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Objective: International migration to the U.S. suburbs has upended many theories of urban inequality and immigrant incorporation, including ethnic economy theory. This article is the most comprehensive study conducted to date on the reasons behind ethnic economy suburbanization and its effect on earnings. Methods: The article uses regression techniques to analyze Census microdata from 1990 to 2010. A series of analyses that aggregate and disaggregate trends across nine ethnic groups identify the extent and influence of ethnic economies in suburban areas. Results: Ethnic economy suburbanization is strongly associated with ethnic residential suburbanization, and earnings are no different in the suburban and urban portions of the ethnic economy. Conclusion: Although existing research highlights the uniqueness of suburban ethnic economies, suburban ethnic economies are delivering outcomes similar to those found in urban areas. This supports the body of literature arguing that differences between immigrant incorporation patterns in cities and suburbs are diminishing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States, the failure to achieve immigration reform at the national level has resulted in numerous responses in local communities that have been most impacted by the settlement of new immigrants. Some of these responses have emerged in suburban communities that have experienced a rapid rise in the foreign-born population during the last twenty years. This essay offers an in-depth analysis of one such community, Farmers Branch, Texas, covered nationally for a series of anti-immigrant ordinances passed by its City Council. Following a description of the history of this community, the growth of its foreign-born population, and the legal manoeuvres to control unauthorized immigration, the essay argues that anti-immigrant legislation in local places like Farmers Branch is at its core a reflection of a debate about and anxiety over American identity -- how it is defined and how it is changing. In particular, these responses are about a perceived threat to middle class status and identity. This is discussed first in relationship to issues of home ownership and income and then, in relation to cultural dimensions of class, including matters of taste and the spatializations of middle class identity. Finally, the paper unpacks the concept of 'rule of law'. By invoking the claim that Americans are law abiding while unauthorized immigrants have broken the law, lawfulness becomes an exclusionary tool and gives those who support anti-immigrant ordinances a platform for legislating a certain quality of life, and de-Americanizing those who do not fit their conceptualization of what it means to be American. Rule of law becomes a weapon in the fight for middle class status and the status quo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]