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But maybe it can also be seen as whether the second and third generation are still fluent in their ancestral language. There are parishes (counties elsewhere) in South Louisiana where over 20% of the population still speaks French, particularly in the areas around Lafayette. Spanish is still very prevalent in the Rio Grande Valley and Southern California and Miami. I've personally met Mexicans from South Texas and LA who still speak with a VERY pronounced Mexican accent vs an American accent. Many people in Miami also speak with a Spanish accent.
There are also elements like how they name their kids in the later generations. Most Asian Americans in the US who were born here have American first names. This is not the case in other groups, for example most Arabs born in the US still name names like Mohammed, Abdul, Saleem, etc. Same is true for many Indian Americans.
Speaking the language of the country, respecting its laws and being educated in its system are the important factors in assimilating.
The factors you're mentioning are rather trivial and are of little social benefit in America.
AFAIK, the only groups who have successfully kept onto their culture and home language are the Amish and the Hasids. What these groups share in common is a culture where social contact with outsiders is shunned, and children are not allowed to attend public schools.
Petty much everyone else assimilates eventually, given 2-3 generations. Even groups who don't want to assimilate, like Native Americans, are losing most of their cultural heritage. The rise of mass media (starting with radio in the 1920s) and more widespread use of public education basically sent minority cultures nationwide into a tailspin.
The San Francisco Chinese are pretty assimilated, at least compared to the Southern California Chinese (or the Chinese communities in most other cities like NYC.)
Whats weird is you got a lot of Cubans who pretty much fully assimilate in South Florida minus one thing; language. If Cubans can get better with the language thing (I'm Cuban myself, y'all can't deny that its an issue in Miami, because the language barrier is HUGE) they'd be a lot better with the assimilation thing. Many 1st generation Cuban immigrants in the Miami area dress in American fashion, many watch American TV even though they watch Spanish news and Univision and Telemundo, they still watch American TV shows as well. They're very politically active and many vote republican which makes them an outlier. Most of them in the US are white with predominant European ancestry and that goes a long way into fitting in. Most are Catholics, and Catholics are a large part of the US identity. Many Cubans buy homes in the suburbs and live the typical American lifestyle. Many work white collar jobs as well. But its the damn language thing that keeps them from being more assimilated. But I've noticed while growing up in Miami, that Cubans assimilate to the US more than many other Hispanic groups in Miami, most of which don't learn English either.
A lot of Hispanics in Miami are not really assimilated, however Miami itself is a weird case since you have a lot of wealthy expats from Latin America (ie Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, etc) who live there either part time or just own a second house/condo there for investment purposes and have no intention of moving into the US on a permanent basis.
True but those don't even make up 1% of Miami's Hispanic and Latino population. Most live there full time and are generally 1st and 2nd generation. They live normal lives with jobs, and families. The wealthy expats stand out, but they're barely a large part of the population.
I know some Mexicans from South Texas and they are most definitely NOT assimilated. They've actually told me that Mexican culture completely dominates that area and that white and black people are seen as "strange" and "outsiders". Mexicans have lived in South Texas for over a hundred years yet they are nowhere as Americanized as the Irish Americans, German Americans and Polish Americans whose ancestors came here 100 years ago.
I forgot about the Somalis in Minnesota, many of whom still engage in cultural practices like arranged marriages between cousins (Dearborn Arabs do this too). Even though these groups are more assimilated than the British Muslims and French Muslims.
In all of North America, the Quebec French are probably the least assimilated group given their numerical dominance which allows it to happen. The majority of Quebec French still speak French as their native language and have truly kept an authentic French culture. I think the Cajuns/Louisiana French should be up there somewhere too. I'm not sure, though, whether many Cajuns still speak English with French accents like they depict in the movies.
I never been to South Texas but North and West Texas is a different case. They've very much assimilated not only to American life but to TEXAS culture. Many wear western type fashion and have strong Texas twangs with a little Tejano flavour. Some, like my aunt in law, sound full blown country and can pass for a white woman from Tennessee.
It is mainly 1st-generation immigrants who don't assimilate as well in the U.S. That is understandable. By the 2nd (and certainly by the 3rd) generation, nearly everybody assimilates.
I don't know any 2nd-generation Americans who can't speak English.
It's nearly universal for all immigrant groups to the U.S. that the following happens.
First generation either doesn't speak English, speaks it poorly, or at least has a heavy accent.
Second generation can understand their parents language, but prefers to speak in English, depending upon where they went to school, they may have no accent or a mild one.
Third generation speaks only English.
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