Immigrant Generations

Immigrant Generations

The term first-generation, as it pertains to a person's nationality or residency in a country, can imply two possible meanings, depending on context:

  • A foreign born citizen or resident who has immigrated and been naturalized in a new country of residence.
  • A naturally born citizen or resident of a country whose parents obey the previous definition, or

This ambiguity is captured and corroborated in The Oxford English Dictionary's definition of "generation":

...designating a member of the first (or second, etc.) generation of a family to do something or live somewhere; spec. designating a naturalized immigrant or a descendant of immigrant parents, esp. in the United States.... (OED definition of "generation," section 6b., emphasis added)b

In the United States, among demographers and other social scientists, the term "first generation" is used to refer to foreign-born residents (excluding those born abroad of U.S. parents).

There is not a universal consensus on which of these meanings is always implied.

Read more about Immigrant Generations:  1.5 Generation, Second-generation Immigrant, 2.5 Generation, In The United States

Famous quotes containing the words immigrant and/or generations:

    Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country.
    Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919)

    I’ve finally figured out why soap operas are, and logically should be, so popular with generations of housebound women. They are the only place in our culture where grown-up men take seriously all the things that grown-up women have to deal with all day long.
    Gloria Steinem (b. 1934)