Sanchez explains the multi-faceted nature of identity formation as he highlights the possibility for common cultural experiences to shape the creation of a new collective character. The “postmodern condition” that he references also points to a similar understanding of life as a composition of fragmented experiences and intersections of meaning; the United States’s multicultural makeup necessitates a tolerance for ambiguity and contradictions. As Sanchez continues, he describes the “fictive ethnicity” of the nation-state — a need for coherence arises in a region brimming with diversity, and thus attempts to minimize difference along ethnic lines will inevitably fail. The cracks in a totalizing system of identification leave most “cultural invisible” since they are always found in between; Sanchez offers a definition of cultural identity which aligns with his criticism of unambiguous classification. His central argument about the preservation of cultural practices and assimilation into American culture criticizes traditional practices which simplify this process of cultural adaptation.
In bridging this gap between ethnic heritage and newfound national identity, immigrants increasingly find themselves lacking a clear categorization. Even the decision to migrate was governed by a number of choices and included the transfer of a complex blend of customs and culture to a new environment as immigrants cemented their place in American society as a new breed of people who could no longer be singularly defined. In the process of assimilating to American culture, they began to form the basis of new communities along mining towns in Southern Arizona and ranches found in southern Texas, locations which were relatively close to their homeland.