Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area : Gateway or Final Destination? Evidence from the Immigrants’ Employment Patterns

The goal of this study is to improve the understanding toward the immigration population in labor market in the Washington MSA, to reveal their strategic strengths and weaknesses, and to provide insights and evidence for more efficient immigration policy. Examination on the flow and stock data reveals that the Washington MSA is playing a more important role as a long-term settlement destination than as a gateway for immigrants, and this may be associated with the region’s strength in providing relatively stable and technology-driven jobs. Occupation niche study found that immigrants demonstrate a bimodal structure for education requirement, since the niche occupations tend to require either very much or very little education. Finally, the shift-share analysis on sectoral data from 2000 to 2009 pointed out that the top three attraction sectors for immigrants are public administration, business repair/services, and professional or related industries. Public sector being the number one attraction is a surprising result since it requires great U.S. credential and is therefore not usually considered as a sectoral niche for immigrants