"...a new and systematic treatment of immigrants in rural communities. We are poised at the outset of what appears to be a new migration regime, for which this book not only serves as a key baseline but also provides insight into future prospects. It has quantitative as well as field-method analyses that offer fresh information...The conclusion fulfills the book's promise by walking through a policy analysis of the research implications."
—Lindsey Lowell, U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform

"The topic is important and has relevance for several states other than California. The authors are respected people, very competent, and clearly concerned about advancing public understanding of the problems addressed in a manner useful to public policymaking... The conclusions...enhance the meaningfulness of the book."
—Calvin Beale, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Poverty amid Prosperity examines the socioeconomic links among farm employment, immigration, and welfare use not only within California's Central Valley, but also along the state's Central Coast and in its southern regions. Using U.S. Census data and information collected from extensive community-level site visits, the authors find that immigration, largely from rural Mexico, is changing the face of rural California, increasing levels of population, poverty, and public service demands. The authors caution that upward mobility among these immigrant workers may be limited and that recent legislative changes are reducing the public resources available to help newcomers adjust, just as the number of immigrants is increasing.