View source for Mexican Americans

{{Short description|Americans of Mexican ancestry}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Mexican Americans
| native_name      = {{lang|es|Mexicano-estadounidenses}}
| pop              = '''10,918,205''' (by birth, 2021)<ref name=ACS-B05006-2023>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?t=Place%20of%20Birth&tid=ACSDT1Y2023.B05006&hidePreview=false&vintage=2023|title=B05006 PLACE OF BIRTH FOR THE FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION IN THE UNITED STATES – 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates|date=July 1, 2023|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=February 22, 2025}}</ref><br />
'''37,991,500''' (by ancestry, 2023)<ref name=ACS-B03001-2023>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=B03001&tid=ACSDT1Y2023.B03001|title=B03001 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN – United States – 2022 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates|date=July 1, 2023|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=January 3, 2024}}</ref><br /> 11.3% of the U.S. population (2023)<ref name=ACS-B03001-2023/>
| regions          = {{hlist|California (Los Angeles | [[San Francisco Bay Area|Bay Area]] | [[San Diego]] | [[Inland Empire]] | [[Central Valley (California)|Central Valley]] | [[Salinas Valley]])|Texas ([[El Paso]] | [[Greater Houston|Houston]] | [[Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex|DFW]] | [[San Antonio]] | [[Austin, Texas|Austin]] | [[Lower Rio Grande Valley|Rio Grande Valley]]) |Southwestern United States<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6qnuDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA53|page=53|title=Race, Ethnicity, and Place in a Changing America, Third Edition|isbn=978-1-4384-6329-2|last1=Frazier|first1=John W.|last2=Tettey-Fio|first2=Eugene L.|last3=Henry|first3=Norah F.|date=29 December 2016|publisher=SUNY Press}}</ref> (Arizona|New Mexico|[[Las Vegas Valley]]) | Illinois ([[Chicago metropolitan area|Chicago area]] |[[Southern Illinois]])|Colorado<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xv5ivm13_0oC&pg=PA334|page=334|title=The Rocky Mountain Region|isbn=978-0-313-32817-6|last1=Newby|first1=Rick|year=2004|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic}}</ref> Oklahoma | |Northwestern United States (especially [[Eastern Washington]] and [[Salem, Oregon|Salem, OR]])<ref>{{cite web|last1=Gutiérrez|first1=Verónica F.|last2=Wallace|first2=Steven P.|last3=Castañeda|first3=Xóchitl|title=Demographic Profile of Mexican Immigrants in the United States|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242491308|publisher=UCLA Center for Health Policy Research|date=October 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wTGeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA137|page=137|title=Geopolitics: The Geography of International Relations|isbn=978-1-4422-2351-6|last1=Cohen|first1=Saul Bernard|date=25 November 2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield}}</ref>| New York ([[New York metropolitan area|New York City area]]|[[Western New York]]<ref>{{cite web|last1=Zong|first1=Jie|last2=Batalova|first2=Jeanne|title=Mexican Immigrants in the United States|url=https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/mexican-immigrants-united-states-2017|publisher=Migration Policy Institute|date=October 5, 2018}}</ref>  }})
(also growing/emerging populations in {{hlist|[[Southeastern United States|Southeast]] (Georgia| North Carolina|Florida| Arkansas)<ref>{{cite book|title=Latinos in a Changing Society|page=59|isbn=978-0-275-96233-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l-zana4dIAYC&dq=%22mexicans%22+texas+georgia+illinois&pg=PA59|last1=Montero-Sieburth|first1=Martha|last2=Meléndez|first2=Edwin|year=2007|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic}}</ref>}}
| languages        = {{hlist|[[Mexican Spanish]]|[[American English]]|[[Spanglish]]|[[Languages of Mexico|Indigenous Mexican languages]]|[[Spanish language in the United States|US Spanish]]|[[Chicano English]]|[[Caló (Chicano)|Caló]]}}<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tpuzWpZQr0AC&pg=PA92|title= Mexican Americans and Language: Del Dicho Al Hecho|page=92|isbn= 978-0-8165-2374-0|last1= Mart'Nez|first1= Glenn A.|date= 6 April 2006|publisher= University of Arizona Press}}</ref>
| religions        = '''Majority'''<br />[[Catholic Church in the United States|Catholicism]], [[Irreligion]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2023/04/13/among-u-s-latinos-catholicism-continues-to-decline-but-is-still-the-largest-faith/#:~:text=As%20of%202022%2C%2043%25%20of,down%20from%2067%25%20in%202010|title=Among U.S. Latinos, Catholicism Continues to Decline but is Still the Largest Faith|date=13 April 2023}}
</ref><br />'''Minority'''<br /> [[Protestantism]], [[Evangelical Christianity]], [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], [[Islam]], [[Aztec religion]], [[Judaism]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UH08EAAAQBAJ&q=%22mexican+americans%22+religions|title=Mexican American Religions: An Introduction|isbn=978-1-000-44152-9 |last1=Hendrickson |first1=Brett |date=30 September 2021 |publisher=Routledge }}</ref>
| related_groups   = Hispanos ([[Californios]], [[Neomexicanos]], [[Tejanos]], [[Floridanos]]), [[Chicano]]s, [[Afro-Mexicans]], [[Blaxican]]s, [[Indigenous Mexican Americans]], [[Native Americans in the United States]], [[Hispanic and Latino Americans]], [[Punjabi Mexican Americans]]
| image            = File:Americans with Mexican Ancestry by state.svg
| image_caption    = Percent of population of Mexican descent in 2010<ref name="Multicultural America">{{cite book|doi=10.4135/9781452276274.n570|chapter=Mexican Americans|title=Multicultural America: A Multimedia Encyclopedia|year=2013|last1=García|first1=Justin|isbn=978-1-4522-1683-6|s2cid=153137775}}</ref>
}}
{{Chicano and Mexican American topics sidebar|state=collapsed}}
{{Hispanic and Latino Americans|state=collapsed}}

