单选题
Two of the most common rumors about immigrant families are that they don't really want to become American and that they're a drag on the rest of us. But a fascinating new Pew report gives lie to both fears. In the process, it reminds us why immigration matters. The study shows first of all that Americanization is proceeding as inevitably now as during previous great waves of migration. Yes, today's immigrants are Hispanic and Asian rather than European. But that has not made a difference. Today's 20 million adult sons and daughters of immigrants have learned English, advanced economically, and intermarried far more than their parents did and no more slowly than the Italians or Irish or Poles did a century ago. Nearly six in ten—almost double the percentage of their parents—consider themselves "typical Americans." As for whether immigrant families are a drag on society, the facts are clear. Second-generation Americans—the children of immigrants—are not just doing better than their parents. Their educational attainment and income are actually above the national average. They are contributors. If anything, as other research has shown, it is America that can be harmful to immigrant families: obesity and criminality increase from the first to the second generation. So the question should not be how to keep newcomers from diluting America but how to keep America from diluting the newcomers. This presents a challenge to both native-born Americans and today's immigrants. The Pew report notes that Americans who are of foreign birth or parentage, so-called "immigrant stock," will constitute a record 37% of the population by 2050. This frightens many white Americans to the core, especially those who are older and live in communities only recently touched by immigration. But for today's "immigrant stock," this moment creates an opportunity. Immigrants of earlier centuries proved that every kind of European could become simply white; today's immigrants prove that every kind of human can become simply American. But this means encouraging them to strive not only for their own families but also for the nation, through service and civic participation. We should bear in mind that whether we are native-born or newcomer, our task now, then, is to apply an immigrant's ingenuity, optimism, and perseverance to the systematic expansion of opportunity in America, To do that, as history shows and recent studies confirm, it'll help to have more immigrants around.