This project examines two competing, interdisciplinary explanations for the labor market experiences of Mexican, Cuban and Indochinese immigrants: individual modernity and segmented labor market. A unique combination of data sets is used in a comparative, longitudinal research design. Such a design permits a maximization of the variance in factors potentially affecting the immigrants' U.S. experiences. Comparisons of special importance are the cross-cultural contrast and those between the "economic" and "political" immigrants. Policy choices are examined through an inference scheme designed to highlight the relationship between the theoretical perspectives examined and the assumptions of particular programs. Secondary migration and its impact on the immigrants are also examined. The methodology employs a three stage, causal modeling approach with additional use of analysis of covariance and tests of interaction. Comparisons between longitudinal and cross-sectional based inferences highlights a key methodological issue in the study of immigration.