
At the counter, one high school counselor criticizes what he calls the ''take-take-take'' expectations of immigrants. A few seats away, a 33-year-old who moved to Bakersfield from Houston last year calls the decades-long wait for citizenship absurd. And at a booth in the front corner, a couple who came from Mexico more than 20 years ago say they often overhear anti-immigrant vitriol, though rarely aimed directly at them. Still, they are hardly surprised to hear the sentiments voiced just feet away.