'''Mexican Americans''' are [[Americans]] of full or partial [[Mexico|Mexican]] descent.<ref name="Dictionary.com">{{cite web|title=Mexican american|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/mexican-american|website=Dictionary.com|quote=a citizen or resident of the U.S. of Mexican birth or descent; Chicano}}</ref> In 2022, Mexican Americans made up 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all [[Hispanic and Latino Americans]].<ref name=ACS-B03001-2022>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=B03001&tid=ACSDT1Y2022.B03001|title=B03001 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN – United States – 2022 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates|date=July 1, 2022|publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref> In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United States.<ref name=ACS-B05006-2019>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?t=Place%20of%20Birth&tid=ACSDT1Y2019.B05006&hidePreview=false&vintage=2019|title=B05006 PLACE OF BIRTH FOR THE FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION IN THE UNITED STATES – 2019 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates|date=July 1, 2019|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=February 4, 2021}}</ref> Mexicans born outside the US make up 53% of the total population of foreign-born Hispanic Americans and 25% of the total foreign-born population.<ref name=invsn/> '''[[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 [[Mexicans|Mexican community]] in the world (24% of the entire [[emigration from Mexico|Mexican-origin population of the world]]), behind only Mexico.<ref name="NHS2011">{{cite web|date=2013-05-08|title=National Household Survey (NHS) Profile, 2011|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=PR&Code1=01&Data=Count&SearchText=Canada&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&A1=All&B1=All&Custom=&TABID=1|access-date=2014-03-24|publisher=2.statcan.gc.ca}}</ref> 

Most Mexican Americans reside in [[Southwestern United States|the Southwest]], with more than 60% of Mexican Americans living in the states of California and Texas.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-04.pdf|title=Table 4. Top Five States for Detailed Hispanic or Latino Origin Groups With a Population Size of One Million or More in the United States: 2010|work=The Hispanic Population 2010|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=22 May 2012}}</ref><ref name="gale encyclopedia">{{cite web|url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=OVIC&u=live10669&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CCX3662200089&inPS=true&linkSource=interlink&sid=bookmark-OVIC|title=Gale – Product Login}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Gallardo|first=Miguel E.|title=Chicano|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chicano|access-date=26 June 2020|website=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref><ref name="Montoya-2016">{{cite book|last=Montoya|first=Maceo|url=https://archive.org/details/chicanomovementf0000mont/page/3|title=Chicano Movement For Beginners|publisher=For Beginners|year=2016|isbn=978-1-939994-64-6|pages=[https://archive.org/details/chicanomovementf0000mont/page/3 3–5]}}</ref><ref name="Borunda-2020">{{cite journal|last1=Borunda|first1=Rose|last2=Martinez|first2=Lorena Magdalena|title=Strategies for Defusing Contemporary Weapons in the Ongoing War Against Xicanx Children and Youth|journal=Contemporary School Psychology|date=September 2020|volume=24|issue=3|pages=266–278|doi=10.1007/s40688-020-00312-x|s2cid=225409343}}</ref><ref name="Zepeda-2020">{{cite journal|last1=Zepeda|first1=Susy|title=Decolonizing Xicana/x Studies: Healing the Susto of De-indigenization|journal=	Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies|date=15 March 2020|volume=45|issue=1|pages=225–242|doi=10.1525/azt.2020.45.1.225|s2cid=267016181|url=https://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/csrc/aztlan/2020/00000045/00000001/art00015}}</ref> They have varying degrees of [[Indigenous peoples of Mexico|indigenous]] and [[White Mexicans|European]] ancestry, with the latter being of mostly Spanish origins.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/mexican-americans|title=TSHA &#124; Mexican Americans}}</ref> Those of indigenous ancestry descend from one or more of the over 60 indigenous groups in Mexico (approximately 200,000 people in California alone).<ref>{{cite web|last=Cengel|first=Katya|date=June 25, 2013|title=The Other Mexicans|url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/06/130624-mexico-mixteco-indigenous-immigration-spanish-culture/|access-date=2019-06-01|work=National Geographic|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710104524/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/06/130624-mexico-mixteco-indigenous-immigration-spanish-culture/|archive-date=10 July 2018}}</ref> 

