Children of immigrants hit an economic ceiling
Children of immigrants hit an economic ceiling
- October 31, 2011
- Ruben Rumbaut, sociology professor, is quoted in the Los Angeles Times and three other publications October 30, 2011
From the LA Times:
A Salvadoran flag wrapped around his neck to block out the sun, Geremias Romero hunches
low to the ground alongside the other laborers, following the tractor along rows of
cantaloupes. He reaches into the leafy green rows of fruit, touches a melon to gauge
its ripeness, and then tosses it into a cart, where another laborer boxes it. Walk,
pick, toss. The pattern goes on all morning. Harvesting cantaloupes for $8.25 an hour
isn't the job that Romero, 28, dreamed of as a child. Born in Newark, N.J., to immigrant
parents from El Salvador, he graduated from high school and has taken classes at the
Art Institute of Philadelphia and Merced Community College. He has experience as a
special education teacher but, unable to find a teaching job, he's started working
in the fields... In 2008, there were about 32 million people in the U.S. with either
one or two foreign-born parents. They include a wide range of educational and cultural
backgrounds, but overall, those ages 18 to 34 lag in reaching traditional adult milestones,
including leaving home, finishing school and entering the workforce, according to
a 2008 study by Ruben G. Rumbaut, a sociology professor at UC Irvine. "If I had to
update that study, the situation would be much more dire for children of immigrants,"
Rumbaut said.
For the full story, please visit http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-children-of-immigra....
Also ran in:
-Aberdeen News
-Imperial Valley Press Online
-WDBJ 7
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