How Do Integration Policies Affect Immigrants' Attitudes Towards the Host Country?

Roumaissaa Tailassane

OAI: oai:digitalcommons.ursinus.edu:int_sum-1009

This research paper focuses on how various integration policies affect immigrants' attitudes towards their host country, distinguishing between material and cultural policies. The paper studies the impact of different countries' policies on admitting immigrants as well as the access that immigrants have to education, employment, and assistance on the relationship between immigrants and their host country. The study includes a quantitative analysis of the integration process, examining data from 38 countries to evaluate how their Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) score, an indicator of countries' migrants' opportunities to participate in society, relates to these countries' integration policies. Furthermore, MIPEX scores are analyzed to assess the relative importance of material and cultural policies in allowing immigrants to feel more attached and satisfied with their host country. The qualitative portion of the study draws on a number of interviews with first- and second-generation immigrants to allow for individual understanding of how immigrants feel about the integration process. Through both quantitative and qualitative analysis, conclusions are drawn about the importance of material and cultural policies for the overall happiness of immigrants with their host country, including differences in how first and second-generation immigrants view integration policies.

Integration Policies immigration material Cultural United States interviews International Relations Political Science Social and Behavioral Sciences