It is estimated that approximately 10% of the current Mexican-American population are descended from residents of the Spanish Empire and later Mexico, which preceded the [[Mexican Cession|acquisition of their territories by the United States]]; such groups include [[Hispanos of New Mexico|New Mexican Hispanos]], [[Tejanos]] of Texas, and [[Californios]]. They became US citizens in 1848 through the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]], which ended the [[Mexican–American War]]. Mexicans living in the United States after the treaty was signed were forced to choose between keeping their Mexican citizenship or becoming a US citizen. Few chose to leave their homes, despite the changes in national government.<ref name="Multicultural America"/> The majority of these [[Hispanophone]] populations eventually [[American English|adopted English]] as their first language and became [[Americanization|Americanized]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Mexican Americans – MSN Encarta|url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761587500_1/Mexican_Americans.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619011021/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761587500_1/Mexican_Americans.html|archive-date=June 19, 2009}}</ref> Also called Hispanos, these descendants of independent Mexico from the early-to-middle 19th century differentiate themselves culturally from the population of Mexican Americans whose ancestors arrived in the American Southwest after the [[Mexican Revolution]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.drclas.harvard.edu/revista/articles/view/577|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430234919/http://www.drclas.harvard.edu/revista/articles/view/577|title=Contested Landscapes|archive-date=30 April 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nmculturenet.org/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006190603/http://www.nmculturenet.org/heritage/cuartocentenario/spanish_view.php|title=김프로의 건강 관리법 – 건강과 웰빙에 대한 블로그|date=19 February 2024|archive-date=6 October 2007}}</ref> The number of Mexican immigrants in the United States has sharply risen in recent decades.<ref>{{Cite report|title=The Evolution of the Mexican-Born Workforce in the United States|last1=Borjas|first1=George|last2=Katz|first2=Lawrence|date=April 2005|publisher=National Bureau of Economic Research|location=Cambridge, MA|doi=10.3386/w11281}}</ref>

==History of Mexican Americans==
{{main|History of Mexican Americans}}
[[File:All the Way to the Bay mural in Chicano Park.JPG|thumb|right|Mural in [[Chicano Park]], San Diego, stating "All the way to the Bay"]]
[[File:Arrival of the caravan at Santa Fe, c. 1844.jpg|thumb|''Arrival of the caravan at Santa Fe the [[Santa Fe Trail]],'' lithograph published {{circa|1844}}]]

In 1900, there were slightly more than 500,000 [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanics]] of Mexican Descent living in New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, California, and Texas.<ref>{{cite web|author=Population Reference Bureau|url=http://www.prb.org/Articles/2004/LatinosandtheChangingFaceofAmerica.aspx|title=Latinos and the Changing Face of America – Population Reference Bureau|publisher=Prb.org|date=2013-11-13|access-date=2014-01-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519161150/http://www.prb.org/Articles/2004/LatinosandtheChangingFaceofAmerica.aspx|archive-date=2012-05-19}}</ref> Most were [[Mestizo]] Mexican Americans of Spanish and Indigenous descent, Spanish settlers, other Hispanicized European settlers who settled in the Southwest during Spanish colonial times, as well as local and Mexican Amerindians.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VxnOEAAAQBAJ|title=Multicultural America: An Encyclopedia of the Newest Americans [4 volumes]|isbn=979-8-216-11993-7|last1=Bayor|first1=Ronald H.|date=22 July 2011|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA}}</ref>

As early as 1813, some of the [[Tejano]]s who colonized Texas in the Spanish Colonial Period established a government in Texas that desired independence from Spanish-ruled Mexico. In those days, there was no concept of identity as Mexican. Many Mexicans were more loyal to their states/provinces than to their country as a whole, which was a Viceroyalty and part of Spain. This was particularly true in frontier regions such as [[Zacatecas]], [[Coahuila y Tejas|Texas]], [[Yucatan Peninsula|Yucatán]], [[Oaxaca]], [[Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico|New Mexico]], etc.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/war/borderlands_on_the_eve.html|title=The U.S.-Mexican War: War (1846–1848): The Borderlands on the Eve of War|publisher=[[PBS]]|date=2006-03-14|access-date=2014-01-06}}</ref>

