Summary
The Institute for Immigration Research (IIR) is a multidisciplinary research institute at George Mason University. The IIR’s mission is to produce valid, reliable, and objective multidisciplinary research on immigrants and immigration to the United States and to disseminate this information through peer-reviewed academic journals, as well as in print and digital formats that make this research easily accessible to policy-makers, the media, the business community, and the general public.
IIR Director is James Witte.
Our faculty affiliates, graduate students, and partners are at the forefront of immigration research. The IIR produces high quality, timely research and analysis that examines the economic contributions of all immigrants in the United States, with a particular emphasis on immigrant entrepreneurs with high levels of education and skills.
The IIR is a joint venture between George Mason University and The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. (ILC) of Massachusetts. The IIR was founded in 2012 through the generous donation of Ms. Diane Portnoy, educator and philanthropist from Malden, Massachusetts.
The IIR is located on the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, outside the nation’s capital, Washington, DC. Its strategic location allows the IIR to draw on unparalleled academic, government, and private resources to advance its mission in research, education, and professional opportunities for current and future scholars of immigration studies. Through conferences, workshops, lectures, and other events, the IIR is able to engage in community outreach with one of the most diverse populations in the United States.
OnAir Post: IIR – Institute for Immigration Research
News
Congratulations to Dr. Roberta Spalter-Roth, faculty affiliate with the Institute for Immigration Research and Center for Social Science Research, for being named winner of the 2023 Stuart A. Rice Merit Award for Career Achievement from the District of Columbia Sociological Society (DCSS). The 2023 DCSS Awards Banquet will be held on May 18, 2023. Information about tickets can be found at https://dcsociologicalsociety.org/event-5268350.
According to the DCSS, the Stuart A. Rice Merit Award is presented to a distinguished senior member of the Society who has made a significant contribution to the discipline, and are judged on their collective accomplishments over the course of their professional careers. Dr. Spalter-Roth’s list of achievements and contributions to sociology spans decades of hard work and dedication. Congratulations, Dr. Spalter-Roth!
Labor shortages apply upward pressure to wages and thus prices
IIR Faculty Affiliate, Dr. Justin Gest, has published a Wall Street Journal commentary titled: “How Immigrants Tame Inflation: Labor shortages apply upward pressure to wages and thus prices.” The opinion piece draws on Gest’s research, which is also detailed in a Fwd.us report: “To lower inflation, America needs more immigration to alleviate national labor shortages.”
Blake R. Silver, Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, received $1,947 from the American College Personnel Association for the project: “Layered Transitions: First-Generation College Seniors from Immigrant Families.” With the support of collaborators Tharuna Kalaivanan, Fanni Farago, and Kellie Wilkerson, Mason doctoral students studying sociology, this project will explore the experiences of students who are both children of immigrants and the first in their families to pursue a bachelor’s degree. In-depth interviews will be analyzed to understand the resources FGC students from immigrant families bring to the senior-year transition and how these resources shape strategies for navigating the transition.
Exploring these topics will contribute both to building sociological theory as well as to policy and practice in higher education, with implications for supporting student success for first-generation college seniors from immigrant families.
This funding began in Dec. 2022 and will end in late Nov. 2023.
About
The IIR debunks myths and disseminates factual information about immigrants and immigration.The IIR is joint venture with The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc.(ILC) of Malden, Massachusetts.
IIR Advisory Board
The IIR benefits from the leadership of an Advisory Board of dedicated individuals from academia, education, law, and immigration policy. The current IIR Board Membership is listed below.
- Ann Ardis, Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, George Mason University (Co-chair)
- Frank Bailey, Retired federal bankruptcy judge for the U.S. bankruptcy court, District of Massachusetts
- Aldo Bello, Executive VP and Chief Creative Officer, Mind & Media, Inc.
- Hudaidah Bhimdi, Attorney, Bhimdi Global Immigration PLLC
- Jack Censer, Former Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, George Mason University
- Dan Houser, Professor of Economics, George Mason University
- Ariana Monterroza, Regional Marketing Specialist, Truist
- Alex Nowrasteh, Director of Economic and Social Policy Studies, Cato Institute
- Diane Portnoy, Founder and CEO of The Immigrant Learning Center (Co-chair)
- Vince Rivers, Executive Director of The Immigrant Learning Center
IIR Faculty Affiliates
The IIR’s faculty affiliates work with IIR staff and graduate students in several ways: 1) they serve as moderators and speakers for IIR events; 2) they provide professional development to IIR graduate students by presenting at staff meetings and other special events; 3) they help to disseminate information about IIR publications and events to their students and networks and through social media; 4) they invite IIR staff to guest lecture in their classes; 5) they co-author papers with IIR staff; 6) they write short immigration-related papers for the IIR (these are posted on our website); and 7) they advertise their affiliation with the IIR when they speak publicly.
