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Emotional Bridges to Puerto Rico discusses, through a primary case study, the migration of Puerto Ricans to the mainland United States, as well as what is known as "reverse migration," the event in which Puerto Rican migrants move back to their home island in response to the emotional and economic challenges of assimilation. Many Puerto Ricans move the U.S. in search of career advances; there is a general outlook among Puerto Ricans themselves that their country is so low (relatively speaking) on the labor market totem pole that the concept of having specific entry-level jobs is minimal or non-existant and upward mobility is only available in the U.S. Even once in the U.S. (which has no official policy regarding multiculturalism), many Puerto Ricans continue to view themselves as outsiders who steadfastly retain their cultural heritage and the disadvantages of being an immigrant, despite their citizenship and sheer numbers among the population. Being in the states, and having a U.S. passport, however, is guarantee any foreigner's acceptance into society. As Aranda describes succinctly, "Puerto Ricans' feelings of membership into mainland communities are fractured by the ethnoracist contexts that often receive them" (175).

Despite these challenges, however, almost half of all Puerto Rican nationals reside in the mainland United States. The economic and professional goals that cannot be reached in the stifled economy of Puerto Rico is sufficient motivation for many to abandon their homeland, strain ties with family and friends remaining behind, and venture to the U.S. in an attempt to find success. These themes appear over and over again throughout West Side Story, and the optimism associated with new opportunities and the hope for success is personified in the character of Anita. She has turned her back on the hopelessness of Puerto Rico and sees the U.S. as the land of dreams, like so many other immigrants before her. During the song "America," which is sung primarily by Anita and the other Shark girls, she speaks of all the things Puerto Rican immigrants hope to find in America and leave behind on the island. Disease, poverty, underdevelopment and crime in Puerto Rico are just a few of the reasons she prefers the conveniences of the technologically advanced and highly industrialized New York. Verbally opposing her, however, is Bernardo, who sings of the limitations a Puerto Rican immigrant faces in the U.S.--primarily the difficulties in finding jobs and housing due to white racism, and the resulting need to defend yourself at any costs.