Roberto Suro
Roberto Suro
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.
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. . . .
decade extremely few flows high increase lasted momentary nor past peak rather
The extremely high (immigration) flows at the end of the past decade were not the norm, nor part of a long-term trend, but rather the peak of a momentary increase that lasted for only a few years.
citizens lasting moment question shape stakes themselves view whether
The question is whether this moment continues. Does this shape the way they see themselves as citizens and does this become part of their view of themselves as voters? And if it does it can have a lasting impact. The real stakes here are long-term.
class hispanic la means middle oscar spend
There's a Hispanic middle class, no doubt, but it just doesn't spend as much as other groups. And Oscar De La Hoya is by no means alone, or even early.
choice choices ethnic extent identity influences large marketers population spreading unknown
The unknown here is the extent to which someone retains an ethnic identity that influences their choices of entertainment. It's a large enough population that marketers are spreading their bets.
hispanic large living population scattered share signs
You've got a very large share of the population living not in stereotypical neighborhoods where all the signs are in Spanish. There are still a lot living in densely Hispanic neighborhoods, but there are more who are scattered all over the landscape.
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.
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.
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.