Strangers at the GatesNew Immigrants in Urban America

Abstract

Immigration is remaking the United States. In New York, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, and Chicago, the multiethnic society of tomorrow is already in place. Yet today's urban centers appear unlikely to provide newcomers with the same opportunities their predecessors found at the turn of the last century. Using the latest sources of information, this book looks at the nexus between urban realities and immigrant destinies in these American cities. It tells the real story of immigrants' prospects for success today and delineates the conditions that will hinder or aid the newest Americans in their quest to get ahead. The book stresses the crucial importance of understanding that immigration today is fundamentally urban and the equally important fact that immigrants are now flocking to places where low-skilled workers—regardless of ethnic background—are in particular trouble. These two themes are at the heart of the book, which also covers a range of provocative topics, often with surprising findings. Among the chapters, one enters the controversy over whether and how immigrants affect the employment prospects for African Americans; another investigates whether low immigrant wages depress other workers' salaries; another contends that immigrants seem to be experiencing downward mobility; and another asserts that trends among second-generation immigrants are decidedly more optimistic.

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