1.4 million immigration population in US from India

HT.com ^ | Washington, December 13, 2005 | HT.com

[HostileTerritory]

I agree. I think it is a factor. I do think it can be overstated, though.

[HostileTerritory]

Funny, people seem to have different experiences than I did. Most of the South Asian immigrants in my hometown were Hindus, a few were Sikhs, and there were also Muslim immigrants from Pakistan and from Bangladesh. I'd say the Hindu children, particularly the girls, had more freedom from their parents to dress and behave like American teenagers, but often I didn't even know if a classmate was Muslim or Hindu and it didn't come up.

[bordergal]

Pakistanis and Indians are very, very different.
Warning, generalizations ahead.

I would bet that your next door neighbors were Pakistani.
Britian has had a lot of trouble with them, as have other European countries. Pakistan is a troubled, violent, backwards country, and most of the people are militant Muslim (which is another disadvantage when it comes to assimilation). Google Pakistan sometime in the news, and you'll see items about how to "divorce" an unsatisfactory wife by throwing acid on her, abductions of Christian girls, church burnings, blasphemy trials, gang rapes, it is a very depressing and dysfunctional place.

Indians (mostly Hindu), on the other hand, tend to be great immigrants. Hard working, smart. I work with an Indian immigrant who came here with only a few dollars in his pocket, put himself through school, and is now quite successful. They are having problems in Kashmir, with Pakistani militants attacking and abusing the civilian Hindu population.

[CarrotAndStick]

Very true. Stereotyping is a trait that is very difficult to get rid off, in all cultures, some more than the others.


Maybe it had its origins in the days of the hunter-gatherer, so as to stick with one group.

[F16Fighter]

"No problem with that.. As long as an immigrant is legal- no matter where they are from, I welcome them with open arms."

There are MULTIPLE problems with "that."

Did you know Western European immigration is severely curtailed and restricted? They actually have a lottery system where those "immigrants" must wait years for admission...

ITMT, the tsunami of unassimilating immigrants from Indo-Asia and the Middle East, and Mexicans use the U.S. a mere economic vessel.

While inundating the U.S. both legally AND illegally, they've giving rise to disproportionate demographics (the reason given back in 1965 for restrictive immigration from Western Europe in the first place), questionable patriotism, infused cultural chasms, and aided in the compromise of traditions and the heritage of what is fundamentally "American."

[uscit]

Sure, many educated Indians speak English. But certainly not anything close to a quarter of the population is fluent in English, which is the proportion that would need to speak it to have any claim to being the largest English-speaking country in the world. And, while they assimilate better than some immigrant groups, that isn't saying much. The bottom line is current American citizens aren't better off with massive immigration from India or anywhere else.

[dfwgator]

Also remember that the "Paki" in Pakistan is an acronym for the four major tribes that reside there, so not all Pakistanis are the same. I've met some from there that were also well adjusted, but there is a wider range of behaviors amongst people from there, than from India.

[indcons]

I stand by facts on English usage....check out articles on the topc by linguist David Crystal among others.

[Wiz]

If it is worth to counter Chinese and Mexican immigrants which could do damage to the country, it is something to tolerate. If it would boost the quality of R&D in US with Indians having high education, it is worth something.

[Jigsaw John]

No problem with that.. As long as an immigrant is legal- no matter where they are from, I welcome them with open arms.

I'd bet the people that are commuting in crawling, bumper to bumper traffics a hour plus each way, would disagree with you.

I am seeing way too many people, and not enough infrastruture, resources, jobs, houses, roads, hospitals, you name it.

[Theoden]

Driving the taxis that Americans refuse to drive!

I am sorry, I just had to say that.

[CheyennePress]

I respectfully disagree. When you open the floodgates, you pay a price. Immigration, when done right, can be a very positive thing. But you need to allow that

1) immigrants don't waterdown the native population's customs and heritage

2) immigrants assimilate (which feeds off of 1).

[CarrotAndStick]

Immigration is always a scary thing for the local population, be it between America and the rest of the world or even India and Bangladesh. It is a normal reaction to change. But this gets grossly aggravated with the non-assimilative nature of some (painting with a wide brush here) recent immigrant groups (read Muslims).

The problem is further complicated through illegal immigration, which is a very worrisome and threatening problem for any country. The sad truth about this is that it takes its toll on good, legal and assimilating immigrants, because the illegals can seldom be traced by the System.

