In Silicon Valley, one-third of our residents are immigrants, nearly half of our work force is foreign-born and close to two-thirds of those under the age of 18 are the children of immigrants.
Given this demographic reality, a new social model of immigrant integration – one that promotes mutual benefits for immigrants and their receiving communities and that allows newcomers enhanced civic participation and improved economic mobility – is critical.
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Immigrating to a new country and learning a new way of life is a highly individualized process of acculturation during which the individual both keeps and sheds some elements of his or her previous culture and chooses to adopt some elements of an American or mainstream culture. This process is usually a gradual one. Factors that influence how quickly an individual adapts, as well as which new cultural elements will be adopted or not embraced, include both personal preferences and circumstances.
Current thinking on immigrant integration supports not only the immigrant taking responsibility for the adaptation process, but also the immigrant’s new home community, known as the receiving community, taking responsibility for the process. This two-way model does not place the entire burden on the individual, but rather emphasizes that both mainstream institutions and community members have important roles to play. The goals behind immigrant integration are for the individual immigrant
to take responsibility and to be supported in order to be productive and contribute fully, and for the community to acknowledge the differences among community members and work toward becoming a cohesive whole.
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