Woodrow-Lafield Other Abstracts

KAREN A. WOODROW-LAFIELD, Ph.D.

Other Abstracts for Current Presentations and Recent Papers

Web Page: http://home.comcast.net/~karenwoodrowlafield

Woodrow-Lafield, Karen A. 2009. “Transitions for Immigrants: Empirical Evidence and Future Considerations,” Presentation, School of Social Work and Julian Samora Research Institute, Michigan State University, March 17.

Migrants make multiple transitions after coming, such as defining themselves as settlers, gaining lawful permanent residence if they had not arrived with immigrant status, becoming naturalized, and interfacing with social institutions of education, health, the economy, the polity, religion, community, and government. Immigrant incorporation as citizens is gaining recognition, and understanding this transition is integral to an evolving sociology of citizenship. With immigration reform and social policy on the national agenda, this presentation focuses on several issues surrounding unauthorized residents and migration, special status populations, economic security, and changing Latino and other communities, and key findings are highlighted from longitudinal analyses of immigrants’ transitions in becoming naturalized.

Woodrow-Lafield, Karen A. 2008. Review Becoming a Citizen: Incorporating Immigrants and Refugees in the United States and Canada, by Irene Bloemraad, 2006, Berkeley: University of California Press. International Migration Review 42 (2, Summer): 518-520.

Submission draft: http://home.comcast.net/~karenwoodrowlafield/ KWLREVIEWBloemraadFinalwref.html

Woodrow-Lafield, Karen A. 2008. “Interstate Migration and the Transition to Citizen,” Presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, New Orleans, April 19.

For adult immigrants of 1978-1991 who became U.S. citizens, the majority was living in the states of initial residence, but about one-fifth had moved to another state. From logistic regression analyses, the likelihood of making an interstate migration varies by visa class of admission, manner of entry, initial residence, and place of origin. Men with employment-sponsored visas were more likely to have experienced an interstate migration, and this may have resulted from greater human capital allowing choice in economic opportunities and amenities, including availability of ethnics as peers. Immigrants initially settling in Florida or California seemed less likely to have left these states. Further investigation is needed to explore the feasibility of this approach for supplementing existing sources on internal migration.

Woodrow-Lafield, Karen A. 2008. “Dimensions of Net Unauthorized Migration over Three Decades,” Presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, New Orleans, and as an earlier presentation, College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, University of California, Riverside, March 12.

Net authorized migration and net unauthorized migration pose challenges for demographers in assessing the magnitude and dynamics of U.S. population change. The cohort components-of-change approach yields estimates for net authorized migration that are subject to accuracy on temporality, increments of legal residents, and decrements from return migration. As residuals, net unauthorized migration estimates are affected by both errors in the foreign-born estimate and the estimate for net authorized migration. Measuring population change due to net unauthorized migration is particularly problematic. This presentation is an overview of unauthorized migration research, national and state-level, in the context of current population programs and the 2010 census. Official population estimates showed inadequacies as to net international migration for the 1970s and the 1990s, and the quest for new strategies and expanded data collection is an important one.

Woodrow-Lafield, Karen A. 2006. Immigration Multipliers. Prepared for Congress & Tomorrow’s Foreign-Born Workforce: Evaluating Immigration Projections, a workshop organized by the Institute for the Study of International Migration, Georgetown University (September 26-27, 2006).

The topic of immigration multipliers sprang from the new immigration as consequences pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act. With a legacy of understanding pioneers and chain migration, the concept of immigration multipliers addresses the amount of future immigration stemming from an individual given permanent residence. Studies to quantify immigration multipliers range from those using direct estimation based on special surveys to model-based estimation drawing on traditional census and administrative data. One focus in this review is the case study of immigrants legalized under the general provisions of the Immigration and Reform Control Act of 1986, for whom analyses of the Legalized Population Surveys reveal residential distribution of family members, potential family reunification, and intentions to naturalize. Their experience has relevance for recent policy discussions of establishing mechanisms for guestworker visas and adjustment to lawful permanent residence and possible citizenship for undocumented residents. A second focus is findings on naturalization of immigrants admitted over the 1980s, especially as to propensities to naturalize more quickly or more slowly that vary among origin groups and by needs for family reunification. The level of likely immigration multipliers has a prominent role in developing projections of future immigration under proposed immigration reforms.

PowerPoint presentation:

http://www12.georgetown.edu/sfs/isim/Event%20Documents/Sloan%20Projections%20Meeting/webversion-KWL-imm-mult.pdf

For further information, refer to the workshop report: http://www12.georgetown.edu/sfs/isim/Event%20Summaries&Speeches/Lowell,%20ProjectionsWorkshop.pdf

Or other presentations:

http://www12.georgetown.edu/sfs/isim/pages/SloanProject.html

Woodrow-Lafield, Karen A. 2006. “New Citizens and Internal Migration,” Presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, Los Angeles, March 29-April 1, 2006.

