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Will They Stay? Foreign-Born Out-Migration from New U.S. Destinations

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Abstract

Immigrants living in new destinations in 1995 were 2.5 times more likely to have migrated to another labor market by 2000 as immigrants living in traditional places. The researchers look at two competing explanations for immigrants’ differential internal migration patterns, namely that immigrants prefer areas with relatively large nativity concentrations which provide them with social support versus immigrants are target earners who prefer robust labor markets with strong employment growth and high wages. Utilizing confidential Census data for 1990 and 2000, the authors develop new destination classifications for 741 labor markets that take into account the differential growth and composition characteristics of 24 Asian, Latin American and Caribbean immigrant groups living in those markets. The empirical analysis of labor market out-migration indicates that immigrants do not see internal migration as an either/or choice between economics and social support but prefer residence places that allow them to maximize both conditions.

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Notes

  1. The terms foreign born and immigrants are used interchangeably in this paper. Although some foreign born in the United States are not immigrants and will leave after their visas expire, the U.S. census does not differentiate immigrants by their visa status.

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Acknowledgments

Any opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Census Bureau. All results have been reviewed to ensure that no confidential information is disclosed. Support from NSF (ITR-0427889) for this research carried out at the New York State Census Research Data Center (NYCRDC), Cornell University, is gratefully acknowledged. We also acknowledge support from the Polson Institute for Global Development and the Russell Sage Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Development Sociology, Cornell University, Warren Hall, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Mary M. Kritz & Douglas T. Gurak

  2. Department of Sociology, Chung-Ang University, 211 Heukseok-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, 156-756, Korea

    Min-Ah Lee

Authors
  1. Mary M. Kritz
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  2. Douglas T. Gurak
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Correspondence to Mary M. Kritz.

Appendices

Appendix 1

See Table 4.

Table 4 Labor market classifications of 24 Asian, Caribbean, and Latin American foreign-born origin groups based on each group’s 1995 group-specific growth and composition context in 741 labor markets, 1990–1995
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Appendix 2

See Table 5.

Table 5 Percentage of foreign-born national origin group in each growth and composition context
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Appendix 3

See Table 6.

Table 6 Variable definitions and descriptive statistics (weighted) for labor market and individual covariates
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Appendix 4

See Table 7.

Table 7 Logistic regressions for 24 foreign-born origin groups of labor market migration on destination categories, economic context, nativity concentration, and individual characteristics (odds ratios)
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Kritz, M.M., Gurak, D.T. & Lee, MA. Will They Stay? Foreign-Born Out-Migration from New U.S. Destinations. Popul Res Policy Rev 30, 537–567 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-010-9200-3

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