Edited Book

Integration and Receptivity in Immigrant Gateway Metro Regions in the United States

Edited by

Published in July 2024 by Lexington Books (an Imprint of Rowman & Littlefield) in both E-Book (ISBN: 978-1-66695-579-8) and Hardback (ISBN: 978-1-66695-578-1) formats.  Visit the book's official page on the publisher's site here. 

Synopsis

Despite the velocity and scale of the cumulative changes of immigrant integration and receptivity infrastructures in fast growing regions of the United States, less research has focused on the new and evolving experiences in these regions in recent years. Editors Paul N. McDaniel and Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez and the contributors in Integration and Receptivity in Immigrant Gateway Metro Regions in the United States fill this gap through case studies of different types of immigrant gateway metro areas. They provide insight into how immigrant settlement, integration, and receptivity processes and practices within each metro area have continued to evolve beyond the nascent experiences documented in the early 2000s. This interdisciplinary volume examines ongoing processes in not only well-established immigrant gateways, but also in previously overlooked regions. This book is a resource for researchers, students, and practitioners to contextualize the ongoing changes in new destination metropolitan regions in the United States and to learn from the challenges, opportunities, and best practices emerging from different metropolitan regional contexts.

• Table of Contents
  1. Introduction: Twenty-First Century Immigration Geography in the United States
     Paul N. McDaniel, Kennesaw State University
     Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez, Kennesaw State University
  2. Detroit, Michigan: Revitalizing the Rust Belt by Welcoming Immigrants in a Former Gateway
     Xi Huang, University of Central Florida
     Alexis Tsoukalas, University of Central Florida
  3. Washington, DC: Reception and Integration of Immigrants and Refugees in the National Capital Region
     Elizabeth Chacko, George Washington University
  4. Miami, Florida: Immigrant Settlement and Impact in the Gateway to the Americas
     Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez, Kennesaw State University
     Eric Manley, Kennesaw State University
     Nilofer Bharwani, Kennesaw State University
  5. Atlanta, Georgia: How Institutionalized Reception and Representation of Refugees Changed Immigrant Receptivity in a Major-Emerging Gateway
     Sarah Ryniker, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
  6. Charlotte, North Carolina: Multiple Scales of Receptivity in the Queen City
     Paul N. McDaniel, Kennesaw State University
     Heather A. Smith, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
  7. Greensboro, North Carolina: Immigration and the Spatial Dynamics of Neighborhood Change in the Piedmont Triad
     Nabeela Farhat, University of North Carolina Greensboro
     Selima Sultana, University of North Carolina Greensboro
  8. Nashville, Tennessee: Immigrant Integration and Rent Burden in the Music City
     Madhuri Sharma, University of Tennessee
     Mikhail Samarin, University of Tennessee
  9. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota: The Success of Somali Elected Officials in the Twin Cities
     Stefanie Chambers, Trinity College
     Annika Davies, George Washington University
  10. Burlington, Vermont: Refugee Resettlement in the Green Mountain State
      Pablo Bose, University of Vermont
  11. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Welcoming Newcomers to the City of Bridges During Times of Crisis
      Jennie L. Schulze, Duquesne University
  12. Louisville, Kentucky: Adaptive Municipal Responses to a Growing Immigrant Community in the Age of COVID-19
      Andrew Lim, American Immigration Council
      Nan Wu, American Immigration Council
      Karen Aho, American Immigration Council
  13. Birmingham, Alabama: Immigrant Integration, Place Branding, and Geographies of Care in the Ridge and Valley
      Paul N. McDaniel, Kennesaw State University
  14. Des Moines, Iowa: Refugee Resettlement Ecosystems and the Uneven Geographies of Immigrant Incorporation in the Heartland
      Emily Frazier, Missouri State University
  15. Reno, Nevada: “I Just Feel Out of Place There” - Punjabi-Sikh Socio-Spatialities in the Biggest Little City in the World
      Heather L. Benson, University of Nevada Reno
      Kate A. Berry, University of Nevada Reno
  16. Conclusion: Future Trajectories
      Paul N. McDaniel, Kennesaw State University
      Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez, Kennesaw State University
• Reviews and Endorsements

  "The 'overlooked' metropolitan regions covered in Integration and Receptivity in Immigrant Gateway Metro Regions in the United States are particularly intriguing, as these are important sites of immigrant integration that prompt new questions and theoretical contributions. The editors of this interdisciplinary volume do a fine job weaving together key and emerging themes in immigration studies that is both smart and inviting to the reader." — Emily Skop, Professor of Geography, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.

