The Cubans of Union City: Immigrants and Exiles in a New Jersey Community

Ethnic community building and immigrant success in "Havana on the Hudson"

Yolanda Prieto is Professor Emerita in the School of Social Science and Human Services of Ramapo College of New Jersey.

"This is a valuable work of original scholarship that makes a number of significant contributions to our understanding of international migration in general and the Cuban case in particular. Far from being a snap-shot of the community, Prieto's book benefits from an ongoing research agenda that engages some of the most enduring issues of immigration scholarship and the study of race and ethnic relations." Ted A. Henken, Baruch College, CUNY "[A] welcome examination of Union City, a Cuban community on the banks of the Hudson River that received exiles and immigrants from Cuba beginning in the 1950s... [T]he portrait that emerges depicts a Cuban working-class community not much different in political, social, and economic matters from, for example, Dade County's strongly middle-class experience." Journal of American Ethnic History, Spring 2012 "Prieto's community study reminds us that there is no one typical Cuban immigrant experience (despite the homogenizing portrayals of the news and film media), and examining the differences are essential to understanding the impact that race, ethnicity, class, gender, religion, and federal and local politics have on successful integration or assimilation... The Cubans of Union City is a highly readable and engaging study appropriate for undergraduate and graduate courses in immigration, Latino studies, and local history. It is sure to inspire a new generation of scholars to examine other understudied aspects of Cuban migration." - Camino Real, Volume 1, Number 1 "Those familiar with the Cuban community in Miami will welcome this work as a useful tool that will facilitate comparative analyses and a better framework to contextualize the foundations, development, and history of Cuban communities in the United States... Most importantly, unlike most studies on the Cuban migration, this work focuses on two important contributors to community building: women and the Catholic Church... The Cubans of Union City is an important work of original research, thoroughly documented, and well written. Cuba's 'northernmost province' can now take its rightful place in the literature of the Cuban migration to the United States." - The Americas "[Prieto's] qualitative research, consisting of ten years of extended interviews and ethnographic work in Union City, provides rich illustration to a multi-faceted analysis of a Northern city enriched by four waves of Cuban immigration. The book is well-organized and Prieto's accessible writing style eases the transition from description to interview and ethnographic data... This book will find a home on the shelf of anyone interested in Cuban/American relations, Cuban culture, immigration, or immigrant communities and ethnic enclaves." Contemporary Sociology, March 2012