[CarrotAndStick]

From another post:

http://www.cis.org/articles/embamer/embracing.html



Looking at the 1990 census, this study examines the correlations between naturalization and a variety of socio-economic characteristics. Rather than looking at all immigrants, which would include recent arrivals not yet eligible for citizenship, as well as short-term temporary residents, this study is limited to those who are presumed to have been eligible for naturalization by 1990 (were over age 25 and entered the United States no later than 1985). Among the general findings:

* Higher levels of education correspond to higher rates of naturalization;

* Higher-skill occupations correspond to higher rates of naturalization;


* Higher household income corresponds to higher rates of naturalization;


* Those receiving public assistance are less likely to become citizens than those who are not receiving public assistance;


* Immigrants living in married-couple households are more likely to become Americans than those in single-parent households;


* Immigrants who speak English well are more likely to be citizens – but more than one-quarter of those who speak English poorly or not at all were naturalized citizens;



Despite narrowing of these differences over time, they do not disappear.

In looking specifically at the top 15 countries of origin, it is clear that some of the differences among national groups are due to the educational attainment and other characteristics of their immigrants in the United States. For instance, since immigrants born in India are 22 times more likely to be college graduates than Mexican immigrants, it comes as no surprise that Indian-born people are more likely to have become Americans than those born in Mexico.



Substantial differences in educational attainment exist by country of origin. Indians stand alone, far above all other countries, with over two-thirds of these foreign-born residents having at least a college degree. Filipinos, with 42 percent having such schooling, come in second, Koreans (33.8%) third and China (30%) fourth. These high levels of education among Asian immigrants undoubtedly contribute to their relatively high naturalization rates, since most of them did not arrive early as did many Europeans and Canadians.


The lowest rates for foreign born having college degrees come from Latin American and Caribbean countries. Only three percent of foreign-born Mexicans have college degrees, followed by Salvadorans (4.3%) and Dominicans (7.3%). By the same token, 75 percent of Mexicans and 65 percent of Salvadorans have less than a high-school education.


http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=0443821787ac0210cbecebe8b1f576a3

Asian Americans:
Asian American newspapers reach a substantial percentage of the nine million Asian American adults in the United States. More than half of all Chinese and Vietnamese adults read an ethnic newspaper on a regular basis. Nearly half of all Korean adults also read a Korean newspaper frequently. The reach of Filipino newspapers is smaller but still significant – one-fifth of the adults in this group read a Filipino newspaper a few times a month or more. The poll also indicates that Korean and Chinese television stations are rapidly increasing in popularity - a quarter of those interviewed reported watching Korean and Chinese-language television more often than English-language television. Access to the Internet is very high (67 percent) among all Asian Americans and half of them prefer ethnic websites to mainstream websites. Asian Indian adults access the Internet more often than other Asians.

[indcons]

Thanks for your informative posting.

[pganini]

They usually don't assimilate for the older generations, but their younger generations will. Hard to convince them to do arrange marriage, for example, which is still the dominant form of marriage in India.

[capt. norm]

I wonder how many adult Indian immigrants are employed?

As long as they're still building convenience stores....no problem.

The guy at the corner store here tries to overcharge me 50 cents every time I buy a dix-pack. He never seems to remember that I'm the guy that makes him correct it every time.

[pganini]

The reason why there isn't Indian towns in the US is because the population is still small compared to other minorities or Asians in general.

In Austin, there are already clusters of Indian/Paki food stores, restaurants (which is where the "towns" are based on).

[BureaucratusMaximus]

I have a problem with it. We had to sell and move from our last house because of our next door Indian or Paki neighbors. They do NOT assimilate.

They have no clue what water is for, their lawn and all the landscaping died. There were about 10 of them living in a 4 bedroom house, mostly adult males. They drank like fish and then would walk out their front door and pee on their wall in the front yard. They began "investing in ice cream trucks which they then drove parked on their front lawn by the front door (3 of them).

They made my life a living hell. When we began looking for another house to buy I drove all the neighborhoods and made sure there were none living there before I would even look at a house.

There really are reasons people do not want to live by them.

Wow...sounds like you have more problems than just your neighbors.

[bordergal]

True, my comments were generalizations.

The problem comes when you are deciding whom to let immigrate. How do you tell the sheep from the goats?