- Legacies: The Story of the Immigrant Second Generation by Alejandro Portes and and Ruben G. Rumbaut (University of California Press, 2001) 

Immigration, today, is beginning to look very different than it did a decade or so ago. The flow across the border is slowing and, as authors Portes and Rumbaut emphasised in their 2001 book Legacies, the "immigrant stock" is growing up American.

This presents an entirely new set of challenges for cities, like Los Angeles, that experienced the greatest immigrant influx in the 1990s and are now home to a swelling second generation population. Unlike their parents, these U.S.-born children have both the security of legal citizenship and the natural assimilation of the English language. But, the authors explain, social upward mobility -- the movement toward higher levels of educational attainment and financial status -- is not necessarily guaranteed. 

"Some of the ethnic groups being created by the new immigration are in a clearly upward path, moving into society's mainstream in record time and enriching it in the process with their culture and energies. Others, on the contrary, seem poised for a path of blocked aspirations and downward mobility, reproducing the plight of today's impoverished domestic minorities. The size of the problems of American cities may increase concomitantly, the only difference being that the participants may come from new ethnic quarters. Were this outcome to become dominant among the second generation, a new rainbow underclass would be the prospect facing urban America by the middle of the next century."

Portes and Rumbaut present 12 stories that illustrate the varying experiences of second generation immigrants in America, arguing that, in some cases, a "peculiar paradox" occurs. While a first generation immigrant is driven to seek a better life by escaping the hardship and struggle of his or her homeland, the incentive to succeed differs for the U.S.-born, second generation immigrant. In some cases, the authors state, "greater family economic achievement and security sometimes lead to lower aspirations among secure and acculturated children." By comparison, "legal insecurity and a precarious economic situation spur their ambition."

While comfort is not always necessarily an impediment to aspiration, and struggle not always an incentive for success, the second generation undoubtedly carries the burden of their parents' struggle to find a better life for themselves and their children.

In some cases, this added pressure can be overwhelming. At Crenshaw High School in South Los Angeles, one ninth-grade student with Mexican parents says that his own goals are disputed by his parents who want him to aim higher and work harder in school. He is pushed to achieve high grades, he says, often suffering harsh penalties including physical beatings from his father. Portes and Rumbaut describe the pressure exerted by immigrant parents as a form of "psychological leverage." The children of immigrants are pushed to feel a "sense of obligation" to their parents for the struggles that were overcome in order to afford them life in the United States.

Yet, at the same time, these children also have their own struggles to contend with. In the case of this particular ninth-grader, he is not only a child of the second generation immigrant stock, but he is also trapped in a school system affected by poverty, crime and minimal resources. The opportunity to experience one-on-one learning in classes where his grades continue to slide, such as algebra, is nonexistent. Although his parents dealt with the struggles of traversing across the border, making a new life in a different country in the hope of ensuring security for their child, he now faces his own forms of confinement.

The barriers to social upward mobility still exist, but in a different form.   

In the worst case scenario, parental pressure mingled with the personal stresses of acculturation can lead to embarrassment and rebellion. Self-esteem may plummet, encouraging children to find solace in unsavory social locations, such as gangs, crime or drugs. The opportunities for generational discord are also widened, since the children of immigrants are essentially growing up in an entirely different culture from their parents.

Additionally, social upward mobility for the second generation and their immigrant parents is greatly impacted by political and cultural resistance from outside. As Portes and Rumbaut stress in their concluding chapter, "hostile governmental and societal reception" of immigrants and their children only serves to widen cultural divides, increasing the fear of and from the immigrant stock and their surroundings and impeding academic achievements and aspirations. The immigrant stock then becomes "more pre-occupied with issues of ethnic identity and reassertiveness than with the achievement of high goals through individual effort."

Negative stereotyping then becomes a form of "self-fulfilling prophesy." The new immigrant stock is kept at the bottom of the social ladder, and the progression of social upward mobility is significantly slowed, and perhaps even stunted. 

Now, Marta plans to be a first-generation college student and become a social worker. "I want to help students understand that education is important to make their future better than their parents," she said. "I'm really proud of myself for being on the honor roll. I thought that I would never come this far, to high school. I was thinking that I would be a failure."

Luis*, who sits opposite Marta in class, doesn't think that his education will continue beyond the high school exit exam. "My dad says that I'm not allowed to go to college," he says. "We can't afford it." Instead, Luis hopes to follow in his father's footsteps and become a custom car mechanic. Eventually, he'd also like to be a NASCAR driver. "I'd like to be able to go fast, without the cops chasing me," he says. During the summer, Luis works at his dad's shop, learning the custom car trade. But he has yet to get behind the wheel. First, his dad says, he's got to improve his grades. College may be out of the question, but graduating high school is essential.

How far does the apple fall from the tree?  

Children of immigrants, like Marta and Luis, are a growing population in California. Rather than being newcomers to the state, like their parents were, they are a "homegrown population." They are U.S.-born, and California-bred. Their lives and experiences differ from that of the traditional "immigrant."

"Immigration experts have a special term for homegrown children, calling them second generation residents," reads a report released this week by USC's School of Policy, Planning and Development. "Born in California, or the U.S., these children are U.S. citizens, fluent English speakers, and beneficiaries of California schools."

That being so, the report continues, "recent evidence suggests they are poised for much greater economic success than their parents."

