The Impact of Recent Immigration on Population Redistribution Within the United States'

In this chapter we examine how recent iinmigration affects population redistribution within the United States, both directly ,and indirectly, by promoting a Itcoadary domestic migration among native-born residents. Although this impaCt has been given less prominence in public and academic forums than recent immigration'. impact on the nation as a whole, the redlstributional aspects of Immiaradon hold important local consequences for the labor force, public service com. and minority-auJority relations. Even from a national perspective, the concentrated distribution of the recent foreign-born immigrant population in comparison with the longer-term resident native-born portends widening demographic disparities across broad regions of the country with respect to race-ethnic compolilion. ,raco-claSi structures, and age profiles; OUi researCh to date on these issues suggests that these kinds of divisions may be cDwging from the following: (I)most recent immigrants still locate in a small number of traditionaI port-of-entry'states and metropolitan areas; (2) greatest domestic native-born migrant gains occur in different areas than those attractin&recent immigrants; and (3) evidence of a unique, accentuated out-migration of.lcss-skiUed domestic migrants away from high-immigration areas. Thousb there were hints of these patterns a1readyat the end of the 1970s (Prcy and Spearc. 1988; Filer, 1992; White and Ima1~1994; Long and Nucci, J99S). these patterns arc especially evident in the two five-year periods fot which ,thO mOst recent data arc available: 1985-1990 and 1990-1995. ot the three cecUstributionpatterns noted above, it is the latter which holds the greatest poten-