Asian Immigration > Hispanic Immigration
Take a gander:
Until the 1970s, the majority of persons naturalizing were born in European countries. The regional origin of new citizens shifted from Europe to Asia due to increased legal immigration from Asian countries, the arrival of Indochinese refugees in the 1970s, and the historically higher naturalization rate of Asian immigrants. Consequently, Asia has been the leading region of origin of new citizens in most years since 1976.
Thirty-six percent of persons naturalizing in 2011 were born in Asia, followed by 31 percent from North America, and 12 percent from Europe (see Table 1). Mexico was the leading country of birth of persons naturalizing in 2011 (14 percent). The next leading countries of origin of new citizens in 2011 were India (6.6 percent), the Philippines (6.1 percent), the People’s Republic of China (4.7 percent), and Colombia (3.3 percent).
So why don't politicians care about the Asian voting bloc?
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Oct '10
Re: Asian Immigration > Hispanic Immigration
Aaron Miller:
So why don't politicians care about the Asian voting bloc? · · 5 hours ago
So how do you court the Asian Voting Bloc? What do they want and can politicians give it to them?
Oct '10
Re: Asian Immigration > Hispanic Immigration
Aaron Miller: One can dream. In reality, Asian cultures are heavily community-focused.
I'm not suggesting that there shouldbe an Asian voting bloc. I'm just surprised there isn't one. Do immigrants from Asia tend to assimilate better than immigrants from Mexico and Central America? · 9 hours ago
Edited 9 hours ago
I'll give you an indirect example. The chinese immigrants living in the philippines earn more than the natives and can afford not to assimilate. Many are not interested in becoming citizens.
Edited on June 20, 2012 at 4:41amOct '10
Re: Asian Immigration > Hispanic Immigration
John Murdoch:
There is a common language among Hispanics--that is not the case, by any means, among the various Asian groups.
There is a common language among Asians -- it's called English. :)
Oct '10
Re: Asian Immigration > Hispanic Immigration
Mendel
Most of the Asian-Americans I know are quite apolitical, and I can't imagine them using their ethnicity as a factor when deciding whom to vote for. My sense is that their political leanings, like so much of their social interaction, is influenced by their incredible ability to assimilate to the culture around them.
This sounds right. They're not vocal about issues, they just accept the conditions and work around it.
Oct '10
Re: Asian Immigration > Hispanic Immigration
Austin Murrey
It's not that they tend to assimilate better however most who do integrate do so in their own groups. Hispanics speak one language: Spanish (you'll notice no one courts the Brazilian-American vote). To the uninitiated there's not a whole lot of difference between a Mexican or an El Salvadorian or a Honduran.
The oh-so-empathetic panderer will claim to know the difference but he doesn't really, he assumes that each country's expatriates care about the same thing: goodies, open borders and unrestricted illegal immigration mostly. They get away with this because no one calls them on it.
It's really mainly just a U.S.A. - Mexico thing ;)
Oct '10
Re: Asian Immigration > Hispanic Immigration
Jim Ixtian
John Murdoch and Austin Murray best answered this issue; that Asians are so widely different in backgrounds, beliefs, religion, language, etc that trying to form a political bloc isn't going to happen. If the Republicans had any sense, they'd approach them as individuals, argue for liberty, merit, and push the case that what the Democrats have planned for them is not in their best interests. · 5 hours ago
I'd personally like to see the GOP focus on recruiting more Asian candidates and use them to argue against affirmative action and diversity quotas.
Oct '10
Re: Asian Immigration > Hispanic Immigration
Aaron Miller
So why would it not be similarly expedient for liberal Chinese, Japanese and other Asian-looking voters to band together? Do they have so little in common with each other that a political alliance would be pointless?
Hispanics are individuals, too. Not all of them join "Latino" organizations. Does cultural homogeneity alone explain the abundance of hispanic groups?
They have UNIVISION.
Nov '10
Re: Asian Immigration > Hispanic Immigration
Maggie and Adrian are right -- "Asian" isn't a voting bloc. This is remarkable, in a way, first of all because the good of the community has always been a central value in Asian culture; thus the obsession with bringing shame on one's culture or family. But another value is industriousness: Asians may be the most industrious people in the world, second perhaps to (traditional) Europeans (when did this die in the European mindset?). While socialism is "communitarian" it does not stress individual incentive or responsibility, whereas Asian culture does -- placing a strong onus on the individual. Immigrant cultures like this -- the "old" European immigrants and the new Asians -- may retain a strong ethnic cohesiveness, but they easily to, and become part of, the larger fabric of society. They almost can't help doing so. Cultures, however, that ghettoize and focus on group grievance and entitlement, do not.
