LatAm Is Driving USA's Next Immigration Wave

A new book, Streets of Gold, is shining a light on myths about US immigration using data. For instance, it details how the immigrants of today, 43% of which come from Latin American countries, are just as likely to move up the economic ladder as their European counterparts in the 1800s and early 1900s.

In the 1900s, Europeans accounted for about 86% of all immigration into the US. And just like Europeans shaped the demographics of the US population in the past century, Latin America (followed by Asia) is shaping the next generation of immigrants, giving the country a variety of cultures like never before.

Leah Boustan and Ran Abramitzky, the economic researchers behind the book, detail countless stories of children with immigrant parents that do exceptionally well, even better on average than children of US-born citizens.

One of those success stories is Gisel Ruiz, who worked the farm fields of Central Valley, California at a young age. Gisel was encouraged by her Mexican parents to pursue a college degree. She graduated from marketing at the local university and went on to become a top executive at Walmart. She's now part of the board of directors at several companies, including telecom giant Univision.

The authors of Streets of Gold explain that much of the immigration shift seen on the chart is best explained by socioeconomic development. European countries have become increasingly wealthy in the modern world, with excellent social programs. These make the incentive to move out of Europe low. Thus unsurprisingly, it's primarily citizens (like Gisel's parents) of developing nations pursuing the "American dream." Mexico has been the top source of US immigrants since 1980, and it now accounts for 24% of the total. Thanks to Boustan and Abramitzky's work, we know they're assimilating well into the culture and actively participating in the economy, unlike many narratives often claim.