ortes & Rumbaut, 1990, pp. 14-25). Labor migrants, who are usually un-skilled and Hispanic, perform menial tasks, such as crop picking, and represent the highest immigrant numbers in recent years. They enter either illegally by crossing U.S. borders or legally by using the "family reunification preference" clause in the immigration law (Portes & Rumbaut, 1990, p. 15). Immigrants can enter the United States as "contract laborers" after the secretary of labor deems there is a shortage of a particular type of worker. But because of the complexity of the immigration process, many potential employers are hesitant to take it on; however, the biggest draw for these workers is the U.S. minimum wage, which can be as much as six times the wage back home, and the availability of menial jobs that many Americans refuse to take (Portes and Rumbaut, 1990, p. 16.)
Professional immigrants, explain Portes and Rumbaut (1990, p. 18) enter the country based on visa allocations that are designed to allow professionals and their families entry. Unlike the migrant laborer who is fleeing joblessness, the professional comes to the United States because he or she wants to capitalize on being the best in a selective field in the form of salary and improved working conditions (Portes and Rumbaut, 1990, p. 19).
Entrepreneurial immigrants, argue Portes and Rumbaut (1990, p. 22), thrive in their "ethnic enclaves" because they arrive with business acumen, they have access to venture capital from their own saving accounts or the pooled resources of the community, and because they depend almost exclusively on family and recent immigrant labor. Portes and Rumbaut (1990, pp. 20-23) cite Los Angeles' and New York's Korean and Chinese communities as having the greatest self-employment rates, business sense, and skill levels of the immigrants entering the United States.
The final category of immigrants is the refugee and asylee population who enter th...