As shown by the writings of colonial Tejanos such as [[Antonio Menchaca]], the [[Texas Revolution]] was initially a colonial Tejano cause. Mexico encouraged immigration from the United States to settle east Texas and, by 1831, [[Anglo-Americans|English-speaking]] settlers outnumbered Tejanos ten to one in the region. Both groups were settled mostly in the eastern part of the territory.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/alamo/timeline/timeline2.html|title=American Experience &#124; Remember the Alamo &#124; Timeline|publisher=PBS|date=2004-01-30|access-date=2014-01-06}}</ref> The Mexican government became concerned about the increasing volume of Anglo-American immigration and restricted the number of settlers from the United States allowed to enter Texas. 

Consistent with its abolition of slavery, the Mexican government banned slavery within the state, which angered American slave owners.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dissidentvoice.org/April2004/Felux0408.htm|title=(DV) Felux: Remember the Alamo?|publisher=Dissidentvoice.org|access-date=2014-01-06}}</ref> The American settlers, along with many of the Tejano, rebelled against the centralized authority of [[Mexico City]] and the [[General Santa Anna|Santa Anna]] regime, while other Tejano remained loyal to Mexico, and still others were neutral.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ENPUSvf4Z3EC&pg=PA41|title=Las Tejanas: 300 Years of History – Teresa Palomo Acosta, Ruthe Winegarten – Google Boeken|access-date=2014-01-06|isbn=978-0-292-78448-2|last1=Acosta|first1=Teresa Palomo|last2=Winegarten|first2=Ruthe|date=2010-01-01|publisher=University of Texas Press}}</ref><ref>[http://bexargenealogy.com/Tejanos.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009202911/http://bexargenealogy.com/Tejanos.html|date=October 9, 2007}}</ref>

Author John P. Schmal wrote of the effect Texas independence had on the Tejano community:
<blockquote>
A native of San Antonio, [[Juan Seguín]] is probably the most famous Tejano to be involved in the War of Texas Independence. His story is complex because he joined the Anglo rebels and helped defeat the Mexican forces of Santa Anna. But later on, as Mayor of San Antonio, he and other Tejano felt the hostile encroachments of the growing Anglo power against them. After receiving a series of death threats, Seguín relocated his family in Mexico. He was coerced into military service and fought against the US in 1846–1848 Mexican–American War.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.houstonculture.org/hispanic/alamo.html|title=The Hispanic Experience – Tejanos in the Texas Revolution|publisher=Houstonculture.org|access-date=2014-01-06}}</ref>

Although the events of 1836 led to independence for the people of Texas, the Latino population of the state was very quickly disenfranchised, to the extent that their political representation in the Texas State Legislature disappeared entirely for several decades.</blockquote>

As a Spanish colony, the territory of California also had an established population of colonial settlers. [[Californios]] is the term for the Spanish-speaking residents of modern-day California; they were the original Mexicans (regardless of race) and local Hispanicized Amerindians in the region ([[Alta California]]) before the United States acquired it as a territory. In the mid-19th century, more settlers from the United States began to enter the territory.<ref>[https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/5views/5views5.htm An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California (Mexican Americans)]</ref>

In California, Mexican settlement had begun in 1769 with the establishment of the Presidio and Catholic mission of San Diego. 20 more missions were established along the California coast by 1823, along with military Presidios and civilian communities. Settlers in California tended to stay close to the coast and outside the California interior. The California economy was based on agriculture and livestock. In contrast to central New Spain, coastal colonists found little mineral wealth. Some became farmers or ranchers, working for themselves on their own land or for other colonists. Government officials, priests, soldiers, and artisans settled in towns, missions, and presidios.<ref name="Pitti, Jose 1988 p.207">Pitti, Jose (1988). ''A History of Mexican Americans in California.'' State of California, Department of Parks and Recreation. p.207.</ref>

One of the most important events in the history of Mexican settlers in California occurred in 1833, when the Mexican Government secularized the missions. In effect this meant that the government took control of large and vast areas of land. The government eventually distributed these lands among the elite of the population in the form of Ranchos, which soon became the basic socio-economic units of the province.<ref name="Pitti, Jose 1988 p.207"/>

