In this article, the authors explore, through the notions aculrural citizenship, how newly arrived immigrant students in California seek to carve out social space. They argue that students in Santa Ana, California both embrace and challenge the prevailing ideologies on language embedded in Proposition 227, the so-called "English for the Children" initiative. Students here are at least moderately successful in exploiting the "translocality " of cities like Santa Ana to become polyglot citizens in America.