Welfare use and political response: urban narratives from first and second-generation puerto ricans and dominicans in New York City

This research studies Puerto Rican and Dominican labor migrations and the processes by which lowwage workers end up on public assistance. By revisiting the social mobility and segmented assimilation literature, which speaks to the downward mobility trends of newcomers who identify with native minorities, I re-theorize notions of incorporation by describing political responses by low-income communities about the welfare discourse. In this way, I introduce a more nuanced understanding of immigrant-native relations in regard to the welfare state, the labor market, and each other. Departing from earlier race and gendered interpretations of welfare use, these urban narratives demonstrate the significance of legal status for redefining membership and entitlement in an era of welfare reform.