  "Assembling a diverse group of scholars and professionals, Paul N. McDaniel and Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez have produced an impressive volume on the transformative settlements of and receptivity for immigrants within fourteen U.S. metropolitan areas. This book provides an in-depth knowledge on different kinds of immigrant gateways and is good for both course reading and scholarly references." — Wei Li, Professor in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University.

  “Integration and Receptivity in Immigrant Gateway Metro Regions in the United States, by editors and chapter authors Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez and Paul McDaniel, is a critical tool to document welcoming and integration processes as well as best practices in US communities embracing New Americans…I also find the book to be momentous, given that the United States and other countries across the globe are wrestling with the stresses and strains of heightened people movements in response to war, political unrest and climate change. Georgia itself has wrestled with immigration developments just this year alone, and lessons like those provided in this book are instructive and inspiring as the state and the nation navigate the future. This book is a roadmap toward what is possible and offers optimism and data-informed decision making when it is most needed.” — Rachel Peric, Executive Director, Welcoming America.

  "In their book, McDaniel and Rodriguez, through their approach of cultivating community-engaged applied research, have struck the precise balance of mind and heart that this work requires. They and other chapter authors rigorously document integration processes from different types of metro areas across the United States while centering the humanity of the immigrants who come and the community actors who welcome them. This book is the latest thread in a tapestry of rich human-centered research by both McDaniel and Rodriguez, who have exhibited strong thought leadership in Georgia and beyond and have taken that leadership to the national level with this insightful book. Immigrant Integration, with its diverse lens, focuses and re-focuses readers’ attention on the hard lessons and small victories that have led to community success in supporting New Americans. It is a beacon to policymakers and stakeholders across the country, from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to everyday people." — Jeremy Robbins, Executive Director, American Immigration Council

  "As the Founder of a major immigrant-serving/immigrant advocacy organization (Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition) and a national-level nonprofit that helps communities reach their maximum potential by welcoming immigrants (Welcoming America), I am delighted to see the publication of Integration and Receptivity in Immigrant Gateway Metro Regions in the United States. Through this book, editors Paul N. McDaniel and Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez have both authored their own analyses and brought together a team of experts who outline the welcoming practices and experiences of a dozen U.S. metro regions – from Nashville to Reno. The spectrum of events and practices provided in this book could not come at a more crucial time, as the United States again sees immigration surge to the top of voters’ concerns, and the country stands at the precipice of a national election that could determine the very future of who we are as a nation. The book also offers an opportunity for meaningful dialogue in Georgia, the state I call home, which has yet again been placed at the center of the immigration debate and has been wrestling for years with deep questions around whether and how to continue welcoming and supporting immigrants. Both for its content and its timing, this book is invaluable as an educational tool, a best practices guide, and a table-setting work to equip the reader to think more deeply and more broadly about what is possible when communities unite to support immigrants. The book also scaffolds upon the great work of the editors, whom I know well. Paul and Darlene for years have helped bridge the gap between scholars, nonprofits, advocates and community members, to interweave research and practice through coalitions such as the Georgia Immigration Research Network (GIRN). As GIRN co-founders, they have both made and continue to make valuable contributions to the research base and broader conversations around what it means to be welcoming, especially as the very concept has come under closer scrutiny nationally and globally." — David Lubell, Principal, David Lubell Consulting; Founder, Welcoming America and Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC).

