United States Hispanic Leadership Institute

Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spanish and/or Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino regardless of ancestry.Mark Hugo Lopez, Jens Manuel Krogstad and Jeffrey S. Passel
Who Is Hispanic?
Pew Research Center (November 11, 2019). 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 (which include Puerto Rico).

"Origin" can be viewed as the ancestry, nationality group, lineage or country of birth of the person or the person's parents or ancestors before their arrival in the United States of America. People who identify as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. As one of the only two specifically designated categories of ethnicity in the United States (the other being "Not Hispanic or Latino"), Hispanics and Latinos form a pan-ethnicity incorporating a diversity of inter-related cultural and linguistic heritages. Most Hispanic and Latino Americans are of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Spanish, Salvadoran, Dominican, Brazilian, Guatemalan, Colombian, or Venezuelan origin. The predominant origin of regional Hispanic and Latino populations varies widely in different locations across the country.

In 2012, Hispanic Americans were the second fastest-growing ethnic group by percentage growth in the United States after Asian Americans. Hispanics of Indigenous descent and Native Americans are the oldest ethnic groups to inhabit much of what is today the United States. Spain colonized large areas of what is today the American Southwest and West Coast, as well as Florida. Its holdings included present-day California, Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and Florida, all of which constituted part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, based in Mexico City. Later, this vast territory became part of Mexico after its independence from Spain in 1821 and until the end of the Mexican–American War in 1848. Hispanic immigrants to the New York/ New Jersey metropolitan area derive from a broad spectrum of Hispanic countries.

Terminology

The terms "Hispanic" and " Latino" refer to an ethnicity. The U.S. Census Bureau defines being Hispanic as being a member of an ethnicity, rather than being a member of a particular race and thus, people who are members of this group may also be members of any race.Ana Gonzales-Barrera & Mark Hugo Lopez
Is being Hispanic a matter of race, ethnicity or both?
Pew Research Center (June 15, 2015). In a 2015 national survey of self-identified Hispanics, 56% said that being Hispanic is part of both their racial and ethnic background, while smaller numbers considered it part of their ethnic background only (19%) or racial background only (11%). Hispanics may be of any linguistic background; in a 2015 survey, 71% of American Hispanics agreed that it "is not necessary for a person to speak Spanish to be considered Hispanic/Latino". Hispanic and Latino people may share some commonalities in their language, culture, history, and heritage. According to the Smithsonian Institution, the term "Latino" includes peoples with Portuguese roots, such as Brazilians, as well as those of Spanish-language origin. In the United States, many Hispanics are of Iberian (primarily Spanish) and Indigenous American ancestry (mestizo). Others may have European, Middle Eastern (including Jewish), or Asian ancestry as well as Indigenous American ancestry. Many Hispanics from the Caribbean, as well as many Hispanics from other regions of the Hispanic world where African slavery was widespread, may also be of sub-Saharan African descent.

The difference between the terms ''Hispanic'' and ''Latino'' is ambiguous to some people. The US Census Bureau equates the two terms and defines them as referring to anyone from Spain or the Spanish- or Portuguese-speaking countries of the Americas. After the Mexican–American War concluded in 1848, term ''Hispanic'' or ''Spanish American'' was primarily used to describe the Hispanos of New Mexico within the American Southwest. The 1970 United States Census controversially broadened the definition to "a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race". This is now the common formal and colloquial definition of the term within the United States, outside of New Mexico.Cobos, Rubén (2003) "Introduction", ''A Dictionary of New Mexico & Southern Colorado Spanish'' (2nd ed.); Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press; p. ix; This definition is consistent with the 21st-century usage by the U.S. Census Bureau and OMB, as the two agencies use both terms Hispanic and Latino interchangeably. The Pew Research Center believes that the term "Hispanic" is strictly limited to Spain, Puerto Rico, and all countries where Spanish is the only official language whereas "Latino" includes all countries in Latin America (even Brazil) regardless of the fact that Portuguese is its only official language, but it does not include Spain.

