Immigrants in the United States:Profiles and Topics of Interest

Joy Kreeft Peyton

Center for Applied Linguistics

Washington, D.C.

Immigration to the U. S.

In 2012, nearly 41 million immigrants lived in the US, 13% of the US population

Only 1% increase between 2011 and 2012

http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration-united-states

Top 10 Countries of Origin

• Mexico• India• China• Philippines• El Salvador• Vietnam• Cuba• Korea• Dominican Republic• Guatemala

http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration-united-states

Foreign-Born Population

• Immigrants• Refugees• Asylees• Temporary workers• Foreign students• Family members• Unauthorized entries

Refugees• Burma• Bhutan• Iraq• Somalia• Cuba

• Eritrea• Iran• Democratic

Republic of Congo• Ethiopia • Afghanistan

Asylees

• China• Venezuela• Ethiopia• Venezuela• Egypt• Haiti

Top 5 Settlement States• California• New York• Texas• Florida• New Jersey

Top Languages Spoken at Home

• Spanish• Chinese (Mandarin & Cantonese)• Tagalog• Vietnamese• French• Korean• German• Arabic• Russian

Immigration Shifts

Among Hispanic/Latino Population

• Fewer immigrants from Mexico now than in previous years

• More US-born than native born

• US-born Hispanics entering adulthood: 800,000 (1 million per year)

Characteristics

Median Age

• Foreign-born, 43 years

• U.S.-born, 36 years

Gender

• 51% female• 49% male

Immigration Status

• 46% naturalized U.S. citizens

• 54% lawful permanent residents, unauthorized immigrants, legal residents on temporary visas (students, temporary workers)

Education

34 million foreign-born are 25 or older

27% have a bachelor’s degree or higher

32% do not have a high school diploma

WorkImmigrants/foreign-born are over 16% of the

US civilian workforce• 8% unemployed• 13% natural resources, construction, maintenance• 15% production, transportation, material moving• 18% sales & office• 26% service• 29% management & professional positions

Issues to Consider: Status• Immigrants are more likely to participate in the labor force, lack

a high school degree, and have incomes below the poverty line than native-born.

• Immigrants do not use public benefits as much as low-income native-born do.

Issues to Consider: Status

• Children of immigrant parents• Children of unauthorized/undocumented

immigrants• More than 4.5 million unauthorized

immigrants and other removable non-citizens have been deported since 1996.

• Deporter-in-Chief, Releaser-in-Chief, or Reformer-in-Chief? (Migration Policy Institute, April 29, 2014)

In the absence of comprehensive immigration reform, we need to set up ways to achieve lawful permanent residence.

Education of Adults in the U.S.

Adult Education Act passed in 1966

Since then, increased focus on 21st century college and job readiness skills in addition to GED and

high school diploma

Very little talk of globalized citizens/global competency

Topics of InterestUsing Program Quality Standards to Evaluate and

Improve Programs for Adults

Where and how does use of program standards fit into your work?

What challenges do you face in the area of program quality standards?

Topics of Interest

Working With Key Stakeholders

What are the most important knowledge, skills, and dispositions that teachers need?

How is this provided in your program?

What approaches work best for you?

Topics of Interest: Learner Profiles

Topics of InterestPromoting Learner Interaction

What are ways that we can promote learner interaction and engagement?

What challenges do we face when we try to do this?

Topics of Interest

Promoting Career and Academic Readiness With Emerging Readers

What are ways that we can promote learners’ transitions to academic contexts and careers?

What resources do we need to do this?

What challenges do we experience or foresee?

Let’s continue to talk!

Joy Peyton

Center for Applied Linguistics

joy@peytons.us