Contemporary American Immigrants

Contemporary American Immigrants Synopsis

Contemporary American Immigrants provides an overview to the immigration history of three of the largest groups of Asian immigrants to the United States--Filipinos, Koreans, and Chinese. This timely volume addresses such questions as: how do these Asian immigrants adapt to our culture?; to what extent do they adjust and integrate? and are Asian immigrants a credit to American society? Using 1980 census data, the author reviews in detail the social and economic characteristics of these three immigrant groups. He also explores those characteristics for the most recent arrivals--those who came to the United States between 1980 and 1985--using data he collected in 1986 through interviews with 849 Filipino, Korean, and Chinese households. From his extensive research, Mangiafico concludes that the Asian immigrants surveyed and studied are enterprising, well-educated, and motivated individuals who greatly contribute to our society. He thus challenges the notions that immigrants in general are a burden to our society, and that they are changing our culture in ways which are not in the best interests of the United States.