  "I heartily endorse the work of Paul McDaniel and Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez, and their impressive list of contributors, in Integration and Receptivity in Immigrant Gateway Metro Regions in the United States. Immigration to this country is extraordinarily diverse, as are the regions of the United States into which immigrants are coming. This book enriches the field by building on prior research that establishes a typology of different immigration contexts in the country, and then using that as a framework for delving into rich detail about specific policy and practices in a range of different areas: Detroit, Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Birmingham, Des Moines, and more. McDaniel and Rodriguez do a remarkable job weaving together theory and practice, local and national, commonalities and differences to draw out lessons from the varying local experiences of immigrant integration. McDaniel and Rodriguez are clear and powerful writers, as evidenced in the chapters they write together. At the same time, they do an impressive job working with an excellent roster of contributors to bring their local expertise into the overall framework of the book. As a result, there is a clear throughline to the book that is often lacking in volumes with multiple contributors. McDaniel and Rodriguez sometimes act as co-authors of chapters with other contributors, further aiding the cohesion of the book while still centering the voices and work of people with expertise in specific regions. I welcome this addition to the scholarship on immigration in the United States." — David Dyssegaard Kallick, Director, Immigration Research Initiative.

  "With this stellar book, editors and chapter authors Paul N. McDaniel and Darlene Rodriguez continue their thorough scholarship documenting the dynamics of immigrant integration across the United States. With its highlights from multiple metropolitan areas, including specific nonprofit interventions and successful publicprivate partnerships to expand immigrant inclusivity at the local level, Integration and Receptivity in Immigrant Gateway Metro Regions in the United States holds lessons for direct-services nonprofits like ours, as well as for businesses and governments seeking to serve their immigrant neighbors. This book should be on the desks of CEOs, local government officials, and nonprofit executive directors as they humbly navigate the complex waters of embracing growing diversity and the unique opportunities presented when the world comes to us, and immigrants make this great nation their home." — Santiago Marquez, President and CEO, Latin American Association.

  "Integration and Receptivity in Immigrant Gateway Metro Regions in the United States is critical reading to those who want to know what is really going on across America around immigration. There is a growing movement among local communities who understand that immigration is an essential component of our nation's economic future and prosperity. This book captures this movement. The battleground on immigration takes place in gateway metro regions and is markedly different than the one being played out on cable news." — Steve Tobocman, Executive Director, Global Detroit.

  "As an elected official in the state’s most diverse county, with a population that is over 26% foreign-born, a book like this one—underscoring how metropolitan regions across the country have worked to integrate and embrace those born overseas—is an invaluable guide to everyone who seeks to love their neighbor. The insights provided are relevant and rich for a variety of stakeholders, including local public servants who are elected to serve everyone in their communities." — Nicole L. Hendrickson, Chairwoman, Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners.

  "Integration and Receptivity in Immigrant Gateway Metro Regions in the United States, by editors and chapter authors Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez and Paul McDaniel, grounds the reader in the reality of what has been accomplished in cities across the United States who have chosen to welcome immigrants. The book also expands the reader’s mind to embrace what’s possible when communities choose love over fear. In these ways, the book both looks backwards and forwards, helping apply lessons from yesterday to build a better tomorrow. In an era of rhetoric rather than solid research and information around immigration, the book provides real-world best practices to implement as well as pitfalls to avoid as our nation continues its journey, haltingly, but steadily, toward liberty and justice for all." — Staci Fox, President and CEO, Georgia Budget & Policy Institute.

  "This book outlines lessons learned from across the United States—how metro regions have both succeeded and failed in supporting their immigrant communities—and what that means for businesses and other stakeholders. Integration and Receptivity in Immigrant Gateway Metro Regions is a gift to the world, offering both immigrants and the new places they call home in Georgia an opportunity for civil and engaging dialogue. Its publication is timely as the United States faces multiple challenges, including an aging workforce, the need for multilingual global talent, and the demand for innovative business ideas that will catalyze an inclusive economy benefiting everyone." — Norma Zúñiga-Cardoza, Executive Director, GHCC (Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce) Hispanic Business Center.

