Kingson Lin

Professor Kao
Soci-103
9/15/15
Review #1
In class, one topic that was brought up was selection of immigrants. There were two kinds of
selection mentioned, positive and negative. Positive selection of immigrants refers to an immigrant who
enters the country who is relatively well educated, wealthy, or possesses other favorable qualities that can
be approximated using SES (socio-economic status)2. Negative selection is simply the opposite of
positive. Selection of immigration is a very controversial issue in American society even today as
evidenced in both the political and social scene. While, in theory it makes sense as a country to want only
positively selected immigrants who would contribute to the growth and develop of the country, to try to
bar entire groups of immigrants that are deemed as negatively selected for is not only un-American but
also a huge logical fallacy that needs to be corrected.
First, a groups classification as being negatively selected is not always based in reality as often
times it does not matter what the numbers or facts say, if the population already has preconceived notions
and prejudices towards the group. Prime examples of this were that Irish and Chinese immigrants in the
19th century that were considered lazy, crime-prone and even less human 2. However, these two immigrant
groups undeniably helped to build this countrys very infrastructure as they contributed much of the
grueling labor to building the transcontinental railroad2. Over time, the Irish eventually achieved
assimilation to the point where today, not a second thought is given to an Irish person that would
distinguish him from being white4. Although, the Chinese have still not yet assimilated, they did shed
their negative connotations and today are considered be a very positively selected for minority 4.
Therefore, extrapolating from the example of the Irish and Chinese, immigrant groups first
thought of as being negatively selected and undesirable can, in reality, turn out to be highly functional and
contributing member of society. Despite that, today similar anti-immigrant sentiments are felt about

Hispanic groups, particular those from Mexico. As a result, there is a movement to limit the influx of
these groups into the US. The most notable of these examples is that of Republican presidential nominee
Donald Trump, who has made inflammatory remarks about Mexico not sending their best and that
those that they do send are bringing drugs and crime with them. While the statistical evidence on
education attainment and income may support the claim that Mexicans are negatively selected for, it still
does justifying building a giant wall on the boarder or deporting Mexican immigrants 2.
The lack of success of Mexican immigrants in general, may not be due to group inherently being
negatively selected, but rather could be a byproduct of social and institutional prejudice and
discrimination. For example, the Huffington post cited a study that showed that with two identical
resumes, the only difference being the name on the resume Joseph vs Jose, Joseph is more likely to be
hired by employers than Jose1. This means that Jose, as a Mexican, could be equally as qualified as
Joseph, presumably white, but have lower SES because employers favor Joseph more. Another example
of this is also present in the educational system. Teachers tend to have lower expectations in terms of
educational attainment for Hispanic students than white or Asian students. As a result, teachers may give
less attention to these students which could influence their eventual educational attainment 3. In fact, it is
not uncommon for an excellent Hispanic student to be discouraged from applying to reach universities by
their counselors because they believe that the student would not have a chance 3. Therefore, it could be
arguable that Hispanic immigrants are not necessarily negatively selected for but rather that society has
negatively selected them.
While negative and positive selection may be a useful tool to see how much one particular group
contributes to society, it should not be used as an indicator of what groups should be allowed into the
country. People often forget that many of the first immigrants that arrived were considered negatively
selected and over time that has changed4. However, that could never have happened if they were not
granted entrance in the first place.

References
(1) Matthews, C. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/02/jose-joe-jobdiscrimination_n_5753880.html (accessed Sep 17, 2015).
(2) Kao, G.; Vaquera, E.; Goyette, K. Education And Immigration; Polity: Cambridge, UK, 2013.
(3) Jaschik, S. The Missing Students https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/12/11/studysays-many-highly-talented-low-income-students-never-apply-top-colleges (accessed Sep 17,
2015).
(4) Hirschman, C. America's Melting Pot Reconsidered - Annual Review of Sociology, 9(1):397
http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.so.09.080183.002145 (accessed Sep 17,
2015).