Mexifornia (also Calexico or Califaztlán) is a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words[Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...](_blank)
and
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
.
Description
Mexifornia refers to what some see as the
Mexicanization/
Hispanicization of the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of California as a result of increased documented and undocumented
migration
Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration
* Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another
** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...
of
Mexican and other
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...
people into California and the transformation of many aspects of the
culture of the state.
Mexifornia is seen as a state level version of what is now known as Amexica, the merging of
America and Mexico;
''"The United States of "Amexica" share more than a border and a common heritage: both sides welcome the benefits of trade but struggle with the pressures of growth"''. ''Time'' magazine.
This is a topic of a heated debate between the advocates of
amnesty
Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...
for
illegal immigrants
Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwa ...
on one side and those wishing to enforce
immigration laws on the other side.
Popular culture
* Mexifornia is the main setting of the cartoon ''
Bordertown''.
See also
*
Anti-Mexican sentiment
*
Chicano
Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...
*
Chicano Movement
The Chicano Movement, also referred to as El Movimiento, was a social and political movement in the United States inspired by prior acts of resistance among people of Mexican descent, especially of Pachucos in the 1940s and 1950s, and the Black ...
*
Chicano nationalism
*
Immigration to the United States
Immigration has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of the history of the United States. In absolute numbers, the United States has a larger immigrant population than any other country in the worl ...
*
La Raza
The Spanish expression ('the people' or 'the community'; literal translation: 'the race') has historically been used to refer to the Hispanophone populations (primarily though not always exclusively in the Western Hemisphere), considered as ...
*
Reconquista (Mexico)
*
Southern Border Region (California)
*
Mexicali
Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California. The city, seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali metropolitan area is home to 1,000,0 ...
References
* "A Country of 24 Million". ''Time'' magazine, vol. 157, no. 23, p. 46, June 11, 2001.
* ''Mexifornia: A State of Becoming'' by
Victor Davis Hanson
Victor Davis Hanson (born September 5, 1953) is an American commentator, classicist, and military historian. He has been a commentator on modern and ancient warfare and contemporary politics for ''The New York Times'', ''Wall Street Journal'', ...
''Mexifornia: A State of Confusion'' a Commentaryby
Walter A. Ewing, Ph.D
* {{cite book , last = MacLachlan , first = Colin M. , author2=Jaime E. Rodriguez O. , title = The Forging of the Cosmic Race: A Reinterpretation of Colonial Mexico , url = https://archive.org/details/forgingofcosmicr0000macl , url-access = registration , year = 1980 , location = Berkeley , publisher = University of California Press , isbn = 0-520-04280-8
External links
''Booknotes'' interview with Victor Davis Hanson on ''Mexifornia: A State of Becoming'', September 28, 2003.
California culture
Mexican culture
.
1990s neologisms