Immigration
Since 1991, the Foundation’s Immigration program has looked beyond the immediate costs and benefits of immigration to the United States to examine how well immigrants and their children are adapting socially, politically, and economically. To assess the long-range progress of today’s immigrants, the program sponsored three large-scale surveys of second-generation immigrants to address a series of questions, including English proficiency, job history, and marriage patterns. Currently, the program has turned to two new areas of research: one on the entry of immigrants into the civic and political life of the nation, and another exploring how immigrants fare as they settle in new destinations outside traditional gateway cities.
Research
Immigration in Los Angeles
Working Group
With funding of over $1.7 million provided by Russell Sage, the IMMLA study examined immigrant incorporation and mobility among their young adult children (ages 20-39) in metropolitan Los Angeles. 
Politics and Immigration
Project Update
The Foundation's Asian American Political Participation is the most comprehensive study to date of Asian American political behavior.
Books
Keeping the Immigrant Bargain
Keeping the Immigrant Bargain examines the journey of Dominican and Colombian newcomers whose children have achieved academic success one generation after the arrival of their parents.
Immigrants Raising Citizens
Immigrants Raising Citizens challenges conventional wisdom about undocumented immigrants, viewing them not as lawbreakers or victims, but as the parents of citizens whose adult productivity will be essential to the nation’s future.
Brokered Boundaries
In Brokered Boundaries, Douglas Massey and Magaly Sánchez untangle the complex political, social, and economic conditions underlying the rise of xenophobia in U.S. society.
Reports
Assimilation's Bumpy Road
"Assimilation," a protean concept with an American pedigree and a checkered past, is back in vogue. But in academic and colloquial usage, in social science, public policy and popular culture, the idea and the ideal of “assimilation” have had a bumpy history. [...]
Lessons from the 2007 Legal Arizona Workers Act
Arizona’s unauthorized immigrant population shrank after employers were required to verify workers' legal status with the federal E-Verify system. The 2007 law also pushed a substantial number of unauthorized immigrants into self-employment. [...]
Immigrants and Schools Study: New York Report
The study examines the relationship between immigrant parents and schools, focusing on what schools are doing to communicate with and engage immigrant parents and how immigrant parents are involved in their children’s education and schooling. This report is based on survey data from Latino and Asian parents in three New York communities: Washington Heights, University Heights, and Chinatown. [...]
RSF Review
The Upside of Accents
Dan Hopkins, a RSF grantee, discusses how accents and skin tone affect attitudes to immigrants in America.
Securitized Immigration in a New Jersey Town
Daniel Goldstein of Rutgers University investigates how immigrants react to the increasing enforcement of immigration statutes.
Immigration Experts
Featured Research Project
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Russell Sage Foundation offers awards, grants, and positions in our Visiting Scholars program for research that falls under our areas of interest. Learn More
















