Abstract
"We define integration broadly as the process by which immigrant newcomers achieve economic mobility and social inclusion in the larger society," MPI researchers write. This definition of integration goes much further man assimilation, MPI explains, and implies a "dynamic, two-way process" mat involves changes on the part of not just immigrants but also of members of the receiving community." Since 2009, the Migration Policy Institute has recognized the best immigrant integration practices through its annual E Pluribus Unum prizes. "We are and we will continue to be a nation that depends and thrives on the contributions of immigrants and refugees," Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said at a press conference where he expressed full support for the "New Americans Agenda" developed by a diverse committee of advocates, practitioners and government officials. "Our nation and our economy have been at their best when we welcome the ideas and the commitment of newcomers and when we help them integrate into our language and into our society." Finally, the "status" of immigrants has changed, with a larger share of the whole "undocumented" or "unauthorized" immigrants, who are vulnerable to deportation and exploitation and thus forced into a secondclass membership. Undocumented "status" alone prevents people from integrating as full members of a community, except, of course, through meir labor. This has negative implications not only for the undocumented but for growing numbers of children. The Pew Hispanic Center finds that of the 10.2 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, nearly half are parents of minor children. A parent's vulnerability and disenfranchisement makes mese U.S. citizen children highly vulnerable, too, for a host of reasons. In the worst case, separation from a deported parent obviously negatively affects child well-being in numerous ways, as does persistent anxiety about me possibility of that separation.