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Cooney, 1980). Portes (1969) points out the fallacy of assuming
immigrants necessarily want to become integrated into mainstream culture
and society. In his initial studies of Cubans, he finds the Early
Departure Stage immigrants did not suffer from the problems of hostility
and rejection which other immigrant groups have faced. Yet, many did
not integrate rapidly. Failure to integrate is strongly connected to
idealization of previous ways of life and the expectation of returning
"home" to Cuba. It is also the result of limited access to economic and
social mobility. Portes (1969) reports that those professionals who
were able to establish themselves with employment similar to the level
they held in Cuba were also the Cubans who were most readily assimilated
into U.S. society.
When the first groups of Cubans came to the U.S. after the
Revolution, they lived out of their suitcases because they were certain
they would be going back soon. As the days turned into weeks, the weeks
into months, and the months into years, slowly,these Cubans realized
they were not returning right away. They began to purchase homes and
establish themselves within the Miami community. It took them a long
time to realize that they needed to become established there(Martinez,
1982g).
Wilson and Portes (1980) analyze the factors which are relevant in
the emergence of Cuban immigrants into the U.S. labor market and find
that, in addition to merging with the mainstream labor force or providing
labor for a secondary labor force operating in the margins of the main
stream, the Cuban-Americans have established enclaves of separate
socioeconomic power. They have been able to develop these enclaves