Immigrant Group Dispersion: Who Migrates Internally and Where Do They Go?

Douglas T. Gurak, Cornell University
Mary M. Kritz, Cornell University

Immigrants residing in non-traditional destinations had a markedly higher likelihood of migrating between 1995 and 2000 than those living in traditional gateway areas. This paper examines the role of individual and context characteristics in influencing migration from new and traditional settlement areas to either new or traditional destinations. Labor market economic and industrial structure, immigrant's nativity origins and concentration, and geographic region and residence place are examined. Drawing on confidential census data, group-specific new destination classifications were constructed for the 23 largest Asian, Caribbean and Latin American origin immigrants in 741 local labor markets throughout the country. The analytical model did account for the strong tendency of 1995 new destination residents to migrate to other new destinations but was less adequate at explaining the moderately high tendency of immigrants who lived in new destinations in 1995 to migrate to traditional destinations, and least adequate at explaining migration from traditional destinations.