The term Latino is a condensed form of ''"latinoamericano"'', the Spanish term for a Latin American, or someone who comes from Latin America. The term ''Latino'' has developed a number of definitions. This definition, as a "male Latin American inhabitant of the United States", was the original and is therefore the oldest definition which is used in the United States, it was first used in 1946. Under this definition a Mexican American or Puerto Rican, for example, is both a Hispanic and a Latino. A Brazilian American is also a Latino by this definition, which includes those of Portuguese-speaking origin from Latin America. But also by this definition, Italian Americans are ''not'' considered "Latino", as they are for the most part descended from immigrants from Europe rather than Latin America, unless they happen to have had recent history in a Latin American country.

Preference of use between the terms among Hispanics in the United States often depends on where users of the respective terms reside. Those in the Eastern United States tend to prefer the term ''Hispanic'', whereas those in the West tend to prefer ''Latino''.

The U.S. ethnic designation ''Latino'' is abstracted from the longer form ''latinoamericano''. The element ''latino-'' is actually an indeclinable, compositional form in ''-o'' (i.e. an ''elemento compositivo'') that is employed to coin compounded formations (similar as ''franco-'' in ''francocanadiense'' 'French-Canadian′, or ''ibero-'' in ''iberorrománico'', etc.).

The term ''Latinx'' (and similar neologism ''Xicanx'') have gained some usage. The adoption of the ''X'' would be " flecting new consciousness inspired by more recent work by LGBTQI and feminist movements, some Spanish-speaking activists are increasingly using a yet more inclusive "x" to replace the "a" and "o", in a complete break with the gender binary. Among the advocates of the term ''LatinX'', one of most frequently cited complaints of gender bias in the Spanish language is that a group of mixed or unknown gender would be referred to as ''Latinos'', whereas ''Latinas'' refers to a group of women only (but this is changed immediately to ''Latinos'', if even a single man joins this female group). A 2020 Pew Research Center survey found that about 3% of Hispanics use the term (mostly women), and only around 23% have even heard of the term. Of those, 65% said it should not be used to describe their ethnic group.

Some have pointed out that the term “Hispanic” refers to a pan-ethnic identity, one that spans a range of races, national origins, and linguistic backgrounds. “Terms like Hispanic and Latino do not fully capture how we see ourselves”, says Geraldo Cadava, an associate professor of history and Hispanic studies at Northwestern University.

According to 2017 American Community Survey data, a small minority of immigrants from Brazil (2%), Portugal (2%), and the Philippines (1%) self-identified as Hispanic.

History

16th and 17th centuries

Spanish explorers were pioneers in the territory of the present-day United States. The first confirmed European landing in the continental United States was by Juan Ponce de León, who landed in 1513 at a lush shore he christened '' La Florida''. In the next three decades, the Spanish became the first Europeans to reach the Appalachian Mountains, the Mississippi River, the Grand Canyon and the Great Plains. Spanish ships sailed along the Atlantic Coast, penetrating to present-day Bangor, Maine, and up the Pacific Coast as far as Oregon. From 1528 to 1536, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and three fellows (including an African named Estevanico), from a Spanish expedition that foundered, journeyed from Florida to the Gulf of California. In 1540, Hernando de Soto undertook an extensive exploration of the present United States.

Also in 1540, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado led 2,000 Spaniards and Mexican natives across today's Arizona–Mexico border and traveled as far as central Kansas, close to the exact geographic center of what is now the continental United States. Other Spanish explorers of the US territory include, among others: Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón, Pánfilo de Narváez, Sebastián Vizcaíno, Gaspar de Portolà, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Tristán de Luna y Arellano, and Juan de Oñate, and non-Spanish explorers working for the Spanish Crown, such as Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo. In 1565, the Spanish created the first permanent European settlement in the continental United States, at St. Augustine, Florida. Spanish missionaries and colonists founded settlements including in the present-day Santa Fe, New Mexico, El Paso, San Antonio, Tucson, Albuquerque, San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

