Immigrants go where the economic opportunities are. Or where they think they are. The very fact that they are immigrants means you are looking at a population that has selected itself as unable or incapable of surviving economically in the old country. They are desperate, and when presented with an incentive (like a growing industrial economy or cheap land) they bolt.

As far as cultural preferences are concerned, most would go back in a heartbeat if they felt they had equal economic opportunities back home. Those that do strike it rich often do, or fantasize about it. It's their kids that don't want to go back. Even the Jews, escaping the Russian and Polish pogroms and faced with unprecedented freedom and opportunity here, struggled for generations to keep their culture alive. In New York City, it still thrives, practically intact. But no one can deny their loyalty or their contribution. But in those days, travel was expensive and difficult. They only had a one-way ticket.

My family always missed Cuba and wanted desperately to go back. They would have preferred to go back. They often visited friends and relatives there, and preserved Cuban culture here as much as they could. Even my mother and father, who were born here, dreamed of going back after they made it big. But the longer they stayed here, the more impractical the return became, not only did their success tie them here, but it became progressively more difficult for them to transplant it in what was rapidly becoming a foreign country to them. And when war came, Pop enlisted to fight for the new country. He was 1st generation. I was 2nd, I'd love to visit Cuba again, but I have no desire to live there, even if I could carpetbag my way in. You can never go back, that's a lesson the Miami Cubans will learn the hard way when Fidel's regime finally falls and they return.

Remember, what did many immigrants to America do as soon as they got off the boat and realized the streets were not paved with gold? They went west. And many long term residents went with them, because they had figured out a long time earlier the streets were not paved in gold. The frontier was the escape valve. When it closed, America changed, but I don't think Americans ever did.

I've seen American emigres living overseas, stuck by career or property or family ties to foreign lands, and they act the exact same way. They never fully accept the new land, sometimes they never even bother to learn the language, and only hang out with other Yanks in "the compound". But their kids do.

As for "winking and tossing aside", how many Latino kids are fighting in our armed forces right now? Some of them aren't even citizens yet. Lighten up a bit. Try walking in their moccasins for a while.