Relations between Californios and English-speaking settlers were relatively good until 1846, when military officer [[John C. Fremont]] arrived in Alta California with a United States force of 60 men on an exploratory expedition. Fremont made an agreement with Comandante Castro that he would stay in the [[San Joaquin Valley]] only for the winter, then move north to Oregon. However, Fremont remained in the [[Santa Clara Valley]] then headed towards [[Monterey]]. When Castro demanded that Fremont leave Alta California, Fremont rode to [[Fremont Peak (California)|Gavilan Peak]], raised a US flag and vowed to fight to the last man to defend it. After three days of tension, Fremont retreated to Oregon without a shot being fired.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oi8-7neoAQ8C&q=%22mexican+americans%22+history%C2%A0Presidio+of+Sonoma|title=Mexicanos: A History of Mexicans in the United States|author=Manuel G. Gonzales|date=20 August 2009 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-22125-4 }}</ref>

With relations between Californios and Americans quickly souring, Fremont returned to Alta California, where he encouraged European-American settlers to seize a group of Castro's soldiers and their horses. Another group seized the [[Presidio of Sonoma]] and captured Mariano Vallejo.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g6fOEAAAQBAJ&dq=history+of+californios+mexicans+Presidio+of+Sonoma+and+captured+Mariano+Vallejo.&pg=PA201|title=Imperialism and Expansionism in American History|isbn=978-1-61069-430-8 |last1=Magoc |first1=Chris J. |last2=Bernstein |first2=David |date=14 December 2015 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA }}</ref>

[[File:SACC Nima.jpg|thumb|left|The Henry B. González Convention Center and Lila Cockrell Theater along the San Antonio River Walk.  The [[Tower of the Americas]] is visible in the background.]]
The Americans chose [[William B. Ide]] as Commander in Chief and on July 5, 1846, he proclaimed the creation of the [[Bear Flag Republic]]. On July 9, US military forces reached Sonoma; they lowered the Bear Flag Republic's flag, replacing it with a US flag. Californios organized an army to defend themselves from invading American forces after the Mexican army retreated from Alta California to defend other parts of Mexico.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.history.com/articles/bear-flag-revolt|title=Bear Flag Revolt|date=9 November 2009 }}</ref>

The Californios defeated an American force in Los Angeles on September 30, 1846. In turn, they were defeated after the Americans reinforced their forces in what is now southern California. Tens of thousands of miners and associated people arrived during the [[California gold rush]], and their activities in some areas meant the end of the Californios' ranching lifestyle. Many of the English-speaking 49ers turned from mining to farming and moved, often illegally, onto land granted to Californios by the former Mexican government.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldrush/peopleevents/p_coronel.html|title=American Experience &#124; The Gold Rush &#124; People & Events|publisher=PBS|date=2006-09-13|access-date=2014-01-06|archive-date=2013-12-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131218053812/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldrush/peopleevents/p_coronel.html}}</ref>

The United States had first come into conflict with Mexico in the 1830s, as the westward spread of United States settlements and of slavery brought significant numbers of new settlers into the region known as Tejas (modern-day Texas), then part of Mexico. The [[Mexican–American War]], followed by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 and the [[Gadsden Purchase]] in 1853, extended US control over a wide range of territory once held by Mexico, including the present-day borders of Texas and the states of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and California.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/treaty-of-guadalupe-hidalgo|title=Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)|date=25 June 2021|website=National Archives|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>

[[File:Mural LA Central Library.jpg|right|thumb|An example of a Chicano-themed mural in the [[Richard Riordan Central Library]]]]
Although the treaty promised that the landowners in this newly acquired territory would have their property rights preserved and protected as if they were citizens of the United States, many former citizens of Mexico lost their land in lawsuits before state and federal courts over terms of land grants, or as a result of legislation passed after the treaty.<ref name="autogenerated8">{{cite web|url=http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?content_spotlight/cinco/hispanic|title=World Book Encyclopedia|publisher=Worldbook.com|access-date=2014-01-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090421210323/http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?content_spotlight%2Fcinco%2Fhispanic|archive-date=2009-04-21}}</ref> Even those statutes which Congress passed to protect the owners of property at the time of the extension of the United States' borders, such as the 1851 California Land Act, had the effect of dispossessing Californio owners. They were ruined by the cost over years of having to maintain litigation to support their land titles.<!--why – what provisions of this act? -->

Following the concession of California to the United States under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexicans were repeatedly targeted by legislation that targeted their socio-economic standing in the area. One significant instance of this is exemplified by the passage of legislation that placed the heaviest tax burden on land. The fact that there was such a heavy tax on land was important to the socio-economic standing of Mexican Americans, because it essentially limited their ability to retain possession of the Ranchos that had been originally granted to them by the Mexican government.<ref name="Pitti, Jose 1988 p.207" />

===19th-century and Early 20th-century Mexican migration===
[[File:TMP D155 Residences of peons.jpg|thumb|left|The first Mexican ''[[bracero]]s'' arrived in California in 1917.]]

