Immigrant Organizations

Abstract

We call for incorporating organizations into migration scholarship, and for considering immigrants in organizational research. By centering immigrant organizations (IOs) as a unit of analysis, migration scholars can reconsider whether and how IOs affect well-being, integration, political voice, identities, globalization, and development. Migration scholars must learn from scholars of organizations, but organization scholars must in turn question assumptions of nativity and citizenship in their research. Doing so illuminates the unique challenges—and, at times, opportunities—faced by IOs, especially regarding inequities tied to legal status and stigmatization. We further argue that cross-national and transnational analyses of IOs help unpack organizational embeddedness—that is, the ways in which contexts at the local, national, binational, and geopolitical levels generate opportunities and constraints. Studying IOs raises critical questions of civic inequality and organizational stigma but also highlights IOs’ potential to give voice to and effect positive change for migrant communities.

Spatial and Sociodemographic Vulnerability: Quantifying Accessibility to Health Care and Legal Services for Immigrants in California, Arizona, and Nevada

“…Within a metropolitan region, are immigrant residents living in suburbs with higher SAIs doing better, or will people travel an hour or more to access services? As noted in a recent review by Bloemraad, Chaudhary, and Gleeson (2022), migration scholars have been slow to explore how intermediary institutions such as nonprofit organizations affect immigrant integration.…”

The Local Organization of Refugee Service Provision: A Qualitative Comparison of Two Resettlement Cities in Texas

“…They engage in policy advocacy and work towards creating an inclusive and supportive environment for refugees in their host communities (Gowayed 2022). Yet, the actual organizations that coordinate immigrant social service provision have received little attention in organizational research and the impacts of ISOs are undertheorized (Bloemraad et al 2022).…”

“…More recent research on ISOs finds that they are not impartial entities that operate independently of state policies, nor are they uniform collections of individual migrants (Bloemraad et al 2022). In her path breaking work on immigrant organizations, Irene Bloemraad and coauthors (2022) call for the inclusion of immigrant organizations into migration research and highlight the need for a comprehensive understanding of immigrant organizations and their contributions to organizational studies.…”

“…In her path breaking work on immigrant organizations, Irene Bloemraad and coauthors (2022) call for the inclusion of immigrant organizations into migration research and highlight the need for a comprehensive understanding of immigrant organizations and their contributions to organizational studies. By focusing on the organization as the central unit of analysis, migration scholars can reassess the impact of ISOs on integration, political participation, and community development, and highlight the distinctive challenges and opportunities that ISOs encounter while serving immigrant communities, particularly in relation to legal status and stigma (Bloemraad et al 2022). This study takes up this call, examining how local culture impacts organizations, the effects of multilevel embeddedness, and the role of political and civic inequalities in their operation (Bloemraad et al 2022;Sun and Cadge 2013).…”

“…The role of organizations in providing social services to refugees has been largely overlooked in organizational research, with limited theoretical exploration of ISOs (Bloemraad et al 2022). This is unfortunate because ISOs are often on the front lines of serving some of the most vulnerable migration populations, including refugees, asylum seekers, and undocumented migrants, who face compounding barriers to accessing social services (Hung 2007;Nawyn 2010;Sidney 2014;Sun and Cadge 2013).…”