Urban Contexts and Immigrant Organizations: Differences in New York, El Paso, Paris, and Barcelona

• Author: Ernesto Castañeda
• Published date: 01 July 2020
• Date: 01 July 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0002716220938043

ANNALS, AAPSS, 690, July 2020 117

DOI: 10.1177/0002716220938043

Urban Contexts

and Immigrant

Organizations:

Differences in

New York, El

Paso, Paris, and

Barcelona

By

ERNESTO CASTAÑEDA

938043ANN THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMYURBAN CONTEXTS AND IMMIGRANT ORGANIZATIONS

research-article2020

This article compares immigrant and ethnic organiza-

tions in four major immigrant-receiving cities and reveals

substantial variation across these immigrant gateway

cities. Using data from ethnographic fieldwork and an

original database of relevant organizations in New York

City; El Paso, Texas; Paris; and Barcelona, I find differ-

ences in organizational type and density, as well as in

their legitimacy and funding. This article contributes to

a growing literature on immigrant organizations.

Although immigrant organizations have a long history in

some cities, they may not always operate in ways that

enhance refugee and migrant integration. Comparing

immigrant organizations is fruitful because it tells us

more about city and national political systems and why

distinct localities deal with cultural minorities differently.

These comparisons can help the readers to understand

the barriers and ladders that immigrants encounter in

different cities and inform policy-makers in designing

better approaches to incorporate immigrants.

Keywords: migrant civic participation; urban belong-

ing; immigrant integration; contexts of

reception; immigrant organizations

Immigrants often congregate and create organ-

izations with people from their hometowns or

countries of origin or those with whom they

share a religion. These organizations may atten-

uate the nostalgia of leaving home. These groups

can act as mutual aid societies to help people

succeed in their place of residence, or they may

have political aims for reform in their home

country. Some organizations advocating for

immigrant rights and services may be founded

and staffed by nonimmigrants. Ethnic organiza-

tions are those that advocate for citizens who

may be part of a racial, ethnic, or religious

minority, and who are often the children or

Ernesto Castañeda is an associate professor of sociology

at American University. He is the author of A Place to

Call Home: Immigrant Exclusion and Urban Belonging

in New York, Paris, and Barcelona (Stanford University

Press 2018).

Correspondence: ernesto@american.edu

118 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

grandchildren of immigrants or the descendants of slaves or indigenous peoples.

Examples of such organizations include the NAACP, the Antidefamation League,

and UnidosUS (formerly known as the National Council of La Raz). The eruption

of ethnic organizations in the political sphere is a way for these groups to be

included in political decisions and to decrease the structural factors that create

inequities and exclude these groups from access to opportunities, respect, and

economic well-being. Community organizations, networks, leaders, spokespeople,

and brokers make it easier to find solutions when conflicts occur. A lack of organiza-

tions and social capital may result in conflicts escalating faster, thus making violent

confrontations and riots more likely to occur.

Immigrant and ethnic organizations may be central to the process of social and

economic integration for refugees and migrants. Prior studies suggest that these

organizations assist newly arrived migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees by

offering information about family reunification and legal advice, providing com-

munity programs and services, and serving as advocates with external groups.

Building on these studies, this article examines the characteristics of immigrant

and ethnic organizations in four major cities. It investigates variation in the types

of organizations by situating the differences in specific urban contexts to under-

stand the implications for refugee and migrant integration. The results are of

general importance because while many policy-makers, researchers, and philan-

thropists may think that immigrant and ethnic organizations represent communi-

ties, in reality, an organization can be grassroots or very detached from the

everyday life struggles of the people for whom it is supposed to advocate. It is also

important to remember that most immigrants and minorities are not active mem-

bers of any of these organizations. These are not reasons to exclude these popula-

tions or to turn our back on some of these organizations, but they serve as a

reminder that reaching out to members of excluded groups has to be done at the

systemic level by government officials and one by one by people committed to

inclusion and democratic practice.

Literature Review

Since the late 1990s, ethnic and immigrant organizations have been important

foci of social science research. A transnational approach to migration docu-

mented many examples of groups abroad collecting and sending funds to towns

NOTE: I would like to thank Heather Rosoff, Marco Rojas-Machazek, Fernando Rocha,

Daniel Jenks, and Maura Fennelly for their research assistance in creating the databases. I

presented the first version of this article at the 2016 meeting of the American Sociological

Association, and I thank the audience there and at other conferences and seminars for their

questions and comments. I also appreciate the feedback from Norma Fuentes-Mayorga,

Robert C. Smith, Concha Maiztegui Oñate, Els de Graauw, Nuria Vilanova, Max Friedman,

Elke Stockreiter, Stephen Ruszczyk, Ali Chaudhary, Rene Flores, Mike Bader, Randa Serhan,

Nicole Angotti, Rachel Robinson, Nina Yamanis, Gloria Elena Rendón Toro; and especially

Katharine Donato, Elizabeth Ferris, and several anonymous reviewers; as well as Tom

Kecskemethy and Emily Babson. All errors remain my own.