In the late nineteenth century, liberal Mexican president [[Porfirio Díaz]] embarked on a program of economic modernization that triggered not only a wave of internal migration in Mexico from rural areas to cities, but also Mexican emigration to the United States. A railway network was constructed that connected central Mexico to the US border and also opened up previously isolated regions. The second factor was the shift in land tenure that left Mexican peasants without title or access to land for farming on their own account.<ref>Martín Valadez, "Migration: To the United States", in ''Encyclopedia of Mexico'', vol. 2, p. 890. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997.</ref> 
[[File:Adobe house in the Sonora Town neighborhood of Los Angeles, ca. 1920s.jpg|thumb|Deteriorating [[adobe]] homes in [[Sonoratown]], 1920s.]]

For the first time, Mexicans in increasing numbers migrated north into the United States for better economic opportunities. In the early 20th century, the first main period of migration to the United States happened between the 1910s to the 1920s, referred to as the Great Migration.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Garip|first1=Filiz|title=On the Move: Changing Mechanisms of Mexico-US Migration|date=2017|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|pages=Introduction & Chapter 1}}</ref> During this time period the [[Mexican Revolution]] was taking place, creating turmoil within and against the Mexican government causing civilians to seek out economic and political stability in the United States. Over 1.3 million Mexicans relocated to the United States from 1910 well into the 1930s, with significant increases each decade.<ref name="auto"/> Many of these immigrants found agricultural work, being contracted under private laborers.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Zong|first1=Jie|title=Mexican Immigrants in the United States|url=https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/mexican-immigrants-united-states|publisher=Migration Policy Institute|date=March 17, 2016}}</ref>

During the [[Great Depression]] in the 1930s, many Mexicans and Mexican Americans were repatriated to Mexico. Many deportations were overseen by state and local authorities who acted on the encouragement of Secretary of Labor [[William N. Doak]] and the Department of Labor.<ref name="Hoffman-1974">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GKYr2bRqlxMC|title=Unwanted Mexican Americans in the Great Depression: Repatriation Pressures, 1929–1939|last=Hoffman|first=Abraham|date=1974-01-01|publisher=VNR AG|isbn=978-0-8165-0366-7}}</ref> The government deported at least 82,000 people.<ref name="gratton"/> Between 355,000 and 1,000,000 were repatriated or deported to Mexico in total; approximately forty to sixty percent of those repatriated were [[Birthright citizenship in the United States|birthright citizens]] – overwhelmingly children.<ref name="gratton"/><ref name="Balderrama-2006">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1A6iBy_0qacC|title=Decade of Betrayal: Mexican Repatriation in the 1930s|last1=Balderrama|first1=Francisco E.|last2=Rodriguez|page=330|first2=Raymond|date=2006-01-01|publisher=[[University of New Mexico Press]]|isbn=978-0-8263-3973-7}}</ref> Voluntary repatriation was much more common during the repatriations than formal deportation.<ref name="gratton"/><ref name="Rosales-2007">{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Byza6YM2bukC|title=The Praeger Handbook of Latino Education in the U.S.|last=Rosales|first=F. Arturo|date=2007-01-01|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-33830-4|editor-last=Soto|editor-first=Lourdes Diaz|pages=400–403|chapter=Repatriation of Mexicans from the US}}</ref> According to legal professor Kevin R. Johnson, the repatriation campaign was based on ethnicity and meets the modern legal standards of [[ethnic cleansing]], because it frequently ignored individuals' citizenship.<ref name="johnson">{{cite news|url=http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1147&context=plr|title=The Forgotten Repatriation of Persons of Mexican Ancestry and Lessons for the War on Terror|last=Johnson|first=Kevin|date=Fall 2005|publisher=Pace Law Review|issue=1|location=Davis, CA|volume=26}}</ref>

The second period of increased migration is known as the Bracero Era from 1942 to 1964. This referred to the [[Bracero program]] implemented by the United States beginning in World War II. They contracted agricultural labor from Mexico due to labor shortages from the [[World War II]] draft. An estimated 4.6&nbsp;million Mexican immigrants were pulled into the United States through the Bracero Program from the 1940s to the 1960s.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Garip|first1=Filiz|title=On the Move: Changing Mechanisms of Mexico-US Migration|date=2017|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=22}}</ref> The lack of agricultural laborers due to increases in military drafts for World War II opened up a chronic need for 
low-wage workers to fill jobs.

