The Relationship between Assimilation and Cultural Transnational Ties among New Immigrants in the U.S.

• In Event: 4142 - Methodological and Empirical Advances in Global and Transnational Sociology

Abstract

Will the level of immigrants’ transnational ties with their home countries ultimately decrease as they assimilate to the host society? This paper examines how immigrants’ cultural transnational ties have changed over time and whether it is associated with their cultural assimilation. The first and second round of New Immigrant Survey (NIS), which contain responses from first-generation immigrants who became permanent residents in the years 2003 and 2004 were included in the analyses. Immigrants’ level of cultural transnational ties were measured in three different ways: the frequency of reading newspapers, hours of watching TV, and hours of listening to the radio in their native language. The findings of this paper show that immigrants’ cultural transnational ties with the home country have a U-shape; it decreases from pre-migration to the year of becoming permanent residents, but recovers about 5 years later. The analyses of logistic regression suggest that immigrants’ cultural assimilation (hours spent consuming English-language newspapers, TV, and radio) is positively associated with their cultural transnational ties. On the other hand, immigrants’ general assimilation, such as English proficiency and years in the U.S., were negatively associated with their cultural transnational ties.

Authors

• Sou Hyun Jang, University of Washington

• Sejung Sage Yim, The Graduate Center