Patterns and Contrasts in Asian American Immigration and Economic Outcomes

Introduction

In Chinese, “America” directly translates to “the beautiful country,” a place associated with opportunity and prosperity. That idea has shaped both my parents’ immigration story and my own daily experiences. Today, immigration is a highly debated political issue, often accompanied by rising anti-immigrant sentiment. It becomes easy to see immigrants as fundamentally different from those born in the U.S., and to treat them as a monolith within an “us versus them” narrative. I think this disconnect often comes from limited exposure to the people being criticized. When you don’t know a group well, it’s harder to recognize how similar we actually are.

Asian Americans experience this in a particular way through the “model minority” stereotype, which reduces a diverse community to being uniformly obedient, smart, and successful. Without seeing the full range of Asian American experiences, people may overlook the real cultural, socioeconomic, and personal differences that exist within the community.  I present this project in hopes of illustrating the breadth and depth of the Asian American experience.

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