ABSTRACT
The duration of an immigrant wave has played at most a marginal role in theories of assimilation and ethnic identity formation. This chapter demonstrates how it matters in shaping the salience of group boundaries. Canonical theories of assimilation and ethnic identity would thus predict that they also experience ethnicity as a symbolic and optional aspect of their identity. Instead, Mexican Americans face rigid intergroup boundaries resulting from the presence of a large immigrant population. Ethnic identities are not just assigned to groups and individuals; they are also asserted by group members. The heavy influx of immigrants to Garden City and Santa Maria informs ideas about authentic expressions of Mexican ethnicity, giving rise to rigid intragroup boundaries that run through the Mexican-origin population. Without any replenishment of immigrants, standards for ethnic group authenticity are low, and white ethnics are free to assert their ethnic identity optionally, without challenge, and without running into intragroup boundaries.