Contact
Email: School
Locations
The Institute for Immigration Research
4400 University Drive, MSN 1D7
Fairfax, VA 22030
Phone: (703) 993-8544
Web Links
Immigration Data on Demand
iDod: Data on immigrants, customized for you
Immigration Data on Demand (iDod) provides academics, policy-makers, and the public with unbiased and objective information related to immigrants and immigration in the United States. This service is intended to help individuals and institutions examine the immigrant populations of their particular geography.
iDod fact sheets demonstrate how immigrants contribute to the economy and society of the United States. Ultimately, the goal of iDod is to connect people with accurate data on immigrant populations. If you are interested in receiving data, please fill out an iDod Request Form.
Unlike many available services, iDod provides this data free of charge and will personalize each request. For more information, browse our Terms & Conditions and library of previously produced fact sheets and spreadsheets.
We now offer you a choice! You can receive your data as:
- a fact sheet with data, maps, charts, and analysis OR
- an Excel spreadsheet with your data in a format that you can adapt for your own purposes
NOTE: We occasionally receive requests from students who want to use iDod to complete a homework assignment. The IIR is dedicated to providing the next generation of immigration scholars with the tools they need to conduct research into immigrant communities. We will not do students’ assignments for them, but we can provide the information they need to perform the work themselves.
Please contact us at iir@gmu.edu with any questions or comments.
Recent Partners
Alaska
AEL Family Welcome Center (Anchorage School District)
California
East Region Adult Education, a CAEP consortium
Maryland
Anne Arundel Community College – English Language Learning Department
Baltimore City Community College
Solutions in Hometown Connections
Washington County Teachers Association
Ohio
City of Dayton Human Relations Council – Welcome Dayton Initiative
Research Overview
The Institute for Immigration Research (IIR) conducts original, multidisciplinary academic research to educate the public about the positive impact immigrants have on the country, the economy, and our communities. Factual data on immigration is more important than ever before due to the current political climate, the deeply divisive rhetoric surrounding immigration, and the myths and misinformation surrounding the issue. The important economic and social aspects of immigration are often ignored. Through our work, the IIR seeks to address empty rhetoric and inject factual information into the national immigration debate.
Beginning in 2020, the IIR conducted an ambitious survey project aimed at understanding how Americans feel about immigrants and why. We surveyed approximately 600 respondents in each of seven metropolitan areas: Baltimore-Washington, Boston, Detroit, Miami, Philadelphia, San Jose, and Seattle. All surveys were conducted online.
Surveys were conducted between late 2020 and summer 2021 with a focus on three issues:
- The frequency and quality of contact with specific immigrant groups
- Attitudes about immigrants and immigration in general
- Views on the role played by immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic
The main finding is: Frequent and friendly local contact with any immigrants is associated with a lower likelihood that an individual sees immigration in the United States as a whole as a problem.
The implication for immigrant advocacy groups is clear: think about how to create local opportunities for frequent and friendly interaction as these can lead to changing views on immigrants at the national level.
Click on each of the seven cities to learn the results:
Boston | DC/MD/VA | Detroit | Miami
|
Philadelphia | San Jose | Seattle |
Methodology and Note on Race and Ethnicity
Reported results are weighted to account for any differences in the demographic characteristics of the survey sample and the makeup of the metro area based on U.S. Census Bureau 2020 5-year data. The U.S. Census Bureau typically asks respondents to separately report their race and whether or not they are Hispanic. Hispanics can be of any race and often selected “other” for race. We follow that convention: respondents were asked to separately report their race and if they were Hispanic. In the results, we compare the frequency and quality of interaction that people have with native-born persons based on their race and with foreign-born individuals according to their race and whether or not they are Hispanic. These patterns of interaction are then broken out according to the race of the respondent, and Hispanics are included in their race category.
Similarly, where Asians are a relatively small part of the population, Asians are included with the “other” race group. However, in San Jose and Seattle, where the Asian populations make up a larger share of the population, Asian is treated as a separate race category.
Based on the sample size of approximately 600 persons for each metropolitan area, we could not always report results that consistently differentiated by race and ethnicity. The table below provides insight into how these patterns vary by each of the metropolitan areas.
