This dissertation inquires as to why and how certain immigrants that come to Hawaiʻi achieve upward economic and social mobility, while others do not. This research begins with a historical analysis of some of the first immigrant groups to arrive in Hawaiʻi in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of these immigrants worked as low-wage agricultural workers in Hawaii’s emerging plantation economy. This research finds that institutions in the 20th century were used differently by immigrant groups, and that racial hierarchies found on the plantation contributed to a racialized social structure that provided opportunities for select groups. This research then analyzes the situation of Micronesians who come to Hawaiʻi from the Freely Associated States, to ask why and how they become marginalized in a multi-ethnic place with many immigrants. It is found that their liminal status, as neither U.S. citizens nor undocumented, contributes to the blurred responsibilities between state and federal governments in terms of who should be providing social services. As a result, these migrants quickly become seen as a cost burden to the state and their liminality is exacerbated by the economic and social ideologies brought forth by neoliberalism. This work adds to the immigrant incorporation literature on liminality by showing the limits of a state’s response to support a liminal immigrant group in the absence of federal aid.

The U.S. immigrant-origin population is diverse not only in their sociodemographic characteristics and auspices of migration, but also in their integration outcomes. Each of the empirical studies that make up this dissertation focuses on how migration statuses, with their accompanying policies and social dynamics, affect the education, health, and social ties of immigrants and their descendants. The first empirical study, Chapter 2, explores how refugee status and levels of governmental assistance at arrival affect refugee children’s adult educational outcome by comparing the years of schooling completed by refugees and non-refugee immigrants who arrived as children across three periods that cover the years between 1980 and 1995. The second study, Chapter 3, explores the health statuses of refugees and non-refugee immigrants in comparison to the U.S.-born, how their health trajectories change across duration of residence, and whether healthcare access mediates the relationship between duration of residence and health. The last study, Chapter 4, examines the school friendship networks of youth to better understand whether and how immigrant generations affect friendship choices and intergroup dynamics. Findings from the studies suggest that immigrants, both refugees and non-refugees, experience better integration outcomes when they receive sufficient governmental assistance and healthcare access. In addition, the immigrant-origin population demonstrates greater social integration across generations, but this process may be limited by patterns of friendship segregation demonstrated among more long-standing native-born groups. Chapter 5, the conclusion chapter, highlights the theoretical and policy implications of the research findings by re-emphasizing how reception factors at both the policy and social levels may shape pathways to integration for the U.S. immigrant-origin population.

ABSTRACT

In the general area of immigrant incorporation studies, few investigations have looked at interconnections among different kinds of incorporation, but instead have usually focused on only one facet of incorporation at a time. Scholars vary considerably in their perceptions of immigrant incorporation, and this variation is particularly pronounced for Mexican immigrants. Some scholars emphasize slow but steady mobility while others focus on barriers and downfalls. Still others see Mexicans and their descendants as unassimilable. Classic assimilation theory proposes that with the occurrence of "structural assimilation," or entrance into mainstream primary groups, all other forms of assimilation will naturally follow in no particular order. It further holds that exposure to the host country will also help account for similarities shared by newcomers and natives, if for no other reason than time diminishes differences. This dissertation investigates relationships between indicators of the American Dream and some of the most important aspects of the incorporation of Mexican immigrants-the strength and direction of the relationship between an important aspect of economic incorporation, homeownership, critical aspects of political and sociocultural incorporation, ethnoracial identity, and naturalization, respectively. It also investigates for U.S.-born Mexican Americans the relationship between homeownership and ethnoracial identity. The findings indicate that Mexican immigrant homeowners (44.6%) are more likely than non-homeowners (21.6%) to be naturalized. Time in the country for Mexican immigrants has a positive effect on homeownership, as age has a positive odds (1.012) on identifying as white in the race category listed by the U.S. Census Bureau. The data shows that 57% of Mexican Americans are homeowners, 54% identify as being white, and their mean years of education is just below 12 years, not too far from that of the average American-born native, with just above a mean household income of $46,000. These findings suggest exposure to American ways of life, or proactively incorporating, is working for Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans on their pathway to achieving the American Dream.

