Alejandro Portes discusses the complex social, economic and cultural determinants of today's second generation of immigrants to the United States of America. He warns that unless changes are made there is a strong likelihood that members of today's second generation will join those at the bottom...

We examine patterns of language adaption in a sample of over 5,000 second generation students in South Florida and Southern California. Knowledge of English is near universal and preference for that language is dominant among most immigrant nationalities. On the other hand, only a minority...