Still others emigrate to escape violence in their native country. But whatever their reason, most come to fulfill dreams of a better life. Unfortunately, some immigrants find these dreams shattered as a result of violence, highway traffic accidents, or other fatal incidents in the workplace. Although foreign-born persons aged 25 or older are less likely to have graduated from high school, they are also more likely than natives to have a college or even graduate or professional degree. As a result, jobs held by the foreign-born vary widely.
Some immigrants are in the professional specialties such as medicine, engineering, and teaching.
Others work in family run businesses, such as convenience stores and stationery shops. Many initially work as migrant farm laborers or taxi drivers and then move on to construction, poultry processing, or business once they have learned the culture and language. This variance in job-related homicide was even more pronounced for certain occupations. Highway traffic incidents, which resulted in 20 percent of the fatal work injuries of all workers, accounted for 13 percent of the fatalities among foreign-born workers. Falls accounted for 10 percent of fatal work injuries among both the foreign-born and all U.S. workers.