Roberto Suro
Roberto Suro
consensus opinion poll public
This is the most comprehensive public opinion poll ever done. There is not a consensus nationwide about immigration or a consensus about what to do about it.
extent nerves ourselves political proposals response seeing seemingly technical though touch
Right now, we're seeing to some extent the political response to the demography. And even though the legislative proposals are seemingly technical and narrow, they touch these nerves about how we think of ourselves as a people.
commonly continuous decade distinct flows immigrant increase levels middle past rather sharp spike states undergoing united united-states
Rather than undergoing a continuous increase in immigrant levels as is commonly perceived, the United States experienced a sharp spike in immigration flows over the past decade that had a distinct beginning, middle and end.
across among breadth contained contrary economic educated limited mexicans might people poor poorly
Contrary to what people might expect, the inclination to migrate isn't contained among Mexicans who are poor or poorly educated or with limited economic prospects. They're distributed across the whole breadth of Mexican society.
contrary desire might people restricted
Contrary to what people might expect, the desire to immigrate is not restricted to the poor.
balance becomes congress hard law matter national partly security time trying writ
You end up, after a point, trying to balance our fundamental traditions, the need for order, law and security with a need for openness. Immigration policy, writ large, has always been partly a matter of national identity. It becomes a values-laden debate. Congress is having a hard time with it.
among families generation mixture purely sort thrown
There's kind of a cosmopolitan feel among these kids, which could end up being something very distinctive. It's a mishmash of stuff, and it's all just sort of thrown together, which is very much what this generation is like: a mixture of what they take from their families . . . and purely American kids.
clear factor finding flow large people per pushing whether
There's one very clear finding and that's that unemployment per se is not a very large factor in determining whether people migrate or not. This is not a flow of people without jobs. Unemployment is not pushing people out. . . .
among negative rather sentiments
We know that the negative sentiments are more prevalent among the middle-aged rather than the young,
came people question social
If all these people that came here are going to stay, then there is a question of what will be the social cost. If they're only here for their working life, it's a bargain.
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New York, Chicago and Los Angeles have gotten expensive, and they haven't been growing a fast as Charlotte and Raleigh.
direction future gotten high lies rates school second
Much of their future lies there, ... The high school dropout rates are all going in the right direction and are improving. They have gotten better for the second generation.
areas arrived creates economic economies expansion fast growing growth immigrant metro overall places population rapid recently tend
Those places all tend to be metro areas where the overall population is growing fast and where the economies are vibrant. That kind of rapid economic growth and expansion creates a demand, particularly for recently arrived immigrant workers.
born election five four greater hispanic kids native next numbers turning wave
There is a big demographic wave of Hispanic kids who are native born who will be turning 18 in even greater numbers over the next three, four and five election cycles.