Making Los Angeles Home : The Integration of Mexican Immigrants in the United States

"Making Los Angeles Home examines the different integration strategies implemented by Mexican immigrants in the Los Angeles region. Relying on statistical data and ethnographic information, the authors analyze four different dimensions of the immigrant integration process (economic, social, cultural, and political) and show that there is no single path for its achievement, but instead an array of strategies that yield different results. However, their analysis also shows that immigrants' successful integration essentially depends upon their legal status and long residence in the region. The book shows that, despite this finding, immigrants nevertheless decide to settle in Los Angeles, the place where they have made their homes"--Provided by publisher. Cover 1 Making Los Angeles Home 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Foreword 8 Preface 16 Acknowledgments 20 Introduction 22 PART ONE. THEORETICAL, HISTORICAL, AND STATISTICAL ASPECTS OF MEXICAN IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION IN METROPOLITAN LOS ANGELES 30 1. Theoretical Perspectives on Immigrant Integration 32 2. Mexican Immigration and the Development of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area 55 3. Statistical Analysis of Mexican Immigrants’ Integration in the Metropolitan Los Angeles Area 79 PART TWO. DIMENSIONS OF INTEGRATION AMONG IMMIGRANTS FROM ZACATECAS, OAXACA, AND VERACRUZ 102 4. Economic Integration: Mobility, Labor Niches, and Low-End Jobs 104 5. Social Integration: Building a Family, a Community, and a Life 129 6. Cultural Integration: Redefining Identities in a Diverse Metropolis 153 7. Political Integration: From Life in the Margins to the Pursuit of Recognition 184 PART THREE. GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION AND THE IMMIGRANT POPULATION 204 8. Public Policies and Mexican Immigrant Integration in the City and County of Los Angeles 206 Conclusion 228 Notes 242 Bibliography 256 Index 276 Theoretical perspectives on immigrant integration Mexican immigration and the development of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Statistical analysis of Mexican immigrants' integration in the metropolitan Los Angeles area Economic integration : mobility, labor niches, and low-end jobs Social integration : building a family, a community, and a life Cultural integration : redefining identities in a diverse city Political integration : from life in the margins to the pursuit of recognition Public policies and Mexican immigrant integration in the city and county of Los Angeles.