18th and 19th centuries

As late as 1783, at the end of the American Revolutionary War (a conflict in which Spain aided and fought alongside the rebels), Spain held claim to roughly half the territory of today's continental United States. From 1819 to 1848, the United States (through treaties, purchase, diplomacy, and the Mexican–American War) increased its area by roughly a third at Spanish and Mexican expense, acquiring its three currently most populous states—California, Texas, and Florida.. Many Hispanic natives lived in the areas that the United States acquired, and a new wave of Mexican, Central American, Caribbean, and South American immigrants had moved to the United States for new opportunities. This was the beginning of a demographic that would rise dramatically over the years.Gutiérrez, David G. "An Historic Overview of Latino Immigration and the Demographic Transformation of the United States". National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, www.nps.gov/heritageinitiatives/latino/latinothemestudy/immigration.htm.

20th and 21st centuries

During the 20th and 21st centuries, Hispanic immigration to the United States increased markedly following changes to the immigration law in 1965. During the World Wars, Hispanic Americans and immigrants had helped stabilize the American economy from falling due to the industrial boom in the Midwest in states such as Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. While a percentage of Americans had fled their jobs for the war, Hispanics had taken their jobs in the Industrial world. This can explain why there is such a high concentration of Hispanic Americans in Metro Areas such as the Chicago-Elgin-Naperville, Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, and Cleveland-Elyria areas.

Hispanic contributions in the historical past and present of the United States are addressed in more detail below (See Notables and their contributions). To recognize the current and historic contributions of Hispanic Americans, on September 17, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson designated a week in mid-September as National Hispanic Heritage Week, with Congress's authorization. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan extended the observance to a month, designated National Hispanic Heritage Month. Hispanic Americans became the largest minority group in 2004.

Demographics

As of 2020, Hispanics accounted for 19-20% of the US population, or 62-65 million people. The U.S. Census Bureau later estimated that Hispanics were under-counted by 5.0% or 3.3 million persons in the U.S. Census, which explains the 3 million range in the number above. In contrast, Whites were over-counted by about 3 million. The Hispanic growth rate over the April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2007, period was 28.7%—about four times the rate of the nation's total population growth (at 7.2%). The growth rate from July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2006, alone was 3.4%—about three and a half times the rate of the nation's total population growth (at 1.0%). Based on the 2010 census, Hispanics are now the largest minority group in 191 out of 366 metropolitan areas in the United States. The projected Hispanic population of the United States for July 1, 2050 is 132.8 million people, or 30.2% of the nation's total projected population on that date.

Geographic distribution

US Metropolitan Statistical Areas with over 1 million Hispanics (2014)

States and territories with the highest proportion of Hispanics (2021)

Of the nation's total Hispanic population, 49% (21.5 million) live in California or Texas. In 2022, New York City and Washington, D.C. began receiving significant numbers of Latino migrants from the state of Texas, mostly originating from Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, and Honduras.

Over half of the Hispanic population is concentrated in the Southwest region, mostly composed of Mexican Americans. California and Texas have some of the largest populations of Mexicans and Central American Hispanics in the United States. The Northeast region is dominated by Dominican Americans and Puerto Ricans, having the highest concentrations of both in the country. In the Mid Atlantic region, centered on the DC Metro Area, Salvadoran Americans is dominated by Cuban Americans and Puerto Ricans. In both the Great Lakes states and the South Atlantic states, Mexicans and Puerto Ricans dominate. Mexicans dominate in the rest of the country, including the West, South Central and Great Plains states.

National origin

As of 2018, approximately 61.9% of the nation's Hispanic population were of Mexican origin (see table). Another 15.1% were of Puerto Rican origin, and with about 3.9% each of Cuban and Salvadoran and about 3.5% Dominican origins. The remainder were of other Central American or of South American origin, or of origin directly from Spain. Two thirds of all Hispanic Americans were born in the United States.

