Understanding the Immigrant Experience in Oregon Research, Analysis, and Recommendations from University of Oregon Scholars Robert Bussel, Editor Understanding the Immigrant Experience in Oregon Research, Analysis, and Recommendations from University of Oregon Scholars Editor Lara Skinner, Graduate Teaching Fellow, LERC Robert Bussel, Associate Professor of History and and Department of Sociology Director, Labor Education and Research Center Lynn Stephen, Distinguished Professor, Department of Anthropology Contributing authors Spanish editing and translation Michael Aguilera, Assistant Professor of Sociology J. Mark Eddy, Research Associate, Oregon Social Marcela Mendoza, Adjunct Assistant Professor and Learning Center, and Courtesy Research Associate, Research Associate, Department of Anthropology Department of Psychology Magali Morales, Crystal Clear Translation Justyna Goworowska, Graduate Teaching Fellow, Department of Geography Illustrations Susan Hardwick, Professor of Geography Roberto Arroyo, Graduate Teaching Fellow, Ken Kato, Assistant Director of the InfoGraphics Department of Romance Languages Laboratory, and Department of Geography Mauricio Magana, Graduate Teaching Fellow, Photographs Center for the Study of Women in Society Center for Intercultural Organizing Charles Martinez, Jr., Research Scientist, Oregon Social Learning Center, and Associate Professor, Susan Hardwick, Professor of Geography College of Education Rowanne Haley, Immigration and Refugee Heather McClure, Research Associate, Oregon Community Organization Social Learning Center, and Courtesy Research Lise Nelson, Assistant Professor of Geography Associate, Department of Anthropology Oregon Historical Society Marcela Mendoza, Adjunct Assistant Professor and Lynn Stephen, Distinguished Professor, Research Associate, Department of Anthropology Department of Anthropology University of Oregon Libraries Acknowledgements We appreciate the early support from the Office We acknowledge the assistance of Norma Martinez- of the Vice President for Research and Graduate HoSang, LERC research specialist, in developing a Studies at the University of Oregon for seed money PowerPoint presentation and discussion guide that and funding for the production of the report. will help community organizations and other inter- ested parties more effectively use the information We gratefully acknowledge the Betty Lou Roberts contained in this report. Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation for providing a generous $25,000 grant to support We are also grateful to our community advisory production costs and Spanish translation of this board, whose members helped us refine the con- report. cept for this report and reviewed the final draft: David Ayala, Service Employees International Thanks go to Brook Eastman, cartographer in the Union Local 49 University of Oregon InfoGraphics Laboratory, for her excellent work on the maps and color charts in Michael Dale, Northwest Workers’ Justice Project the report. Kayse Jama, Center for Intercultural Organizing Victoria Libov, Immigration and Refugee Thanks are extended to , Labor Deb Mailander Community Organization Education and Research Center grants coordinator, who acted as project manager for the report and Jorge Navarro, Centro LatinoAmericano worked tirelessly to keep it on track. Mimi Perdue, Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries We greatly appreciate the efforts of Creative Jim Pruitt, Kaiser Permanente Northwest Publishing at the university, including design director Colin Miller and senior editor John R. Guadalupe Quinn, CAUSA Crosiar, who ably shepherded this project through Carmen Urbina, Eugene 4J School District the editing, layout, and final production phase. Steve Witte, United Farm Workers of America Table of Contents Executive Summary. .9 Chapter 1: Oregon: An Emerging Immigrant Gateway. 12 Chapter 2: Open Arms or Arms Length: A Historical Perspective on Immigration in Oregon. .20 Chapter 3: Urban Immigration in Oregon: The City as Context. 32 Chapter 4: Latin American Immigration in Rural Oregon . 44 Chapter 5: Latino Immigrant Children and Families: Demographics, Challenges, and Promise . 56 Chapter 6: Work and Employment for Immigrants in Oregon. 68 Conclusion. 