=== Late 20th century to early 21st century ===
[[File:2013,_A_Walk_in_Old_Town_Albuquerque_-_panoramio.jpg|thumb|left|A Walk in [[Old Town Albuquerque]] in New Mexico]]

While Mexican Americans are concentrated in the [[Southwestern United States|Southwest]]: California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, during [[World War I]] many moved to industrial communities such as [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]], Chicago, Detroit, [[Cleveland]], [[Pittsburgh]], and other steel-producing regions, where they gained industrial jobs. Like European immigrants, they were attracted to work that did not require proficiency in English. Industrial restructuring in the second half of the century put many Mexican Americans out of work in addition to people of other ethnic groups. Their industrial skills were not as useful in the changing economies of these areas.<ref>[https://repository.arizona.edu/bitstream/handle/10150/624803/pmas_02.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Mexicans in the Midwest – University of Arizona]</ref>

[[File:LA_Plaza_de_Cultura_y_Artes,_Los_Angeles,_California_(14523832122).jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes]] ]]

The [[Delano grape strike]] was influenced by the [[Filipino Americans|Filipino-American]] farm worker strike in Coachella Valley, May 1965. Migrant Filipino-American workers asked for a $0.15/hour raise.<ref>{{cite web|last=Janos|first=Adam|title=When Grapes Became America's Most Controversial Fruit|url=https://www.history.com/news/delano-grape-strike-united-farm-workers-filipinos|access-date=2020-11-09|website=HISTORY|language=en}}</ref>

The 1965 [[Delano grape strike]], sparked by mostly [[Filipino Americans|Filipino American]] farmworkers, became an [[intersectionality|intersectional]] struggle when labor leaders and [[voting rights]] and [[civil rights]] activists [[Dolores Huerta]], founder of the National Farm Workers Association, and her co-leader [[César Chávez]] united with the strikers to form the [[United Farm Workers]]. Huerta's slogan "[[Sí, se puede]]" (Spanish for "Yes we can"), was popularized by Chávez's fast. It became a rallying cry for the [[Chicano Movement]] or Mexican-American civil rights movement. The Chicano movement aimed for a variety of [[civil rights in the United States|civil rights]] reforms and was inspired by the [[civil rights movement]]; demands ranged from the restoration of land grants to farm workers' rights, to enhanced education, to voting and political rights, as well as emerging awareness of collective history. The [[East L.A. walkouts|Chicano walkouts]] of [[Vietnam War|antiwar students]] is traditionally seen as the start of the more radical phase of the Chicano movement.<ref name="makers_hof">{{cite web|date=October 5, 2015|title=Meet the 20 MAKERS Inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame|url=http://www.makers.com/blog/makers-inducted-national-womens-hall-fame|access-date=31 May 2017|publisher=Makers|archive-date=26 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326153357/http://www.makers.com/blog/makers-inducted-national-womens-hall-fame}}</ref><ref name="adelante">{{cite web|title=Dolores Huerta|url=http://action.theadelantemovement.com/legends/Dolores_Huerta/|access-date=31 May 2017|publisher=The Adelante Movement|archive-date=20 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320105851/http://action.theadelantemovement.com/legends/Dolores_Huerta/}}</ref>

Mexican Americans were found to place more importance on social and economic issues than they do on immigration. Those who are not citizens care considerably more about social issues. Both citizens and noncitizens identify ethnic issues as the key problem that Mexican Americans face, highlighting the need for stronger community and political organization.<ref>de la Garza, Rodolfo O. "Interests Not Passions: Mexican-American Attitudes toward Mexico, Immigration from Mexico, and Other Issues Shaping U.S.-Mexico Relations." ''The International Migration Review'', vol. 32, no. 2, 1998, pp. 401–22. ''JSTOR'', {{doi|10.2307/2547189}}. Accessed 6 December 2023.</ref>

Since there were not many job opportunities in their country, Mexicans moved to the United States to gain work. They often had to settle for low-paying jobs, including as agricultural workers.<ref name="gale encyclopedia"/>

[[File:Trends of Mexican Migration to United States 1900-2016.png|thumb|Trend of Mexican migration to the United States. Here the term immigrant refers to those who were not born in the United States but are now currently residing in the United States. This can include naturalized US citizens, legal permanent residents, employees and students on visas, and those in the country illegally.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|title=Mexican-Born Population Over Time, 1850–Present.|url=http://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/charts/mexican-born-population-over-time?width=1000&height=850&iframe=true|publisher=Migration Policy Institute|date=2013-08-14}}</ref>]]

During this period, civil rights groups such as the [[National Mexican-American Anti-Defamation Committee]] were founded.  By the early 21st century, the states with the largest percentages and populations of Mexican Americans are California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Nevada and Utah. There have also been markedly increasing populations in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Illinois.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/|title=Census Bureau Home Page|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=2014-01-06}}</ref>