There are few immigrants directly from Spain, since Spaniards have historically emigrated to Hispanic America rather than to English-speaking countries. Because of this, most Hispanics who identify themselves as ''Spaniard'' or ''Spanish'' also identify with Hispanic American national origin. In the 2017 Census estimate approximately 1.3 million Americans reported some form of "Spanish" as their ancestry, whether directly from Spain or not.

In northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, there is a large portion of Hispanics who trace their ancestry to settlers from New Spain (Mexico), and sometimes Spain itself, in the late 16th century through the 17th century. People from this background often self-identify as "Hispanos", "Spanish" or "Hispanic". Many of these settlers also intermarried with local Native Americans, creating a mestizo population. Likewise, southern Louisiana is home to communities of people of Canary Islands descent, known as Isleños, in addition to other people of Spanish ancestry.
Californios, Nuevomexicanos and Tejanos are Americans of Spanish and/or Mexican descent, with subgroups that sometimes call themselves Chicanos. Nuevomexicanos and Tejanos are distinct southwest Hispanic cultures with their own cuisines, dialects and musical traditions.

Nuyoricans are Americans of Puerto Rican descent from the New York City area. There are close to two million Nuyoricans in the United States. Prominent Nuyoricans include Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, US Supreme Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor, and singer Jennifer Lopez.

Race

Hispanics come from multi-racial and multi-ethnic countries with diversity of origins; therefore, a Hispanic can be from any race or mix of races. The most common ancestries are: Indigenous American (Native Americans), European and African. Most Hispanics have mixed ancestry of different combinations and ratios, although non-mixed Hispanics of each race also exist in varied amounts on each country.

Hispanic origin is independent of race and is termed "ethnicity" by the United States Census Bureau. Depending on the regions within Hispanic America, a significant proportion of Hispanics have high to moderate levels Native Indigenous American ancestry. Similarly to Portuguese, English, German and many other European nations over the centuries, many Hispanics also have colonial era New Christian Sephardic Jewish ancestry. To a lesser extent, Hispanics possess at least partial ancestry of more recent post-colonial ancestry from Ashkenazi Jews, Levantine Arabs (Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian). Thus, as a whole, Hispanics are of mostly of a mixture of Iberian and Native Indigenous American ancestry, with degrees of admixture levels that vary from person to person, from varying global genetic sources.

On the 2020 United States census, 20.3% of Hispanics identified selected "white" as their race. These white Hispanics make up 12,579,626 people or 3.8% of the population. The largest numbers of those who consider themselves white Hispanic Americans come from within the Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Salvadorans,
Spanish and Argentines communities.

Over 42% of Hispanic Americans identify as " some other race". These "some other race" Hispanics are usually assumed to be mestizos or mulattos. Mestizo is not a racial category in the U.S. Census, but signifies someone who is conscious of both their Native American and European ancestry. Of all Americans who checked the box "Some Other Race", 97 percent were Hispanic.

Almost one-third of the multi-race respondents were Hispanics. Most of the multi-racial population in the Mexican, Salvadoran, and Guatemalan communities are of mixed European and Native American ancestry (mestizo), while most of the multiracial population in the Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Cuban communities are of mixed European, Native Indigenous American, Canary Islander and Sub-Saharan African.

The largest numbers of black Hispanics are from the Spanish Caribbean islands, including the Cuban, Dominican, Panamanian and Puerto Rican communities. As Latinos, especially Mexicans and Central Americans, who are mainly of a mixed-race background, have moved further from the southwest, their presence might disrupt in the long term the traditional American view of race as a binary between Black and white.

The few hundred thousand Asian Hispanics are of various backgrounds, among which include Filipino mestizos with Spanish background, Asians of Hispanic background (examples including Chinese Cubans, Korean Argentines Japanese Peruvians) and those of recent mixed Asian and Hispanic background. Note that Filipinos are generally ''not'' counted as Hispanic, despite the fact that the Spanish colonized the Philippines and many Filipinos have Spanish names.

