Study rebuts 'family values' argument that favors immigration

Study rebuts 'family values' argument that favors immigration

An immigration reform organization has released a study which it says refutes the premise that immigrants entering the U.S. bring along with them a commitment to traditional family values that is stronger than that found among the native-born population. The group points to a dramatic rise in illegitimate birth rates among Hispanic immigrants since 1980 as a prime example.

During a January 2005 news conference, President Bush -- in discussing his proposals for immigration reform -- stated he wanted to remind people that "family values do not stop at the Rio Grande River." The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) in Washington, DC, cites other sources who argue that immigrants to America bring with them "strong family structures and strong morals" as well as a "stronger sense of family" than Anglo-Americans.

In investigating those claims, CIS has examined one aspect of traditional family values: out-of-wedlock births. The group looked at those birth rates among immigrants and native-born Americans in 1980, and compared those figures with the illegitimate birth rates in 2003. Those rates among the native U.S. population rose from 19 percent in 1980 to 35 percent in 2003; during the same time period, the rate among immigrants -- both legal and illegal -- rose from 13 to 32 percent.

But CIS spokesman John Keeley says the illegitimacy rate of among Hispanic immigrants is even higher. "There the figure is 42 percent," he shares. "So 42 percent of Hispanic immigrants have out-of-wedlock births ... and that's a concern." Illegitimacy among that group in 1980 was at 19 percent.

The higher rate of illegitimate births among Hispanics is important, says Keeley, because births to Hispanic women now account for 59 percent of all births to foreign-born mothers. And even that high percentage, he notes, is often lower than it is in those immigrants' native countries. In countries like El Salvador and Guatemala, for example, the out-of-wedlock birth rates are in the 60-to-70 percent range, he says.

"In Mexico, the 'official' figure is 38 percent, but [that report comes] from the government -- and most people think that it's considerably higher," the CIS spokesman adds. "So you can see, if the problem is so prevalent there in the source countries, why should we be shocked that there is a comparable concern here in the United States with these very nationals?"

Keeley says high illegitimate birth rates bring other problems such as higher welfare rates, higher crime rates, and lower education levels -- all of which, he says, ought to be "troubling" to policymakers on Capitol Hill. And because illegitimate children are at a higher risk for such problems, those with immigrant parents may be at even greater risk because they need strong families to adjust to a new life in America.

CIS director of research Steven Camarota makes that argument in a column for ConservativeTimes.org. He writes that while some people view immigrants as "paragons of virtue" and others view them as "morally deficient" in some way, neither view is correct when it comes to family values.

"Immigrants are subject to the same social forces as everyone else," says Camarota. "Thus, the idea that immigration will reinvigorate traditional values is unrealistic."