 Professors’ Project Studies the Immigrant Experience
More than one million immigrants in the Bay Area face a classic dilemma—how to fit into their new culture without losing their identity. Add to that the challenge of navigating the U.S. immigration system, and many would seemingly be lost in a sea of legal and social difficulty that is the reality of the American Dream.
Researchers at the University of San Francisco have found that there is an often-ignored but powerful force in guiding new immigrants through this confusing sea—religion. According to the USF study, immigration is frequently a religious as well as civic experience because faith-based organizations are crucial to healthy cultural adjustment.
“The church helps new immigrants incorporate themselves, in part by allowing them to continue to practice their own cultural ways,” Politics Professor Jay Gonzalez said. “I’ve seen Filipino immigrants in many parts of the world where they are banned from having Bible studies. That causes major cultural stress. The church helps them process their day and have a direction in their lives. America allows for that, so immigrants here are often better able to adjust.”
Gonzales is part of The Religion and Immigration Project (TRIP) at USF, funded four years ago by the Pew Charitable Trust to study the role of religion in the lives of new immigrants. USF is one of seven sites, all located in cities that serve as the largest ports of entry to the United States, to participate in the $5 million Pew project.
“Religion is rarely considered as a variable when discussing immigrant patterns,” said Lois Lorentzen, professor of theology and religious studies and the lead researcher for TRIP at USF. “We hope that our study will fill a gap in the literature about immigration and help both immigrants and policy makers.”
The USF team, which is concluding its study this year, is made up of bilingual and bicultural researchers who focused on the Bay Area’s five largest migrant groups—Filipino, Chinese, Vietnamese, Salvadoran, and Mexican. Researchers focused on religious sites, from Buddhist temples to Catholic churches, then created a portrait of each community through oral histories and extensive interviews both here and in immigrants’ native countries. Along with the traditional academic component of the project, researchers offered community-based workshops and events, such as “Immigration 101” and “Immigrant Pride Day” in San Francisco’s Mission District. The key to their project’s success, researchers said, was conducting a culturally sensitive investigation.
?We went to every party, every Mass, every event,? Gonzalez said of his research team’s focus on the Filipino community at Iglesia Ni Cristo, a church in Daly City. ?We were part-observer, part-participant. We had to see, feel, smell, eat, even sleep in the church with them to build that trust. That was the challenge, to be accepted by the community.?
Among the project’s most important findings is that religious spaces are crucial in maintaining cultural identity and in providing needed services to new immigrants, such as support groups and after-school tutoring.
“We found that undocumented immigrants often are afraid or unsure how to access public services,” Lorentzen said. “Churches, temples, and other places of worship provide a lot of the services they need.”
Psychology Professor Kevin Chun, who studied Chinese immigrants at a Presbyterian mission and a Buddhist monastery in San Francisco’s Chinatown, said his findings reveal the extent to which religious organizations fill the gap in providing culturally competent social services to new immigrants.
?The challenge for first generation immigrants is trying to re-establish ‘home’ and to navigate through a different cultural environment,? Chun said. ?This is where the faith community comes in.? For example, he said the Presbyterian mission, Cameron House, has a thriving after-school program to help Chinese students with homework. Parents often are working around the clock to make ends meet and may not have the language skills or understanding of the American school system to help their children with homework. ?Children get the help they need at Cameron house, and they’re getting essential social skills as well,? he said.
Chun’s study of Chinese immigrants in San Francisco also revealed the significant role religious organizations play in providing mental health and other services that are mostly unavailable to immigrants. “Asian Americans have been stereotyped as the model minority—overachieving, well adjusted, not needing any help,” he said. “This is not the case for large segments of the population, especially children. And they need not just any services, but culturally appropriate services. There is tremendous potential to help them change their lives, and religious organizations are leading this charge. It is truly a matter of social justice.”
Researchers hope their work will benefit not only the scholarly study of immigration, but also the immigrants themselves. “We’re here so the communities can better understand themselves,” Gonzalez said.
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