Immigrant Housing Discrimination and Precipitating Factors
According to different scholarly works on immigrants, the pattern of housing segregation among immigrants varies with race, ethnicity, and language. Scholars have drawn connection between immigrants’ lack of access to housing and different social barriers, which include language, work opportunities and socioeconomic status. As aptly illustrated by Wan Yu, these barriers could be systemic or institutional based on racial prejudice, language, and gender (178). While elaborating on other factors that constitute housing challenges to immigrants, Yu asserts that housing consideration is also correlated to immigrants’ characteristics such as indefinite immigrant status, lack of citizenship and permanent residency . It is established that rental agencies and homeowners are always unwilling to offer apartments to immigrants, due to their unstable immigration status. This factor constitutes a major housing discrimination against immigrants in United States.
Studies have also identified racial identity as another contributing factor to immigrant housing segregation. For example, Black immigrants experience a higher degree of housing segregation than Asian, Hispanic, and White immigrants (Bottia17). Similarly, immigrants from Dominican Republic and Haiti live in more deplorable neighborhood than Salvadoran, Guatemalas and Mexican. Other researchers have identified zonal restriction of immigrant as another precipitating factor in immigrant housing segregation. Zonal restriction is a situation in which immigrants are restricted or conditioned to live in certain neighborhood. Such locations may include historically segregated and marginalized neighborhoods with palpable evidence of poverty. This is often so, especially when immigrants become apprehensive about their undocumented status. Zonal restriction of immigrants could also be due to socioeconomic factors or restricted job opportunities.
Furthermore, studies indicate that foreign born immigrants like Hispanics, Asians and Black immigrants are more susceptible to housing segregation than their American born co-ethnics. This, as Bottia explains, is related to the language barrier and lower socioeconomic capacity of certain immigrants. Another major factor identified as contributing to housing segregation against immigrants is the idea of family reunification. As a result of immigration policy and the need for family protection, many undocumented immigrants prefer to live close to family members who are in legal status. This family accommodation, as Bottia suggests, often leads to the concentration of immigrants in particular location. Such immigrants attempt to create family circles away from home in other to facilitate all forms of support for one another. Bottia maintains that such instances of family reunification and housing segregation are often mostly related to Hispanic and Asian immigrants.
Another major factor that contributes to immigrant housing segregation is the pattern of immigrants’ settlement. While some immigrants live in a concentrated location in the US, others tend to be dispersed around the country. For example, Carlos Teixeira investigates how varied pattern of immigrants’ settlement has continued to affect immigrant housing in the United States. Teixeira notes that some ethnic groups are known for forming enclaves while others dispersed across different locations (Teixeira 24). This varied pattern of settlement is necessitated by different factors such as language, culture, and availability of job opportunities.
Also, studies have shown a decline in the rate of homeownership among immigrants due to various socio factors, finances inclusive. Also, research has shown that housing challenges are further complicated by the ethno-racial and religious identity of immigrants. For example, Chinese and Muslim immigrants face different challenges in terms of housing. Further study indicates that increasing economic globalization in transnational activities has led to proportionate increase in Chinese population in the United States. (Yu 185). Yet, Chinese immigrants continue to experience various housing challenges the chief of which is language discrimination. In a survey conducted on Chinese immigrants and language proficiency within only Rowland Heights and Monterey Parks, result shows a staggering difference in housing access between Chinese immigrants with English proficiency and those without. This linguistic barrier has continued to complicate Chinese housing experience. All these social factors continue to impact housing opportunities among immigrants in the United States.
