New Survey Show Immigrant New Yorkers Are Building Pathways to Access, Belonging, and Opportunity

More Than 30,000 Data Points Collected Reveal How Immigrant New Yorkers Establish Roots, Access Fairness and Welcoming by Host Communities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Guillermo.Martinez@rock.suny.edu

May 2026

ALBANY, NY (05/15/2026) — Synthesizing information compiled from more than 600 survey responses and over 30,000 individual data points, the Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy (IIIRP) today released three new social integration briefs examining how immigrant New Yorkers build access, confidence, belonging, opportunity, and fairness over time. The briefs offer a rich, multidimensional view of immigrant integration across New York State and highlight the large volume of information that was analyzed to identify the patterns presented in the series.

Drawing on the 2024-2026 Social Integration Survey, the briefs present an encouraging but nuanced picture: immigrant integration is already underway across New York, but public policy and community-based supports can help reduce early barriers and accelerate pathways to full participation.

The four-brief series— “Establishing Roots,” “Belonging and the Emotional Dimension of Integration in New York,” and “Opportunity and Fairness”—examines different dimensions of immigrant integration: practical access to institutions, emotional and social belonging, and perceptions of opportunity and fairness. Together, the findings underscore that integration is not a single event or endpoint. It is a multidimensional process shaped by language access, employment navigation, healthcare and legal systems, social networks, civic confidence, and perceptions of equal treatment.

Key Findings from the Survey Data

Across the four (fourth will be included after edits are complete) briefs, the survey findings point to several broad themes about immigrant integration in New York:

• Integration is multidimensional. Immigrant integration is not limited to employment, language acquisition, or access to services. It also includes emotional belonging, social support, perceptions of fairness, civic confidence, and whether immigrants see a future for themselves in the United States.
• Time in the United States is associated with greater confidence navigating institutions. Across multiple indicators, immigrants with longer residence in the United States report stronger familiarity with employment systems, healthcare access, legal services, civic participation, and everyday institutional navigation.
• Newcomers face early barriers, but these barriers appear to lessen over time. The survey identifies early challenges in language, job searches, healthcare access, and legal services, particularly among immigrants who have lived in the United States for fewer than two years.
• Social support networks are strong from arrival. Many immigrant respondents report having people in their lives who care about their feelings and family or friends who help when needed, suggesting that immigrants often arrive with meaningful social capital already in place.
• Belonging grows through both interpersonal support and civic attachment. The data suggest that feelings of connection to the United States strengthen with longer residence, while feelings of isolation or being an outsider are more common in the early years and appear less frequent among longer-term residents.
• Most respondents do not describe the opportunity structure as closed. Across the opportunity and fairness indicators, many respondents—particularly Latin American immigrants, the most analytically reliable subgroup in the dataset—continue to see meaningful pathways to success in the United States.
• Perceptions of discrimination and unequal treatment exist but do not dominate the overall picture. The survey shows that concerns about unfair treatment, feeling unwelcome, and workplace discrimination are present, but they are not the majority response across the sample.
• Civic confidence is a notable strength. Many respondents report feeling comfortable criticizing the country, suggesting confidence in public voice, civic expression, and participation in democratic life.
• Policy and institutional design can accelerate integration. Early language support, employment navigation, multilingual guidance on healthcare and legal access, community-based peer support, transparent workplace protections, and civic engagement programs can help reduce early barriers and strengthen pathways to belonging and opportunity.
• The findings are descriptive, not statewide estimates. Because the survey was community-based, multilingual, and distributed through partner organizations, the results should be interpreted as policy-relevant trends among surveyed respondents rather than fully generalizable statewide estimates.

The first brief, “Establishing Roots,” finds that many immigrant New Yorkers report stronger language skills, greater confidence navigating employment and healthcare systems, improved access to legal services, and sustained social support over time. The brief identifies several early barriers: approximately 69 percent of Latin American immigrants report difficulty understanding radio and television content during their first two years in the United States; more than 70 percent report difficulty expressing themselves in writing during that same period; nearly 58 percent of immigrants in the U.S. less than two years report difficulty finding job postings; nearly 59 percent of immigrants ages 50–79 in the U.S. less than two years report moderate to extreme difficulty finding doctors; and more than 56 percent of Latin American immigrants in the U.S. less than two years report moderate or significant difficulty accessing legal services. The brief concludes that early language support, employment navigation, multilingual guidance on healthcare and legal systems, and peer-based community supports can reduce transitional barriers and strengthen integration.

The second brief, “Belonging and the Emotional Dimension of Integration in New York,” focuses on emotional integration, interpersonal support, isolation, attachment, and settlement intention. It finds that immigrant New Yorkers do not arrive socially depleted. Across the full sample, more than 85 percent of respondents say someone in their life cares about their feelings, and more than 75 percent report that family or friends actively try to help them when needed. The brief also finds that moderate connection to the United States is common, very close or extremely close connection is more frequent among immigrants with longer residence, and only very small shares say they definitely want to leave. At the same time, isolation and outsider feelings are real, particularly in the early years, but the data suggest these experiences are often transitional rather than permanent.

The third brief, “Opportunity and Fairness: Perceptions of Latin American Immigrants in New York,” examines perceptions of opportunity, equal treatment, acceptance, discrimination, and civic confidence. The analysis draws on responses from the Social Integration Survey of 605 foreign-born New York residents and notes that Latin American immigrants represent the largest and most consistent subgroup in the dataset. The brief finds that a majority of respondents, especially Latin American immigrants, believe immigrants have meaningful opportunities to succeed in the United States. It also finds that perceptions of unequal opportunity, differential treatment, feeling unwelcome, and workplace discrimination exist but do not dominate the overall picture. Notably, many respondents report feeling comfortable criticizing the country, a sign of civic confidence and public participation.

The fourth brief, “Long Residence, Uneven Belonging: Perceptions among Asian Immigrants in New York’s Capital Region,” ………..

“Taken together, these briefs challenge a deficit-based understanding of immigrant integration,” said Dr. Dina Refki, Executive Director of the Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy. “The data show that immigrant New Yorkers bring strong social capital, resilience, and commitment with them. At the same time, the findings make clear that systems matter. Early language support, employment navigation, access to legal and healthcare information, and community-based bridges can help immigrants establish roots more quickly and more equitably.”

The briefs emphasize that the survey findings should be interpreted as descriptive trends rather than statewide estimates. The survey was distributed through community-based organizations, was not population-weighted, and reflects cross-sectional patterns rather than longitudinal tracking. Even with those limitations, the findings provide policy-relevant insight into how immigrants experience integration across practical, social, emotional, and civic dimensions.

“These findings show that integration is not immediate, but it is visible, measurable, and already happening,” said Dr. Yuri Lyashenko, 2026 Fellow on Immigrant Integration. “Immigrants face early barriers in language, jobs, healthcare, and legal access, but the data suggest that with time, familiarity, and support, many report greater confidence navigating the institutions that shape everyday life.”

“The belonging findings are especially important because they show that immigrants often arrive with meaningful support networks already in place,” said Dr. Wilson Han, 2026 Fellow on Immigrant Integration. “That means effective policy should build on existing community strengths—peer navigation, co-ethnic mentorship, neighborhood orientation, and relationship-building—rather than assuming newcomers are disconnected or without resources.”