Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies

The author argues that in the mainstream study of ethnic American politics, the Mexican community cannot be considered anymore a monolithic group, whose political behavior is one and the same all over the United States. Mexican communities living in the United States have different origins in Mexico, and they go through different experiences of political mobilization, organization, and incorporation through their daily lives in American cities. The initiatives of the local Catholic Church to mobilize the community, the relations of the local church with the local government, and the use of religious symbols with political purposes, are the main components that make the difference.