Immigration and the Remaking of New York 1970-1998

• Published in: Journal of immigrant & refugee services Vol. 1; no. 1; pp. 5 - 20
• Main Authors: Salvo, Joseph J., Lobo, Arun Peter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 01.01.2002
• Subjects: Crosscultural Treatment; Cultural Pluralism; Demographics; Developing Countries; diversity; Ethnic Groups; Health Care Services Policy; Immigrants; Immigration and emigration; immigration flows; Immigration Policy; Migration Patterns; New York (state); New York City, New York; New York, New York; Population; Population growth; Refugees; services to immigrants; Social aspects; Social Services; United States
• ISSN: 1536-2949; 1536-2957
• DOI: 10.1300/J191v01n01_02

The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act abolished quotas that favored European immigrants, and for the first time placed all countries on an equal footing. The law resulted in increased overall immigration, and altered the sources of immigrants to the U.S. Since 1970, New York City has absorbed 2.6 million immigrants, primarily from non-European sources, who have dramatically altered the City's racial/Hispanic mix. Using immigration and birth records, as well as data from decennial censuses, this paper examines immigration to New York and assesses the demographic impact of these flows on the City's population. Current immigrant flows have noticeably increased the ethnic diversity within the major race/Hispanic groups. This is largely due to increases in refugee flows, and to recent changes in immigration law that allow for "diversity" visas, which are aimed at countries that are under-represented in immigration flows to the U.S. Diversity immigration has provided New York with a continuing flow of new groups, most recently from Bangladesh, Mexico, Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal, who have established enclaves in many of the City's neighborhoods. The increasing diversity poses serious challenges for social service and health care professionals, who need to devise new strategies to deal with the disparate socioeconomic backgrounds, cultures, and belief systems of new ethnic groups. This is especially important given that New York's ethnic mix will continue to be churned, especially by way of diversity immigration and refugee flows from all parts of the globe.