In this episode of Migration Talks, Professor Leah Boustan (Princeton University) explores what shapes upward mobility for immigrants and who actually gets to rise.
What drives long-term success across generations? Are today’s immigrants integrating as well as in the past? And what policy choices shape their trajectories?
Boustan also reflects on the politics of migration and the narratives that persist in public debate:
“Well, interestingly, if you look at political anti-immigration speeches, you’ll find that the topic of labor — you know, ‘Are immigrants taking our jobs?’ and the topic of economics like ‘Are immigrants taking more out of the social welfare system than they’re paying in?’ — are not really the main focus.
So much of the anti-immigrant sentiment, both in the past and today, is about more cultural issues or about perceptions of disorder: that immigrants might be bringing crime or threats to the country.”
Her research challenges us to think beyond headlines and historical myths and consider what the data really tells us about who gets to rise.
Resources mentioned in the episode:
Book: Streets of Gold: America’s Untold Story of Immigrant Success (Leah Boustan & Ran Abramitzky)
Study: Computational analysis of 140 years of US political speeches reveals more positive but increasingly polarized framing of immigration
