Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican heritage. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United States; they make up 53% of the total population of foreign-born Hispanic Americans and 25% of the total foreign-born population. Chicano is a term used by some to describe the unique identity held by Mexican-Americans. The United States is home to the second-largest Mexican community in the world, behind only Mexico. Most Mexican Americans reside in the Southwest, with over 60% of Mexican Americans living in the states of California and Texas.
Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans of Spanish and/or Latin American ancestry. These demographics include all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino regardless of ancestry. As of 2020, the Census Bureau estimated that there were almost 65.3 million Hispanics and Latinos living in the United States and its territories.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is a nonprofit, anti-immigration organization in the United States. The group publishes position papers, organizes events, and runs campaigns in order to advocate for changes in U.S. immigration policy. The Southern Poverty Law Center classifies FAIR as a hate group with ties to white supremacist groups.
Mexican American history, or the history of American residents of Mexican descent, largely begins after the annexation of Northern Mexico in 1848, when the nearly 80,000 Mexican citizens of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico became U.S. citizens. Large-scale migration increased the U.S.' Mexican population during the 1910s, as refugees fled the economic devastation and violence of Mexico's high-casualty revolution and civil war. Until the mid-20th century, most Mexican Americans lived within a few hundred miles of the border, although some resettled along rail lines from the Southwest into the Midwest.
In November 2004, voters in the U.S. state of California passed Proposition 63, the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), which has been designed to expand and transform California's county mental health service systems. The MHSA is funded by imposing an additional one percent tax on individual, but not corporate, taxable income in excess of one million dollars. In becoming law in January 2005, the MHSA represents the latest in a Californian legislative movement, begun in the 1990s, to provide better coordinated and more comprehensive care to those with serious mental illness, particularly in underserved populations. Its claim of successes thus far, such as with the development of innovative and integrated Full Service Partnerships (FSPs), are not without detractors who highlight many problems but especially a lack of oversight, large amount of unspent funds, poor transparency, lack of engagement in some communities, and a lack of adherence to required reporting as challenges MHSA implementation must overcome to fulfill the law's widely touted potential.
Jarrett Tomás Barrios is the chief executive officer of the American Red Cross Los Angeles Region, a former politician and activist. Prior to this, he served as the CEO of the American Red Cross of Massachusetts. Barrios served as a member of both the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Massachusetts Senate and became the first Latino and first openly gay man elected to the Massachusetts Senate. He subsequently served as president of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation and, later, of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
In 2006–2007, millions of people participated in protests over a proposed change to U.S. immigration policy. These large scale mobilizations are widely seen as a historic turn point in Latino politics, especially Latino immigrant civic participation and political influence, as noted in a range of scholarly publications in this field. The protests began in response to proposed legislation known as H.R. 4437, which would raise penalties for illegal immigration and classify illegal individuals and anyone who helped them enter or remain in the US as felons. As part of the wider immigration debate, most of the protests not only sought a rejection of this bill, but also a comprehensive reform of the country's immigration laws that included a path to citizenship for all illegal immigrants.
Hector De La Torre is an American politician from Los Angeles County, California who served in the California State Assembly from 2004 to 2010. A Democrat, he represented the largely Latino 50th Assembly district.
KDNA is a radio station broadcasting a Spanish Variety format including music, children's programming, local and international news and a unique show each weekday morning highlighting employment opportunities in the Yakima area, all in Spanish. Licensed to Yakima, Washington, United States, the station serves the Yakima area. The station is currently owned by Northwest Communities Education Center, and has a studio in Granger, Washington.
Jaime Soto is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Sacramento in Northern California since 2007. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Orange in Southern California from 2000 to 2007.
The Health Initiative of the Americas is a Latino program focusing mainly on migrant and immigrant health issues. It is part of the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB).
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, previously known as School of Policy, Planning, and Development (SPPD), is the public policy school of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles & Sacramento, California. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including a doctoral program and several professional and executive master's degree programs. USC Price also offers the Master of Public Administration program at a campus in Sacramento.
Maria Contreras-Sweet is an American businesswoman and former government official who served as the 24th Administrator of the Small Business Administration from 2014 to 2017. She was the executive chairwoman and founder of ProAmérica Bank, a commercial bank focusing on small to mid-sized businesses with a specialty in the Latino community. Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Contreras-Sweet immigrated to Los Angeles, California and has since been involved in both the private sector founding a private equity firm and in public service as the California Secretary of Business, Transportation, and Housing under Governor Gray Davis.
The Northern California District Council of Laborers (NCDCL) is a labor organization affiliated with the Laborers' International Union of North America. The NCDCL was chartered in 1937 in San Francisco, California and today represents over 30,000 men and women, who are collectively employed as laborers by its network of 1700 signatory employers.
Hugo Noé Morales is the executive director and co-founder, in 1976, of Radio Bilingüe Inc., the national Latino public radio network. He is responsible for leading and managing all aspects of organizational development and service delivery for this non-profit organization whose mission is to serve as a voice to empower Latino and other underserved communities. Radio Bilingue is a transnational satellite community radio service in Spanish, English and Mixtec. Other responsibilities include: program development, public relations, fundraising, board development, personnel management, and key stakeholder management.
Paul F. O'Rourke was a founding member of Operation USA and its first board chair, the first Director of the California State Office of Economic Opportunity, a public health advisor to Senator Robert F. Kennedy and numerous state and federal agencies, and a Board Chairman of the San Francisco Trauma Foundation.
Covered California is the health insurance marketplace in the U.S. state of California established under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The exchange enables eligible individuals and small businesses to purchase private health insurance coverage at federally subsidized rates. It is administered by an independent agency of the government of California.
The history of Hispanics and Latinos in Baltimore dates back to the mid-20th century. The Hispanic and Latino community of Baltimore is the fastest growing ethnic group in the city. There is a significant Hispanic/Latino presence in many Southeast Baltimore neighborhoods, particularly Highlandtown, Upper Fell's Point, and Greektown. Overall Baltimore has a small but growing Hispanic population, primarily in the Southeast portion of the area from Fells Point to Dundalk.
Danny Lopez Diaz is a national communications consultant and political strategist for candidates of the Republican Party. In June 2015, he was named the campaign manager for Jeb Bush for President. He is a founding partner of FP1 Strategies LLC, a public affairs, media relations, digital communications and advertising firm based in Washington, D.C. Diaz’s corporate efforts have included transportation, health care, retail and education issues.
Alejandra Campoverdi is an American women’s health advocate, best-selling author, and former White House aide. Under President Barack Obama, Campoverdi was the first White House Deputy Director of Hispanic Media.
