Home Ownership, Education Rates of Immigrants in U.S. Projected to Shoot Up
Panning across all nationalities and ethnic groups, immigrants to the U.S. are assimilating into American life, at higher rates than their predecessors. The overall progress of the people who immigrated to the U.S. in the 1990s shows that various aspects like home ownership and higher education are set to grow from 2000 to 2030 despite their current financial setback due to the economic meltdown.
A study conducted by the Center for American Progress, a research and educational institute, found that the percentage of immigrants who own their homes is projected to rise from 25.5 percent in 2000 to 72 percent in 2030.
Furthermore, the percentage of immigrants speaking English well or very well is projected to rise from 57.5 percent to 70.3 percent and the percent living in poverty is projected to fall from 22.8 percent to 13.4 percent.
The Hispanic immigrants, when analyzed separately, also exhibited high rates of advancement, contrary to what nativist scholars like Samuel Huntington argued. According to Huntington, Hispanics will have a low assimilation rate being a larger community with greater proximity to their home country. But Hispanics' homeownership is expected to increase from 21 percent in 2000 to an impressive 67 percent in 2030.
Immigrant youth - who were below 20 on arrival and constitute roughly 20 percent of all immigrants -- also show positive gains and dramatic changes between generations. These changes illustrate just how much an early arrival helps in the integration process.
The study positively reflected on the high rates at which immigrants are integrating into American life, learning English, and becoming homeowners. They, on average, will be much better situated by 2030 than when they first arrived, Dowell Myers and John Pitkin of the Center for American Progress wrote. The authors of the study have said that successful immigrants are inevitable for the American economy, especially in sectors of healthcare, social security and real estate.
The future prospects of immigrants are greatly tied to whether or not the U.S. pass an immigration reform package that allows all immigrants living in the shadows to become legal and become full and productive members of society, the study says.
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