[quote=spdrun]Comparing San Diego to NYC or Boston, I’ve seen more first-generation immigrants working in hotels and restaurants in either of those two Northeastern cities than in San Diego.[/quote]spd, you were seeing the customer service end when you were here in SD. There are a LOT of bilinguals of every race/Nationality here. A 5-Star restaurant/hotel MAY have wait staff, bartenders and front desk staff of various races/Nationalities but the employees occupying nearly ALL of their other service jobs are predominately of ONE or TWO (incl Filipino) nationalities. A staff position which makes regular and good tips is difficult to obtain without at least 10 years experience, preferably local, with references (especially for dinner shift), so therefore it is not an entry-level service job. A few of these customer service jobs are occupied by border crossers where almost ALL of the other operational service-sector jobs are (which comprises 80-90% of the service jobs in any one establishment).