Hispanic Americans are often racially of Native American ancestry mixed with Iberians. For example, of Hispanics deriving from northern Mexico, consider themselves white or acknowledge Native American ancestry with some European mixtures, while of those deriving from southern Mexican ancestry, the majority are Native American or of Native American and European ancestry. In Guatemala, Mayans are majority, while in El Salvador, people of Native American descent are the majority. In the Dominican Republic, the population is largely of inter-mixed ancestries.

In Puerto Rico, people have some Native Indigenous American ancestry as well as European and Canary Islander ancestry. There's also a population of predominantly African descent as well as populations of Native American descent as well as those with intermixed ancestries. Cubans are mostly of Iberian and Canary Islander ancestry, with some heritage from Native Indigenous Caribbean. There are also populations of black Sub-Saharan ancestry and multi-racial people. The race and culture of each Hispanic country and their United States diaspora differs by history and geography.

Welch and Sigelman found, as of the year 2000, lower interaction between Latinos of different nationalities (such as between Cubans and Mexicans) than between Latinos and non-Latinos. This is a reminder that while they are often treated as such, Latinos in the United States are not a monolith, and often view their own ethnic or national identity as vastly different than that of other Latinos.

Persons of Mexican heritage represent the bulk of the U.S. Hispanic population. Most Mexican Americans already with a multi-generational presence in the USA predating the 1970s are of predominantly mixed Native Indigenous American groups and to a lesser extent Iberians, while most recent Mexican Americans that have migrated or descend from migrants to the United States post-1980s are of predominantly Native American descent with varying levels of European admixture.

Official sources report that the racial makeup of Hispanic subgroups from the countries Uruguay, Cuba, and Chile have the highest proportion, for their respective countries, of Hispanics in the US self-identifying as white – though in raw numbers the highest number of white Hispanics in the United States are Mexican Americans. As a result of their racial diversity, Hispanics form an ethnicity sharing a language (Spanish) and cultural heritage, rather than a race. The phenomenon of biracial people who are predominantly of European descent identifying as white is not limited to Hispanics or Spanish speakers but is also common among English speakers as well: researchers found that most white Americans with less than 28 percent African-American ancestry say they are white; above that threshold, people tended to describe themselves as African-American.

Age

As of 2014, one third, or 17.9 million, of the Hispanic population was younger than 18 and a quarter, 14.6 million, were Millennials. This makes them more than half of the Hispanic population within the United States.

Education

Hispanic K–12 education

With the increasing Hispanic population in the United States, Hispanics have had a considerable impact on the K–12 system. In 2011–12, Hispanics comprised 24% of all enrollments in the United States, including 52% and 51% of enrollment in California and Texas, respectively.Santiago, D., Galdeano, E. C., & Taylor, M. (2015). The Condition of Latinos in Education: 2015 Factbook. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(02)77934-8 Further research shows the Hispanic population will continue to grow in the United States, implicating that more Hispanics will populate U.S. schools.

The state of Hispanic education shows some promise. First, Hispanic students attending pre-K or kindergarten were more likely to attend full-day programs. Second, Hispanics in elementary education were the second largest group represented in gifted and talented programs. Third, Hispanics' average NAEP math and reading scores have consistently increased over the last 10 years. Finally, Hispanics were more likely than other groups, including white people, to go to college.

However, their academic achievement in early childhood, elementary, and secondary education lag behind other groups. For instance, their average math and reading NAEP scores were lower than every other group, except African Americans, and have the highest dropout rate of any group, 13% despite decreasing from 24%.

To explain these disparities, some scholars have suggested there is a Hispanic "Education Crisis" due to failed school and social policies. To this end, scholars have further offered several potential reasons including language barriers, poverty, and immigrant/nativity status resulting in Hispanics not performing well academically.

English language learners

Currently, Hispanic students make up 80% of English language learners in the United States. In 2008–2009, 5.3 million students were classified as English Language Learners (ELLs) in pre-K to 12th grade. This is a result of many students entering the education system at different ages, although the majority of ELLs are not foreign born. In order to provide English instruction for Hispanic students there have been a multitude of English Language programs. However, the great majority of these programs are English Immersion, which arguably undermines the students' culture and knowledge of their primary language. As such, there continues to be great debate within schools as to which program can address these language disparities.

