New destinations and immigrant poverty in the US

About this talk

Immigrant settlement patterns diversified to new regions of the US over the last two decades, with some states doubling and tripling their immigrant populations. Dispersion to suburbs and rural areas was another dimension of these new immigrant geographies. Crowley et al (2006) report that immigrants living in newer destination areas in 2000 had lower rates of poverty than those living in traditional gateway areas. National poverty levels declined for immigrants in the 2000s while US-born poverty rates increased (although overall immigrant poverty rates remain higher). What happened to the geography of immigrant poverty in the 2000s? Did the differences between traditional gateway and new destination immigrant poverty rates remain the same throughout the 2000s, as slow economic growth turned to recession? Or did the negative economic conditions of the decade compress spatial variations in poverty? This paper will answer the following 3 questions:

1. Does the pattern of lower poverty rates in new destinations continue throughout the 2000s?
2. Why do immigrant poverty rates vary geographically across the US?
3. Has the recession and its aftermath changed the reasons for this geographical variation?