Central American immigrants have recently entered the United States in large numbers. They could become integrated in the social structure like European immigrants have, be confined in a low-wage and -status sector like Mexican immigrants have, or create an ethnic enclave like Cuban immigrants have. The structural conditions that shape the social and economic future of Central American immigrants are examined by comparing them with Mexican immigrants in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a group, Central Americans are at high risk for joining persons of Mexican heritage at the bottom of America's socioeconomic system.
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