Immigration status

Undocumented immigrants have not always had access to compulsory education in the United States. However, since the landmark Supreme Court case ''Plyler v. Doe'' in 1982, immigrants have received access to K-12 education. This significantly impacted all immigrant groups, including Hispanics. However, their academic achievement is dependent upon several factors including, but not limited to time of arrival and schooling in country of origin. Moreover, Hispanics' immigration/nativity status plays a major role regarding their academic achievement. For instance, first- and second- generation Hispanics outperform their later generational counterparts. Additionally, their aspirations appear to decrease as well. This has major implications on their postsecondary futures.

Hispanic higher education

Those with a bachelor's degree or higher ranges from 50% of Venezuelans compared to 18% for Ecuadorians 25 years and older. Amongst the largest Hispanic groups, those with a bachelor's or higher was 25% for Cubans, 16% of Puerto Ricans, 15% of Dominicans, and 11% for Mexicans. Over 21% of all second-generation Dominican Americans have college degrees, slightly below the national average (28%) but significantly higher than U.S.-born Mexican Americans (13%) and U.S.-born Puerto Rican Americans (12%).

Hispanics make up the second or third largest ethnic group in Ivy League universities, considered to be the most prestigious in the United States. Hispanic enrollment at Ivy League universities has gradually increased over the years. Today, Hispanics make up between 8% of students at Yale University to 15% at Columbia University. For example, 18% of students in the Harvard University Class of 2018 are Hispanic.

Hispanics have significant enrollment in many other top universities such as University of Texas at El Paso (70% of students), Florida International University (63%), University of Miami (27%), and MIT, UCLA and UC-Berkeley at 15% each. At Stanford University, Hispanics are the third largest ethnic group behind non-Hispanic white people and Asians, at 18% of the student population.

Hispanic university enrollments

While Hispanics study in colleges and universities throughout the country, some choose to attend federally-designated Hispanic-serving institutions, institutions that are accredited, degree-granting, public or private nonprofit institutions of higher education with 25 percent or more total undergraduate Hispanic full-time equivalent (FTE) student enrollment. There are over 270 institutions of higher education that have been designated as an HSI.

Health

Longevity

As of 2016, life expectancy for Hispanic Americans is 81.8 years, which is higher than the life expectancy for non-Hispanic white Americans (78.6 years). Research on the "Hispanic paradox"—the well-established apparent mortality advantage of Hispanic Americans compared to non-Hispanic white Americans, despite the latter's more advantaged socioeconomic status—has been principally explained by "(1) health-related migration to and from the US; and (2) social and cultural protection mechanisms, such as maintenance of healthy lifestyles and behaviors adopted in the countries of origin, and availability of extensive social networks in the US." The "salmon bias" hypothesis, which suggests that the Hispanic health advantage is attributable to higher rates of return migration among less-healthy migrants, has received some support in the scholarly literature. A 2019 study, examining the comparatively better health of foreign-born American Hispanics, challenged the hypothesis that a stronger orientation toward the family (familism) contributed to this advantage. Some scholars have suggested that the Hispanic mortality advantage is likely to disappear due to the higher rates of obesity and diabetes among Hispanics relative to non-Hispanic white people, although lower rates of smoking (and thus smoking-attributable mortality) among Hispanics may counteract this to some extent.

Healthcare

As of 2017, about 19% of Hispanic Americans lack health insurance coverage, which is the highest of all ethnic groups except for Indigenous Americans and Alaska Natives. In terms of extending health coverage, Hispanics benefited the most among U.S. ethnic groups from the Affordable Care Act (ACA); among non-elderly Hispanics, the uninsured rate declined from 26.7% in 2013 to 14.2% in 2017. Among the population of non-elderly uninsured Hispanic population in 2017, about 53% were non-citizens, about 39% were U.S.-born citizens, and about 9% were naturalized citizens. (The ACA does not help undocumented immigrants or legal immigrants with less than five years' residence in the United States gain coverage).