81 Executive Summary The Immigrant Experience in Oregon ver the last two decades, the face of Ore- sociology in formulating our analysis. gon has changed dramatically with the ar- We do not claim to offer a comprehensive or ex- rival of significant numbers of immigrants haustive study; however, we do provide a concise and refugees. In cities and small towns, overview of many aspects of the immigrant experi- in schools, churches, and workplaces, ence in Oregon. We also focus special attention on O and in community and civic affairs, these newcom- the experience of Latino immigrants, who represent ers from abroad have become active participants in the largest segment of newcomers to Oregon over Oregon’s social and economic life in their quest to the last fifteen years. achieve civic integration and social acceptance. Here is a summary of our major observations In spite of the profound demographic and so- and findings: cial changes that Oregon is undergoing as its popu- lation has grown more diverse, there has been little I. Immigrants and refugees have dramatically systematic analysis of how immigrants are faring in changed the demographics of Oregon’s popu- their attempt to establish themselves in their new lation in the last two decades environment. Moreover, public discussion about • According to 2005 figures, the foreign born com- immigration has often lacked data, context, and prise 9.7 percent of Oregon’s total population, analysis that would illuminate the multiple dimen- with more than 60 percent of these new arrivals sions of the immigrant experience and examine how coming since 1990. communities and social institutions are responding • Oregon has become a leading destination point to the presence of newcomers in their midst. for refugees. The state ranks eleventh nationally We offer this report as an initial effort to for numbers of refugees taken in, and Portland help broaden public understanding of the immi- has the nation’s twelfth largest refugee popula- grant experience in Oregon and contribute to a tion among U. S. cities. more informed discussion of its complexities. It • It is anticipated that new refugee populations are is time for policymakers, employers, educators, most likely to come from Africa, Myanmar, and and civic leaders to recognize Oregon’s chang- the Middle East. Refugees from Africa have been ing social demographics and develop a more sys- the most numerous arriving in Oregon in recent tematic approach to helping immigrants adapt to years. their new environment. As scholars and teach- • More Russians and Ukrainians came to Oregon ers, we bring an interdisciplinary perspective to and Washington between 1990 and 2005 than to this task, drawing on the insights of anthropol- any other region of the country. ogy, clinical psychology, geography, history, and • By 2005, Latinos comprised 9.9 percent of Ore- 10 • UNDERSTANDING THE IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE IN OREGON gon’s total population. It is estimated that 70–80 creating challenges for schools, employers, law percent of adult Latino immigrants to Oregon enforcement, and other institutions that are seek- have come within the past ten years. Between ing to meet their needs. 1990 and 2000, the Latino population doubled in • A new trend in Latino immigration has been the twenty-one of Oregon’s thirty-six counties, sig- arrival of more than fourteen indigenous groups naling more dispersed settlement into suburban of people from Guatemala and Mexico. With and rural areas. It is also estimated that by 2020, markedly distinctive languages and customs, Latinos will comprise 28 percent of school-age these groups will require focused outreach and children in Oregon. specific assistance to aid them in their adapta- tion to social life in Oregon’s rural communi- II. Oregonians’ attitudes toward immigration ties. have historically been marked by ambivalence • We find evidence that Latino youths and their • Historically, Oregon’s political leaders distin- parents are particularly challenged when youths guished between “desirable” and “undesirable” embrace their new culture more rapidly, thereby immigrants on the basis of ethnic and racial ori- creating tensions in the parent-child relation- gin and developed public policy with this dis- ship. Latino youths also face special challenges tinction in mind. This ambivalence toward new- in the school environment, where their dropout comers, rooted in suspicion of cultural difference rates are relatively high, and schools have in and doubts about the state’s ability to integrate some cases been slow to develop culturally sen- immigrants from non–European backgrounds, sitive programs of assistance and intervention. has been a recurring theme throughout Oregon’s • Although it had earlier antecedents, Latino im- history and continues to influence contemporary migration to Oregon grew most significantly over discussion and attitudes about immigration. the last seven decades of the twentieth century. Four distinct generations of Latinos, mostly of III. Immigrants are making progress in adapt- Mexican origin, now live in Oregon. As a re- ing to their new environment sult, we find the emergence of mixed legal sta- • We find evidence that immigrants are making tus among members of Latino immigrant house- steady progress in adapting to their new environ- holds.