This analysis explores internal migration in the period between admission as lawful permanent resident and naturalization. Internal migration of foreign-born residents is more important to consider because the foreign-born population is more dispersed to communities not traditionally receiving immigrants. For adult immigrants of 1978-1991 who became U.S. citizens, the majority was living in the states of initial residence, but 22 percent had moved to another state. From logistic regression analyses, the likelihood of making this type of interstate migration varies by visa class of admission, manner of entry, initial residence, and place of origin. Men are more likely to have made this move than women, and this approach may be more revealing for their experiences. Further investigation is needed to explore the feasibility of this approach for supplementing existing sources on internal migration.

Woodrow-Lafield, Karen A. 2006. “The Timing of Naturalization: Immigrants from Selected Major Countries of Birth,” Public Policy Institute of California, February 28.

Becoming a U.S. citizen is an indicator of civic assimilation. This presentation reports on naturalization for Mexican, Dominican, and Chinese immigrants and the role of admission characteristics in the timing of naturalization based on hazards models. Immigrants with employment sponsorship were more likely to naturalize quickly. Second, immigrants likely to have fewer family members in the United States, possibly even the first to immigrate in their consanguineal family network, were more likely to naturalize. Third, propensity to naturalize differs by gender and across origin, pointing to cultural contexts, gender roles, demographic diversity, and social capital. Among Mexican and Dominican immigrants, women naturalized sooner than men, and this may denote women’s role in settlement and perpetuation of migration.

Woodrow-Lafield, Karen A. 2005. “Modeling the Transition to U.S. Citizenship: Mexican and Dominican Immigrants,” Presented at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Fordham University, January 28.

Becoming a U.S. citizen may be one indicator of assimilation although the opposing view is that naturalization may result from self-protective behavior in securing access to public benefits and better health access. This presentation reports on completion of naturalization by 1996 for Mexican and Dominican immigrants and the role of characteristics at admission based on hazards modeling for duration to naturalization. Immigrants with employment sponsorship were more likely to naturalize quickly. Second, immigrants having fewer family members in the United States, possibly even the first to immigrate in their consanguineal family network, were more likely to naturalize. Third, propensity to naturalize differs by gender and across origin, pointing to cultural contexts, gender roles, demographic diversity, and social capital. Among Mexican and Dominican immigrants, women naturalized sooner than men, and this may denote women’s role in settlement and perpetuation of migration.

Woodrow-Lafield, Karen A. 2005. “Answering the Question: How Many Unauthorized Migrants?” Presented in the Department of Justice, Law, and Society, School of Public Affairs, Washington, D.C. (July 6, 2005), the College of Natural and Behavioral Sciences, California State University Dominguez Hills (November 16, 2005), and the Department of Sociology, California State University, San Bernardino (March 5, 2007). Manuscript in progress.

Estimates for the number of unauthorized residents are mainly based on demographic studies with population accounting. Occasional, focused surveys have utilized detailed questions about immigration status and provided data that portrayed socioeconomic and other characteristics for unauthorized residents of Los Angeles County. This discussion contrasts survey and demographic analysis approaches for studying this population of considerable interest in social science and public policy.

Woodrow-Lafield, Karen A. 2004. “Immigrant Families in Poverty: Investigation and Paradox,” Presented at the annual meeting of the Southern Demographic Association, Hilton Head.

In 2001, the official poverty measure classified 11.7 percent of the U.S. population as poor, 16.1 percent of the foreign-born as poor, and 19.7 percent of noncitizens as poor. According to the National Academy of Sciences and other experts, the official poverty measure has serious weaknesses in not accounting for noncash benefits and necessary expenses of contemporary families. Another point of concern has been geographic differences in living costs. This paper shows poverty rates for the foreign-born recalculated according to alternative measures in the official poverty report for 2002, finding foreign-born householder families, especially noncitizens, would be more likely classified as poor. The current official measure understates difficulties these families face due to higher housing costs, higher work expenses such as child care and paying taxes, and fewer resources from food stamps, energy assistance, and housing subsidies. Poor immigrants are not faring as well as officially indicated and these results suggest the number of children of foreign-born parents in poverty may be greater than official estimates. Paradoxically, where families live is more difficult to incorporate within poverty measurement at the same time as immigrant families are multiplying in high-cost metropolitan areas.