Key words: Immigration, Incorporation, Mexican Immigrants, Mexican Americans, Homeownership, Naturalization, Citizenship, Racial Identity, American Dream

©2014 Esther Castillo

This dissertation examines intermarriage across generations of the Mexican-origin population in order to better understand how this population is incorporating in U.S. society, and looks at parental migration status and parental nativity as factors that may impede or facilitate intermarriage incorporation. Using data from the Immigration and Intergenerational Mobility in Metropolitan Los Angeles (IIMMLA) survey the research shows that: the majority of intermarriages among the Mexican-origin population occur with non-Hispanic white spouses, third-generation Mexican-American women are significantly more likely to intermarry with non-Hispanic whites compared with third-generation Mexican-American men, the children of naturalized mothers are more likely to participate in intermarriage with the non-Hispanic white majority group compared with children who have at least one parent that is unauthorized/unknown, second-generation Mexican-origin children whose parents are of mixed-nativity are more likely to participate in intermarriage with non-Hispanic whites compared with those whose parents are foreign-born, and second-generation daughters whose mothers are foreign-born and fathers are native-born demonstrate the highest likelihood of intermarriage participation with the non-Hispanic white majority group compared with those whose parents are foreign-born. Overall the results indicate that the Mexican-origin population is incorporating in U.S. society and demonstrate some evidence of delayed incorporation. Parental migration status, parental nativity, generation, gender, and parent’s gender affect intermarriage incorporation among the Mexican-origin population.

This dissertation examines the health of Mexican-Americans across generations in the United States and addresses some of the questions involving the Latino health paradox, that is, how poor immigrants could report better health than groups that have been in the United States for longer periods. Using data from Add Health, the research shows that obesity increases across generations. It examines obesity, health status and nutrition. Compared with the third-plus generation, the children of immigrants are somewhat more likely to be obese as children but less likely to be obese as adults. The higher the education of the parents, the lower the level of obesity. In terms of nutrition, the first generation eats the most fruits and vegetables, although their consumption is unrelated to obesity. The second generation is the most likely to eat fast food, frequent consumption of which doubles the odds of obesity by adulthood. Family closeness lowers the odds of obesity. All in all, the results show the complexity of the relationships between time in the United States (whether measured as an actual temporal interval or as family generations) and health patterns within immigrant groups.

Entrepreneurship can provide venues for greater agency and opportunity in labor, but structural constraints may deter certain groups from pursuing entrepreneurship, driving them to modes of business ownership that may have the veneer of entrepreneurship but are really a result of a lack of good options in the job market. This dissertation seeks to examine this conundrum and has three main objectives: (1) to identify business types, (2) to determine whether those business types are associated with certain social groups, and (3) to closely examine Latinxs in two very different business contexts. Three studies examine each research objective. The first study uncovers configurations of business characteristics to identify distinct business types. The second study interrogates who is more likely to own one of two types of businesses – opportunity or survival enterprises. The third study investigates Latinxs in California and Texas – two contexts with high concentrations of Latinx-owned businesses – and compares how they fare relative to other racial and ethnic minority groups as it relates to business performance in opportunity and survival enterprises.

I rely on the Survey of Business Owners, a nationally representative survey of U.S. businesses, and clustering and regression approaches to examine these objectives. I find that inequality in human, social, and financial capital structure Latinx, Black, and women entrepreneurs’ entry into survival enterprises, which are less profitable business types. Asian and non-Hispanic White business owners are more likely to own business types with greater performance potential – opportunity enterprises. I also find business earnings disparities persist for more disadvantaged groups across business type and state context. Together, these findings suggest that mobility opportunities offered through entrepreneurship remain out of reach for the most marginalized members of the business community.

I apply an intersectionality framework to the study of Latinx entrepreneurship to understand how the intersection of multiple social identities influences opportunities and constraints for entrepreneurial success. I accomplish this by comparing business outcomes for Latinxs to other ethnic minority groups to identify divergent patterns in the role of human, social, and financial capital that may facilitate greater business performance. In addition, I stratify Latinxs by two salient dimensions – nativity and gender – to examine within-group differences and identify the potential mechanisms driving inequality in entrepreneurial success. I argue that, while no one entrepreneurial pathway predominates for racial and ethnic minority business owners, barriers to success through entrepreneurship nevertheless endure for marginalized groups.