We had Japanese friends while living in California. Each school year families would fill out an "Affirmative Action" questionaire with a comment section. They told us that their comments would be ignored. Why? "Japanese are white."
Nov '10
Re: Asian Immigration > Hispanic Immigration
Some folks here are talking about Asians' ability to "assimilate". I think this is the wrong word. While many Asians do assimilate, it does not adequately describe what usually happens. Asians retain a strong sense of cultural identity, and like the old Europeans, maintain a strong community within their ethnic group (all of which is something they share with Hispanics). My phrasing above is a bit awkward, but I think it's more accurate: they "become part of the larger fabric of society". Think of a colourful patchwork quilt. They retain their (metaphorical) colour and identity and nevertheless "fit in". Blacks and hispanics who learn the trick of "fitting in" generally do well (and a large proportion of these are conservatives politically). Those that don't ... ghettoize.
In both my U.S. and Canadian postings as a Math professor I've come across a general observation about Chinese students, which is often articulated in terms of a "Chinese Mafia" -- the term isn't derogatory, it refers to the way that they study as a group and provide academic supports for each other. We've much to learn from the Asians about balancing "local" versus "global" community life.
Edited on June 20, 2012 at 5:28amMay '10
Re: Asian Immigration > Hispanic Immigration
Jindal for veep then. A great governor, a resume a mile long, Catholic appeal, youth appeal, and a drawing card for a growing demographic.
Jan '11
Re: Asian Immigration > Hispanic Immigration
Adrian:
The reason why? Asian immigrants and their children are decent, hard-working, devoted Americans, who want nothing but a fair shot at success and don't spend all their time whining about what victims they are and how unfair life is.
You could have just as well described a great many people from Latin America using the same words. And those people are from North America, too. In fact I have served in the armed forces of the United States with a handful of Latin Americans who were not full U.S. Citizens. In each case, they were damned good people.
Jan '11
Re: Asian Immigration > Hispanic Immigration
Many big cities have a portion of themselves affectionately known as Chinatown. It's funny that you seldom [if ever] see anything written derogatory about these places or the people. No talk of fences or deportation, either.
Edited on June 20, 2012 at 8:04amNov '10
Re: Asian Immigration > Hispanic Immigration
R. Craigen
Maggie and Adrian are right -- "Asian" isn't a voting bloc. This is remarkable, in a way, first of all because the good of the community has always been a central value in Asian culture; thus the obsession with bringing shame on one's culture or family. But another value is industriousness: Asians may be the most industrious people in the world, second perhaps to (traditional) Europeans (when did this die in the European mindset?).
Huh? When did Europeans work harder than Asians?
When I was in Saigon, I noticed that the small shops on the street, with proprietors living above, looked a bit like those in European cities (no surprise, given the French influence). The difference was that, instead of being open from 10 to 5 with a long lunch break, those stores were open from 6 am to 11 pm. Manned by the same family members all day long.
Nov '10
Re: Asian Immigration > Hispanic Immigration
This is true and important. It's why it irritates me so much when conservatives take this high and lofty "we don't pander to minorities" tack. There are real issues of racism faced by Asians. If we don't tackle the issues, the Democrats will be out there recruiting them. Hey, we ought to be able to do it better than the Democrats, because we are educated enough to know that there are multiple cultures there and they just see "Asian." But we refuse to try because we are purists about "special interest groups."
Sep '11
Re: Asian Immigration > Hispanic Immigration
John H.
Though I have noticed, on certain Panamanian, Paraguayan, and Uruguayan news websites, a disproportionate interest in the affairs of Spain. I suppose these countries have a lot of expatriates there. Still, it seems a loser proposition. Spain? What's heroic about Spain? Ah, but to make ethnic politics pay, you don't look for heroes, you look for sugar daddies. Hard to believe Spain could be that, but well, the euro still technically counts as hard currency! · 12 hours ago
This may be a matter of cultural affinity, just as many Americans--even those with no British genetic heritage--feel an affinity for things British.
May '10
Re: Asian Immigration > Hispanic Immigration
Jim Ixtian
If you're going that route, then why not bring up that it was a Democrat(FDR) who sent 120,000+ Americans into concentration camps merely for having had the misfortune of being of the same ethnicity as the people who attacked the US on December 7th, 1941.
John Murdoch and Austin Murray best answered this issue; that .....................
It's not a partisan issue, Jim, and it started under Grover Cleveland. FDR was a piker compared with the Chinese exclusions, and everyone knows about the WWII internment. Most people are not at all aware of the Chinese Exclusion Acts that started well after the end of slavery and lasted till after the start of WWII and affected US immigration policy for a long time after that. Country immigrant quotas from China through the 20th century were comically low.