Woodrow-Lafield, Karen A. 2004. “Migration, Status, and the Foreign-Born Population,” Invited paper for the 4^th Colorado Conference on the Estimation of Migration, convened at the Aspen Lodge, Estes Park, Colorado (September 24-26), and supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute on Aging. (CCEM-2004)

As the single developed nation with prospects for sustained population growth due to international migration, the United States is on a course of continuing change in geographic distribution of the population. The interesting indicators of the mean and median centers of population tracked the changing geography in the past century, but these do not separate the unique aspect of settlement and internal migration of the foreign-born population. This article sets forth the conceptual and theoretical framework for understanding the role of immigration in U.S. changing geography, examines prior research, addresses contemporary questions, and presents a case study on new directions on foreign-born migration analyses. International migration and immigration studies are complex as interdisciplinary domains, and shared understanding is crucial for progress in quantification and modeling.

See various reports at http://www.colorado.edu/ibs/pop/ccemconf/ .

Woodrow-Lafield, Karen A. and Ellen Percy Kraly. 2004. “Points of Departure: Emigration from the United States,” Presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, Boston.

The answer to the simple question of the number of U.S. residents having left in the 1990s to live abroad has involved multiple “answers” of varying sources. The tasks of measuring quantities of emigration or return migration and the number of U.S. born persons or former U.S. residents living abroad depend on a crude science of scrutinizing various data sources and indirect estimation. Drawing from several studies about emigration levels and return migrants for 1950-2000, this review covers definitional issues, analytic universe, study populations, period influences, heterogeneity of at-risk populations, constituencies of emigration estimates, and alternative findings. We conclude with discussion of strategies for augmenting U.S. population statistics on emigration that meet criteria of understandability, credibility, and feasibility.

García, Alma, Karen A. Woodrow-Lafield, and Anand Ramanujan. 2003. The Demography of Migration from Colombia, Presented in the Seminar on Demography of Conflict and Violence, Oslo, Norway, November 8-11, 2003, organized by the Working Group on the Demography of Conflict and Violence, International Union for the Scientific Study of Population.

The civil unrest in Colombia has disrupted personal lives and society to a magnitude little studied. The demography of recent migration within and from Colombia is one of conflict, violence, and human perseverance. This article examines the demography of recent migration from Colombia and proposes empirical strategies for greater understanding the nature of adaptations made by individuals and families as migrants and immigrants in the United States.

Woodrow-Lafield, Karen A. and Anand Ramanujan. 2003. A Snapshot on Census 2000 Coverage: Answers, Questions, and Geography, Presented at the annual meeting of the Southern Demographic Association, October 24, Alexandria, Virginia.

The 2000 Census is regarded as covering the population more completely than prior censuses and giving new knowledge of the Hispanic or Latino population, foreign-born population, and, indirectly, unauthorized residents. This paper examines the scientific evaluations of accuracy of the 2000 Census, including the A.C.E. Revision II results as to coverage nationally and for states and regions. Net undercount rates were reduced, as were also differences in net undercount rates between historically less well counted groups and other groups. An expert assessment stated a reasonable inference that differences in net undercount rates among geographic areas were probably smaller in 2000 than in 1990. Nevertheless, large numbers of duplicate census enumerations and wholly imputed census records cast a pall on Census 2000, and attention to the geographic distribution of census coverage is warranted by the disproportionate representation of duplicates and imputations among historically less-well-counted groups. A.C.E. Revision II results showed net overcounts for the majority of states, especially Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Indiana, and a net undercount for the District of Columbia. It may be plausible that the 2000 Census counts and the A.C.E. estimates may be the “same” for the South and the West, but there are indications of net overcounts for the Midwest and Northeast. Because there is uncertainty about A.C.E. results, Census 2000 count data are the basis for apportionment, redistricting, federal funding allocation, intercensal population estimates, and national survey controls for the decade. Because the Hispanic or Latino and foreign-born populations have increased since 1990 and censuses have historically shown undercounting for Hispanics, foreign-born persons, recent immigrants, and unauthorized residents, questions of coverage within states, counties and places merit continuing scrutiny.

Woodrow-Lafield, Karen A. 2003. “A 21^st Century Agenda on Border and Inter-American Affairs,” Presentations, Institute for Latino Studies, University of Notre Dame, April 24 and July 8. Manuscript in progress.

Research for policymaking about border affairs within the Americas, U.S. migration and immigration, and international migration and human rights requires two sets of lenses: one on populations interacting across borders and another on population contours within borders. The elements of migration flows and populations are complex over time, as to geographic boundaries of place or country, permanent or temporary, lawful status or unauthorized status, and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Political debates about controlling migration are grounded in nation-state sovereignty and tempered by global contexts, plus states and localities are engaging in the immigration debate. In the context of U.S. immigration policies, the first and second generation populations are the subject of increasing research and discussion of migrant histories, lawful status and transitions, citizenship, and political incorporation, and the current debate on immigration reform hinges on residence and pathways of citizenship. Official statistics on “unofficial” immigrants are more accepted and more visible than ever before.