The Political Integration of Mexican Immigrants: Examining Some Political Orientations 1

Abstract

The significant influx of immigrants, historically and contemporarily, has had a major impact on all aspects of American society. One area that has received some attention, but warrants more, is the extent of political integration of immigrant populations. Political integration is defined as a process whereby a sense of cohesiveness, membership and attachment occurs for residents of the political community (political values, beliefs, citizen roles, etc.). Using the foreign-born segment of the National Chicano Survey, this article identifies three critical political orientations (i.e., individual/system blame, perceived discrimination, and support for collective activities) and relates them to sociocultural characteristics of the immigrants. Political integration for Mexican immigrants is a slow and uneven process. One implication of the uneveness of their political integration is the difficulty of mobilizing this segment of the Hispanic community to augment an already politically active group.