Orozco, Todorova, & Louie, 2002). The longer the
separation, the more complicated the family reunification
and the greater the likelihood that children will report
psychological symptoms (C. Suárez-Orozco, Bang, & Kim,
2011).
Young adults
In 1970, approximately 4% of the young adult population
between the ages of 18 and 34 were either first or second
generation (Rumbaut & Komaie, 2010), while today almost
30% are of immigrant-origin (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007).
This percentage is approximately a third higher than the total
U.S.-born young adult population (20.4%). Most are second
generation, but the first generation makes up a significantly
high percentage (26.5%) and is particularly prevalent in
this age group among Mexicans (34.3%). Nearly half of
the foreign-born in the United States in this age group are
unauthorized (Hoefer et al., 2009), which has implications
for available opportunities (C. Suárez-Orozco, Yoshikawa,
et al., 2011) (see Populations Facing Unique Challenges—
Undocumented Immigrants and Their Children).
These young adults tend to be concentrated in particular
states and urban centers. In California, 55% of young adults
are first or second generation; in the New York metropolitan
area, 56% of young adults are of foreign parentage; and in
Miami and in Texas cities along the Mexican border, two
thirds of young adults are of immigrant origin (Rumbaut &
Komaie, 2010).
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