According to a 2013 study, Mexican women have the highest uninsured rate (54.6%) as compared to other immigrants (26.2%), black (22.5%) and non-Hispanic white (13.9%). According to the study, Mexican women are the largest female immigrant group in the United States and are also the most at risk for developing preventable health conditions. Multiple factors such as limited access to health care, legal status and income increase the risk of developing preventable health conditions because many undocumented immigrants postpone routine visits to the doctor until they become seriously ill.

Mental health

Family separation

Some families who are in the process of illegally crossing borders can suffer being caught and separated by border patrol agents. Migrants are also in danger of separation if they do not bring sufficient resources such as water for all members to continue crossing. Once illegal migrants have arrived to the new country, they may fear workplace raids where illegal immigrants are detained and deported.

Family separation puts U.S born children, undocumented children and their illegal immigrant parents at risk for depression and family maladaptive syndrome. The effects are often long-term and the impact extends to the community level. Children may experience emotional traumas and long-term changes in behaviors. Additionally, when parents are forcefully removed, children often develop feelings of abandonment and they might blame themselves for what has happened to their family. Some children that are victims to illegal border crossings that result in family separation believe in the possibility of never seeing their parents again. These effects can cause negative parent-child attachment. Reunification may be difficult because of immigration laws and re-entry restrictions which further affect the mental health of children and parents.

Parents who leave their home country also experience negative mental health experiences. According to a study published in 2013, 46% of Mexican migrant men who participated in the study reported elevated levels of depressive symptoms.Letiecq, B., L., Grzywacz, J., G., Gray, K., M., Eudave, Y., M.(2014). Depression among Mexican men on the migration frontier: the role of family separation and other structural and situational stressors. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 16, 1193–1200 In recent years, the length of stay for migrants has increased, from 3 years to nearly a decade. Migrants who were separated from their families, either married or single, experienced greater depression than married men accompanied by their spouses. Furthermore, the study also revealed that men who are separated from their families are more prone to harsher living conditions such as overcrowded housing and are under a greater deal of pressure to send remittance to support their families. These conditions put additional stress on the migrants and often worsen their depression. Families who migrated together experience better living conditions, receive emotional encouragement and motivation from each other, and share a sense of solidarity. They are also more likely to successfully navigate the employment and health care systems in the new country, and are not pressured to send remittances back home.

Discrimination

It is reported that 31% of Hispanics have reported personal experiences with discrimination whilst 82% of Hispanics believe that discrimination plays a crucial role in whether or not they will find success while they are living in the United States.Torres, S., A., Santiago, C., D., Walts, K., K., Richards, M., H. (2018). Immigration policy, practices and procedures: the impact on the mental health of Mexican and central American youth and families. American Psychologist, 1-12. The current legislation on immigration policies also plays a crucial role in creating a hostile and discriminatory environment for immigrants. In order to measure the discrimination which immigrants are being subjected to, researchers must take into account the immigrants' perception that they are being targeted for discrimination and they must also be aware that instances of discrimination can also vary based on: personal experiences, social attitudes and ethnic group barriers. The immigrant experience is associated with lower self-esteem, internalized symptoms and behavioral problems amongst Mexican youth. It is also known that more time which is spent living in the United States is associated with increased feelings of distress, depression and anxiety. Like many other Hispanic groups that migrate to the United States, these groups are often stigmatized. An example of this stigmatization occurred after 9/11, when people who were considered threats to national security were frequently described with terms like migrant and the "Hispanic Other" along with other terms like refugee and asylum seeker.