Metropolitan Areas by Race and Hispanic Ethnicity Combined
| Balt.-DC | Boston | Detroit | Miami | Philadelphia | San Jose | Seattle | |
| White | 40% | 70% | 65% | 30% | 61% | 32% | 62% |
| Black | 26% | 7% | 22% | 20% | 20% | 2% | 6% |
| Native American | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% |
| Asian | 12% | 8% | 5% | 2% | 6% | 36% | 14% |
| Pacific Islander | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% |
| Two or more races | 4% | 4% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 4% | 6% |
| Hispanic | 18% | 11% | 5% | 45% | 10% | 26% | 10% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Source: Baltimore-DC, Boston, Detroit, Miami, Philadelphia, San Jose, Seattle
People
B
Amy L Best
Professor
Education, social inequalities, youth, identity and intersectionality, children’s health, community sociology, micro sociology, cultural sociology, sociology of everyday life, consumer markets and commercial life, sociology of food, farm to school, food access and food insecurity, feminist and qualitative approaches to social research, ethnography, program evaluation
C
Bryan D Caplan
Professor
Public economics, public choice, psychology and economics, economics of the family
Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera
University Affiliate
Professor
Mexico-U.S. relations, organized crime, immigration, border security, and human trafficking
D
Michelle Dromgold-Sermen
Assistant Director
Instructor
U.S. immigration law and policy; legality, citizenship, membership, and belonging; immigrant incorporation; refugee resettlement; global migration management; Middle East migration
F
Fanni Farago
Graduate Research Assistant
sociology of education, immigration, life course transitions, emotions, health, applied sociology, and mixed-methods research
G
Benjamin Gatling
Associate Professor
narrative, performance, the ethnography of communication, Persianate oral traditions, Islam, Central Asia and the Middle East
Justin Gest
Associate Professor
Immigration policy, minority political behavior, comparative immigration politics
Eirini Giannaraki
Graduate Research Assistant
Sociology: Globalization, forced migration, mixed methods research, refugee integration
Lisa Gilman
Professor
Folklore, music, dance, public humanities, performance studies, African Studies, women’s and gender studies, migration, war, politics and culture, ethnographic fieldwork, filmmaking, digital storytelling.
Lisa Gring-Pemble
University Affiliate
Associate Professor
Social impact, innovation, and entrepreneurship; Rhetorical criticism, argument, persuasion; Political communication and public policy
H
Steve A. Harris-Scott
Instructor
Research: Colonial Virginia, Early Modern Atlantic World, bound/unfree labor (slavery, indentured servitude, apprenticeship), environmental history and history of diseases/pandemics
K
Katie Kerstetter
Affiliate Faculty
poverty and inequality, education, health disparities, and community-based and participatory approaches to research
Dae Young Kim
Associate Professor
Immigration, ethnicity, race, Asian American studies, and globalization
L
Brian Louis Levy
Assistant Professor
Inequality, Poverty, Mobility; Neighborhoods; Community and Urban Sociology; Race, Class, and Gender; Education; Social Demography; Quantitative Research Methods; Causal Inference
Zikun Li
Graduate Research Assistant
sport for development and peace (SDP), globalization of sport, sport and immigration & refugees
M
Charlie Meyer
Graduate Research Assistant
study of folklore, immigration, qualitative research, effects of family roles, performance of gender
N
Ismail Nooraddini
Graduate Research Assistant
Quantitative and qualitative research methods, family and adolescence, immigration, and gender.
P
Kevin Nazar Pastor
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Sociology of Globalization, Transnationalism, Human Rights, Sociology of Development, International Politics, Social Movements, Migration, Latin America and US International Relations, Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, The Collective Unconscious
R
Katharine Rupp
Office Manager
S
Nishit Sahay
Affiliate Faculty
Immigrant’s issues, Immigration Reforms and American Values, Contributions of diasporas in US Society and Economy, Social Science and Globalization, Public-Private sector’s engagements to mitigate institutional issues hampering economic growth, Policy towards Industry 4.0
Blake Silver
Assistant Professor
Higher education; inequality and mobility; culture; race, class, and gender; parent and family involvement in education; transition to adulthood; research methods; second-generation immigrant students
Roberta Spalter-Roth
Senior Research Fellow
T
Susan R Trencher
Associate Professor
American culture, the anthropology of anthropology, sociology of knowledge, anthropological theory and practice, and the history of anthropology
W
Wenjing Wang
Postdoctoral Fellow
Anthropology: Social Complexity and Inequality, Social Interaction, Regional Demographic Analysis, Population Centralization and Decentralization, Quantitative and Spatial Analysis
Amanda Warner
Graduate Research Assistant
Critical Race Theory; Immigration and Global Migration, Paradigms of systemic inequality, Colonialism; Applied Sociology
Michele Waslin
Affiliate Faculty
immigration policy, gender-based asylum, federalism, executive authority
Kellie Wilkerson
Graduate Research Assistant
Applied Sociology/Evaluation Research, Globalization, Sociology of Education, Statistics/Quantitative Methodology
James Witte
Director
Professor
Use of the world wide web to collect survey data, comparison of online and off line societies, immigration, Pakistan
Z
Andrea K Zach
Assistant Professor
Political economy, German contemporary films, critical theory, immigration, theories of nationalism & citizenship.