But "economic success" inevitably depends on adequate education levels, and both Marta and Luis attend a school with a drop-out rate of 50 percent. The Los Angeles Unified School District at large, which has a student population made up of more than 75 percent Hispanic children, has been battling severe drop-out rates and low test scores for decades. District-wide, 32 percent of Hispanic children drop out of LAUSD high schools every year, compared to 21 percent across the entire state. And as these children move through the school system, their educational levels actually fall. In second grade, just 18 percent of Hispanic children are considered "below basic" in their English language skills. By tenth grade, that figure has jumped to 66 percent.

The lack of proficiency in vital subject areas like English and math is also significantly higher for students coming from economically disadvantaged households. Although the poverty rate for U.S.-born children and those with legal immigrant parents is practically the same, children of unauthorized immigrant parents are twice as likely to be living in poverty.      

*Names have been changed to protect the students and their families.

California's massive system of reservoirs, pumps and canals, built a half century ago, was designed for a population half the size of the state's 37.7 million, Salazar said after a helicopter tour of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the Associated Press.

Utility company MMC wants to transform the existing 44.5-Megawatt power plant, in Chula Vista just outside of San Diego, into a 100-Megawatt peaker plant--meaning the plant will run only during the greatest usage hours.  But the Environmental Health Coalition and others say even if the plant runs during the highest consumption hours, the upgrade will make it more active year round.

California Energy Commissioner James Boyd had formally rejected the plans for the upgrade in the presiding members proposed decision (PMPD)--a viewpoint most residents supported.  Conflict arose since Boyd says the upgrade would not abide by the city of Chula Vista's zoning laws stating that industrial and residential uses need to be separate.

The PMPD says the project is a problem because, "the city's new general plan adopted after the existing power plant was built requires that the siting of power plants and other major toxic emitters be avoided within 1,000 feet of 'sensitive receptors' such as schools and homes," according to the CEC.

But the utility company and other CEC members say those zoning laws were created after the plant was constructed in 2000 and therefore do not apply now--so the upgrade should move forward.

The CEC traveled to Chula Vista to give residents the opportunity to speak before taking the PMPD back for further review. 

The city of Chula Vista was originally opposed to the upgrade project, yet they changed their position the day after this special CEC hearing.

However, given the size of the proposed upgrade, the CEC is the sole authority in the matter. The CEC will take the public comments from the meeting and take them to a future hearing that has not yet been announced.

Opponents of the Sunrise Powerlink are currently waiting to see if their cries to halt the project will be heard.

But the battle is far from over, says the Sierra Club's San Diego Chapter.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is presently deciding whether or not it will re-address its approval of the project, at the behest of organizations like Sierra Club. However, Dave Grubb, a volunteer at the Sierra Club is already anticipating the next step assuming the CPUC rejects their request.

"We have been working so hard for 3 years that we love hearing no," Grubb said sarcastically. "The main event is the lawsuit."

Though Grubb will not confirm whether the Sierra Club will be part of a lawsuit, other organizations like Utility Consumers Action Network (UCAN) said they intend to file against SDG&E.

UCAN, already an intervener in the case, must wait until the rehearing is rejected until they can proceed.

"We have 90 days from the date that the CPUC rejects our application for a hearing," said Michael Shames, executive director of Utility Consumers Action Network.

            The Sierra Club is firm in its belief that the solution to energy concerns lies in more localized production and more modernization. According to Grubb, they also believe the Sunrise Powerlink is merely a way for Sempra Energy to make more money--not a necessity for the people of San Diego. Grubb and the Sierra Club allege the project is a front for the utility to pump energy from Mexico to the LA basin and that the promise to carry renewables was a way to gain public support.

Though the Sierra Club is opposed to the transmission project as a whole, it did have a victory over the routing of the power line. The original, proposed route SDG&E offered up was from the Imperial Valley to San Diego through the Anza Borrego desert. The Sierra Club fought to have Sunrise take a southern route through more populated regions near Interstate 8 avoiding what Grubb calls "sensitive land."

Grubb said it was curious SDG&E proposed a northern route through the desert to begin with and suspected it was a strategic move to funnel energy toward Los Angeles.

"You can see why they want the Northern Route. They're not trying to get to San Diego. They're trying to get to LA," he said. 

Grubb also speculated the northern route was a distraction from the beginning, so that opponents would be grateful for the compromised path. 

            The large renewable project that is affiliated with the Sunrise Powerlink is a Stirling Energy solar farm that is to be built in the Imperial Valley.

"It's total B.S., a sham. Unlikely to ever be consummated at least on scale they're currently pretending," Grubb said of the solar facility.

The Sierra Club fundamentally opposes projects like Sunrise that will disrupt the environment whether it's because of new transmission lines or large scale renewable production sites. Though when asked Grubb had no specific solutions, other than solar panels in urban areas--an idea that has been called not sufficient enough to support the energy needs of a county like San Diego.

"We have enough transmission, but there is a reliability issue," for San Diego said Grubb.

The two lines that feed San Diego are Southwest Powerlink and Path 44, which is a north-south transmission line through California. The pair is a far cry from the seven lines that feed Los Angeles. Grubb conceded that two lines were not enough.  In a situation like the 2007 wildfires that raged through San Diego, both lines that power San Diego were threatened, and additional lines would have added stability to the regions energy needs.

 "So it's a reliability issue that potentially there could be some benefit in additional connections," Grubb said.