Vulnerabilities

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 significantly changed how the United States dealt with immigration. Under this new law, immigrants who overstayed their visas or were found to be in the United States illegally were subject to be detained and/or deported without legal representation. Immigrants who broke these laws may not be allowed back into the country. Similarly, this law made it more difficult for other immigrants who want to enter the U.S or gain legal status. These laws also expanded the types of offenses that can be considered worthy of deportation for documented immigrants.Torres, S., A., Santiago, C., D., Walts, K., K., Richards, M., H.(2018). Immigration policy, practices and procedures: the impact on the mental health of Mexican and central American youth and families. American Psychologist, 1-12. Policies enacted by future presidents further limit the number of immigrants entering the country and their expedited removal.

Many illegal immigrant families cannot enjoy doing everyday activities without exercising caution because they fear encountering immigration officers which limits their involvement in community events. Undocumented families also do not trust government institutions and services. Because of their fear of encountering immigration officers, illegal immigrants often feel ostracized and isolated which can lead to the development of mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. The harmful effects of being ostracized from the rest of society are not limited to just that of undocumented immigrants but it affects the entire family even if some of the members are of legal status. Children often reported having been victims of bullying in school by classmates because their parents are undocumented. This can cause them to feel isolated and develop a sense of inferiority which can negatively impact their academic performance.

Stress

Despite the struggles Hispanic families encounter, they have found ways to keep motivated. Many immigrants use religion as a source of motivation. Mexican immigrants believed that the difficulties they face are a part of God's bigger plan and believe their life will get better in the end. They kept their faith strong and pray every day, hoping that God will keep their families safe.Hinojos, B.(2013). Stressors and Coping Strategies of Undocumented Latinos in Therapy. Public Access Theses and Dissertations from the College of Education and Human Sciences. Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1189&context=cehsdiss Immigrants participate in church services and bond with other immigrants that share the same experiences. Undocumented Hispanics also find support from friends, family and the community that serve as coping mechanisms. Some Hispanics state that their children are the reason they have the strength to keep on going. They want their children to have a future and give them things they are not able to have themselves. The community is able to provide certain resources that immigrant families need such as tutoring for their children, financial assistance and counseling services. Some identified that maintaining a positive mental attitude helped them cope with the stresses they experience. Many immigrants refuse to live their life in constant fear which leads to depression in order to enjoy life in the United States. Since many immigrants have unstable sources of income, many plan ahead in order to prevent future financial stress. They put money aside and find ways to save money instead of spend it such as learning to fix appliances themselves.

Poverty

Many Hispanic families migrate to find better economic opportunities in order to send remittances back home. Being undocumented limits the possibilities of jobs that immigrants undertake and many struggle to find a stable job. Many Hispanics report that companies turned them down because they do not have a Social Security number. If they are able to obtain a job, immigrants risk losing it if their employer finds out they are unable to provide proof of residency or citizenship. Many look towards agencies that do not ask for identification, but those jobs are often unreliable. In order to prevent themselves from being detained and deported, many have to work under exploitation. In a study, a participant reported "If someone knows that you don't have the papers ... that person is a danger. Many people will con them ... if they know you don't have the papers, with everything they say 'hey I'm going to call immigration on you.'". These conditions lower the income that Hispanic families bring to their household and some find living each day very difficult. When an undocumented parent is deported or detained, income will be lowered significantly if the other parent also supports the family financially. The parent who is left has to look after the family and might find working difficult to manage along with other responsibilities. Even if families aren't separated, Hispanics are constantly living in fear that they will lose their economic footing.

Living in poverty has been linked to depression, low self-esteem, loneliness, crime activities and frequent drug use among youth. Families with low incomes are unable to afford adequate housing and some of them are evicted. The environment in which the children of undocumented immigrants grow up in is often composed of poor air quality, noise, and toxins which prevent healthy development. Furthermore, these neighborhoods are prone to violence and gang activities, forcing the families to live in constant fear which can contribute to the development of PTSD, aggression and depression.

Economic outlook

Median income

In 2017, the US Census reported the median household incomes of Hispanic Americans to be $50,486. This is the third consecutive annual increase in median household income for Hispanic-origin households.

Poverty

According to the US Census, the poverty rate