How Do Organizations Respond to New Immigrants? Comparing Two New England Cities.

IMMIGRANTS; CITIES & towns; URBAN studies

CONNECTICUT; UNITED States; ENGLAND

This study examines how municipal, civic, and religious organizations in two New England cities—Portland, Maine and Danbury, Connecticut—provide social services for recent immigrants. We draw on data gathered in interviews with representatives of 48 organizations to demonstrate how different types of organizations in each city articulate and act on their responsibilities for recently arrived immigrants. We find that in Portland, municipal and civic organizations provided most of the social services to new immigrants, while in Danbury, civic and religious organizations did. This is because most immigrants to Portland are refugees while most immigrants to Danbury are economic migrants. These findings contextualize studies of single organizations and point to what immigration scholars can learn by studying broader organizational fields in comparative perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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