Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
community, for instance, rejects to this day any association with the situation of
immigrants of Mexican origin. Inspired by the movements of black activists, a pan-
Hispanic movement has attempted to emerge in recent years, but it is still weakly
rooted. The emergence of a Hispanic community appears inevitable, however,
because the use of the Spanish language by many communities which are
concentrated in certain geographic regions is fed by a continuous influx of new
immigrants. The opportunity for assimilation within the American culture is
challenged by the sheer size of the minority. Current controversy includes the
question of making English the country's official language and its use mandatory.
This was not the direction chosen by the Bush administration. Originally from
Texas, a state heavily influenced by the presence of Hispanics, President Bush
sought to promote the Hispanic community (while allegedly continuing to firmly
combat illegal immigration).
For the most part, immigration from Latin America dates back to the two World
Wars when agricultural and manual labor industries were looking for alternatives to
European immigrants who had ceased arriving in large numbers. The Census Bureau
only began keeping records of Hispanics living in the USA in 1940. In the
Southwest, some were there before the westward expansion (California, Nevada,
Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas). Most Hispanics have very different origins.
Some are the fruit of America's colonial heritage. The status of Puerto Ricans is
unique since American citizenship was granted to them in 1917; there exists in the
island a movement in favor of joining the United States, which would make Puerto
Rico the 51st state of the federation, but no strong majority in favor of this option
has manifested itself so far. Other countries formerly part of the Spanish Empire all
provide a number of immigrants, the number of which is more or less significant.
Cubans make up a large community, particularly in Florida, but naturally the
Mexicans outnumber all the other Latin American countries of origin. Nearly
3,150 km long, the border between the United States and Mexico is very difficult to
control. It marks a wide economic, demographic, and cultural divide, which is
reflected in the increasingly large movement of people across the border as Mexico
changes demographically and as the Mexican community continues to grow in the
United States.
US authorities have been concerned about illiterate Mexican immigration since
1924, which was the year when they created a border patrol force to combat illegal
immigration. It was at this time that the meta-statistical category “person of
Hispanic origin” was invented. The category is not a racial category, meaning that
there can be white, black, and even Native American Hispanics, which complicates
the analysis of US census statistics.
