ABSTRACT
Family unity has and continues to be the cornerstone of immigration policy for the United States. A point of debate about generous family unity policies is a concern that family immigrants take rather than contribute economically. Family-based immigration is alleged to be an inefficient means of selecting workers that contributes to a decline in the skill levels of the workforce. Much of this argument misjudges the character of family-based immigration. Family-connection immigrants are also workers. Immigrants are typically admitted under family reunification provisions who could also qualify in virtually all professional and technical occupations specified in immigration laws. Indirectly, family reunification also admits workers with skills. … More important, however, is the economic and social role the family plays in immigrant adaptation. Families ease the considerable social and cultural dislocations caused by immigration and, by serving as inteimediaries to the host society, enable the newcomer to adapt. Family and household structures are also primary factors in promoting high economic achievement. They are crucial resources in the formation of immigrant businesses, which often revitalize urban neighborhoods and specialized economic sectors. These successful social and economic transitions lay the foundations that are needed if the children of immigrants are to be effective citizen-workers of the next generation.