  "I believe it to be both practical and educational that Integration and Receptivity focuses on the real-world experiences of other metro regions, chronicling lessons learned and patterns observed as communities reach toward loving those around them. Many times in direct-services work, a nonprofit deals with the challenge immediately in front of them, and may not have the time to really think comparatively about what’s going on in other places. The accessibility of the information in the book makes it an immediately valuable tool that can inform direct services. It also appeals as an educational piece that can contextualize multi-region experiences for a wide array of readers and stakeholders." — Larry Campbell, President and CEO, Corners Outreach.

  "Integration and Receptivity in Immigrant Gateway Metro Regions in the United States is a must-read guide for community advocates, business leaders and local officials on how to successfully integrate talented newcomers from around the world into their communities. By sharing lessons from cities nationwide, it illustrates how we can put U.S. ideals of welcome and opportunity into action and expand prosperity for new and old Americans alike. The editors, Paul N. McDaniel and Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez, are to be commended for this groundbreaking – and eminently practical – work that reminds us immigrants are a source of strength for our cities and our nation." — Darlene Lynch, Chair, Business and Immigration for Georgia.

  "As the CEO of two of Georgia's leading Latinx advocacy organizations with a focus on justice for immigrants, I wholeheartedly endorse Integration and Receptivity in Immigrant Gateway Metro Regions in the United States, by editors and chapter authors Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez and Paul McDaniel. This book provides an important backdrop for understanding immigrant dynamics at the local level and provides solid context from sites across the United States on what works and what does not as communities explore ways to embrace those who come to them from all over the globe." — Jerry Gonzalez, CEO, GALEO and GALEO Impact Fund.

  "With my background in cultural and linguistic responsiveness, immigrant behavioral health, social and racial justice, health equity, and health disparities, I want to highlight the significant research value and substantive contributions made by Dr. Rodriguez and Paul McDaniel in their book, “Integration and Receptivity in Immigrant Gateway Metro Regions in the United States.”
  It is well documented that immigrants are among the most resilient populations, yet they face heightened risks for negative mental health outcomes. These outcomes are largely influenced by social determinants of health, such as racism, poverty, and the extent to which local communities are supportive of immigrants. This final aspect is profoundly explored in the insightful work of Rodriguez and McDaniel, along with the contributions of other chapter authors. The combination of Rodriguez’s expertise as a policy expert and social worker with McDaniel’s geographical insights has produced a brilliant and impactful piece of research." — Pierluigi Mancini, PhD, President and CEO, Multicultural Development Institute, Inc.

  "In my line of work, one of the things that is most lacking when serving children and immigrant families is a sense of experience and context...In the national debate around immigration and what it means for all of us, the local level is all too often overlooked, as are the stories of young people and how they move through life. With our nation at an inflection point around immigration policy, it is good to know that researchers...continue to explore meaningful community engaged, data-focused inquiry that can build trust and lead decision makers to better outcomes." — Jennifer L. Owens, CEO, HealthMPowers, City Council Member, City of Brookhaven.

• Acknowledgments

  In the creation of this comprehensive volume, we are indebted to many individuals and organizations whose unwavering support has been instrumental in shaping this endeavor. Our heartfelt gratitude goes to our respective departments and colleges at Kennesaw State University where this book found fertile ground to flourish. The support from the Department of Geography and Anthropology in the Norman J. Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Department of Social Work and Human Services in the Wellstar College of Health and Human Services has been instrumental in nurturing our pursuits as community-engaged scholars and providing an environment conducive to applied academic exploration.

  We extend our deepest appreciation to sources of support within Kennesaw State University who encouraged the significance of this project. These include professionals connected to the Norman J. Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences 2021–2022 Scholarship Support Grant and the Tenured Faculty Enhancement Program through the Kennesaw State University Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (in partnership with the Kennesaw State University Office of Research). Their support not only facilitated the realization of this volume but also validated the importance of understanding the evolving immigrant experiences within diverse metropolitan regions, including our own metro region of Atlanta in the southeastern United States.

Information about the book's original CFP from 2021 is found here.