Importing An Underclass

That's what current immigration policies are doing - see Jason DeParle's amazing report in the New York Times.

About 18 million youths 17 or younger are immigrants or the children of immigrants. In an interview, Mr. Portes estimated that as many as 20 percent face elevated chances of long-term poverty — suggesting a risk pool of more than 3.5 million. While he predicts that only a minority of that group will experience the depth of disadvantage implied by the word “underclass,” he says their numbers are large enough to warrant policymakers’ concern.

“Most children of immigrants are doing well,” Mr. Portes said. “But a sizable minority is certainly left behind and in danger of downward assimilation.”

Mr. Portes and Mr. Rumbaut contend that today’s generation faces a bigger challenge than in the past. Good jobs require more education, often a college degree. Unlike their European predecessors, the majority of today’s immigrants come from Asia, Africa and Latin America, which some analysts say could make them more vulnerable to persistent discrimination. And while previous immigration was mostly legal, today millions of children have parents who live marginalized lives as illegal residents.

In addition, the scholars say, a seductive youth culture encourages poor teenagers to denigrate work and school and find valor in violence. Unwilling to take bad jobs, unable to get good ones, teenagers like Jesselyn often seek satisfaction in the streets.

“I’m not going to scrub someone’s toilet,” she said.