New immigrants fairly quickly achieve high rates in areas such as homeownership, English proficiency, education, and diversity in employment, so that their children, in terms of education and employment, are on par with those whose parents are native-born Americans.
For example, two children of South Asian immigrants – Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley – are governors of their states. President Obama, the son of a Kenyan immigrant, holds the highest office in the country. More than 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by first- or second-generation Americans.
Is there a kind of 'secret recipe' that speeds up the process of 'becoming American'? Possibly. According to Harvard University sociology professor Mary Waters, there are 'several distinct American advantages'.
• Birthright citizenship laws mean that any person born in America is automatically a U.S. citizen, with the same rights and responsibilities as someone whose roots go back generations of Americans.
• The U.S. education system is flexible enough for children to start school without having mastered English or without the same level of education as their peers. The system is designed to help them catch up with classmates as quickly as possible and earn a high school diploma.
• Legal immigrants do not face the obstacles in the labor market that they would encounter in some other countries. Labor laws and the economy help create new entry-level jobs that facilitate the immediate start of their economic integration.
• Civil rights measures, such as equal opportunity initiatives and laws prohibiting discrimination and encouraging ethnocultural diversity, also help immigrants quickly find jobs or enter university.
It is true that immigrant families, in 'becoming Americans', are transformed. About 85 percent of foreign-born Americans speak a language other than English at home. Their children predominantly speak English fluently, and for third-generation immigrants, English is the primary language.
But in the process, immigrants transform America, both locally and on other levels. European football has become a major sport in the U.S., salsa now outsells ketchup, and the bagel has become a more American food than the donut.
In the past, America was described as a 'melting pot,' where immigrants in one way or another blended into the dominant culture. In reality, as ShareAmerica writes, it is more like a soup with many ingredients, jointly enriching the flavor of the broth.