The gifts of immigration
Nearly one of every four Americans — 70 million — is an immigrant or is the child of parents from elsewhere. In Los Angeles, one of every three residents is foreign-born. The vast majority of U.S. immigration has been nonwhite since 1965, a trend that won’t change anytime soon. So two Harvard researchers asked themselves: What can the past teach us about absorbing today’s immigrants — especially children — in a way that benefits them, and society? “If they succeed, that is a social good of the first order,” said sociologist Gerhard Sonnert of the young immigrants in the 21st century. “If they do not succeed, it would be bad for America.” As in the past, immigrants often come to the United States propelled by tragedy. Helping them to prosper is both a practical and a moral imperative, said physicist Gerald Holton. Holton is the Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and Professor of the History...