Location plays critical role in assimilation of U.S. immigrants

Research from the University of Chicago finds immigrant populations within the United States assimilate in different ways, with demographics and geography playing critical roles, according to a study by Angela S. García, a sociologist and assistant professor at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. The research, published in The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science , finds that many immigrants are drawn to what they find familiar in their new homes. They may be influenced more by the people or their surroundings rather than what they find new and different, researchers found. García and co-author Leah Schmalzbauer, professor of sociology at Amherst College, set out to challenge longstanding assumptions-notably by comparing assimilation in ethnically diverse urban areas with majority-white and rural destinations in the United States. Schmalzbauer interviewed immigrants from rural Mexico living in Montana and was struck by how they found comfort in their physical surroundings, despite experiencing social and cultural isolation. "She was finding a real resonance with the physical environment in Montana," García said. She added that those interviews seemed to suggest a hole in previous assimilation research that is typically situated in urban areas, and focused on factors associated with socio-economic status-not connections with the natural and built environment.