Barrios to Burbs: The Making of the Mexican American Middle Class

Too frequently, the media and politicians cast Mexican immigrants as a threat to American society. Given America's increasing ethnic diversity and the large size of the Mexican-origin population, an investigation of how Mexican immigrants and their descendants achieve upward mobility and enter the middle class is long overdue. Barrios to Burbs offers a new understanding of the Mexican American experience.

Vallejo explores the challenges that accompany rapid social mobility and examines a new...