In terms of religion, Mexican Americans are primarily [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]], which was largely established in culture during the Spanish and Mexican periods.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/05/27/mexicans-and-dominicans-more-catholic-than-most-hispanics/|title=Mexicans, Dominicans are more Catholic than most other Hispanics|first=Jens Manuel|last=Krogstad|date=27 May 2014|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref> A large minority are [[Protestantism|Evangelical Protestants]]. Notably, according to a Pew Hispanic Center report in 2006 and the Pew Religious Landscape Survey in 2008, Mexican Americans are significantly less likely than other Latino groups to abandon Catholicism for Protestant churches.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewhispanic.org/2007/04/25/changing-faiths-latinos-and-the-transformation-of-american-religion-2006-hispanic-religion-survey/|title=Changing Faiths: Latinos and the Transformation of American Religion (2006 Hispanic Religion Survey) &#124; Pew Hispanic Center|publisher=Pewhispanic.org|access-date=2014-01-06|date=2007-04-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://religions.pewforum.org/pdf/report-religious-landscape-study-full.pdf|title=U.S. Religious Landscape Survey: Religious Affiliation, Diverse and Dynamic, February 2008 &#124; Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life|publisher=Pewforum.org|access-date=2014-10-16}}</ref>

In 2008, "Yes We Can" (in Spanish: ''"[[Sí, se puede]]"'') was adopted as the 2008 [[:Yes We Can (slogan)|campaign slogan]] of Senator [[Barack Obama]]. His [[2008 United States presidential election|election]] in 2008 and [[2012 United States presidential election|reelection]] in 2012 as the first [[African Americans|African American]] president depended in part on the growing importance of the Mexican American vote.<ref name="Villarreal-2014">{{cite journal|last=Villarreal|first=Andrés|date=December 2014|title=Explaining the Decline in Mexico-U.S. Migration: The Effect of the Great Recession|journal=Demography|volume=51|issue=6|pages=2203–2228|doi=10.1007/s13524-014-0351-4|pmc=4252712|pmid=25407844}}</ref> 

The struggle of presidents of both Democratic and Republican administrations to solve [[immigration reform in the United States]] has led in part to an increased polarization in the nation over an increasingly diverse population. Mexican Americans have increasingly settled in areas other than traditional centers in the Southwest and Chicago.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OYc5zzuTmoEC&dq=Mexican+Americans+have+settled+in+areas+in+the+Southwest+and+Chicago+mexican+immigration&pg=PA34|title=Mexican American and Immigrant Poverty in the United States|page=34|isbn=978-94-007-0539-5|last1=Garcia|first1=Ginny|date=27 January 2011|publisher=Springer}}</ref>

Most Mexican [[Romani people|Roma]] came to the United States from Argentina.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Carey|first1=Lydia|title=Romani Heritage: A Glimpse into Mexico's Misunderstood Gypsy Community|url=https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/mexico/articles/romani-heritage-a-glimpse-into-mexicos-misunderstood-gypsy-community/|website=Culture Trip|date=February 21, 2018}}</ref> In 2015, the United States admitted 157,227 Mexican immigrants,<ref>[https://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/yearbook/2015/table2 Department of Homeland Security: "2015 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics"] 2015</ref> and as of November 2016, 1.31&nbsp;million Mexicans were on the waiting list to immigrate to the United States through legal means.<ref>{{cite web|title=U.S. State Department: "Annual Report of Immigrant Visa Applicants in the Family-sponsored and Employment-based preferences Registered at the National Visa Center as of November 1, 2016|url=https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-Statistics/WaitingListItem.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010030304/https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-Statistics/WaitingListItem.pdf|archive-date=10 October 2017|access-date=7 October 2017|website=Travel.state.gov}}</ref>
A 2014 survey showed that 34% of Mexicans would immigrate to the United States if given the opportunity, with 17% saying they would do it illegally.<ref>{{cite web|first=Rafael|last=Romo|date=2014-08-27|title=Third of Mexicans would migrate to U.S., survey finds|url=https://www.cnn.com/2014/08/27/world/americas/mexico-immigration-survey/index.html|access-date=2021-01-23|website=CNN Digital|language=en}}</ref>

==Race and ethnicity==
{{main|Mexicans}}
[[File:Mariachi Plaza (5399467849).jpg|thumb|left|alt=Mariachi Plaza|[[Mariachi]] bands, who are available for hire, wait at the [[Mariachi Plaza]] in Los Angeles.]]

Racially, Mexican Americans are a diverse population made up primarily of [[Indigenous peoples in Mexico|Indigenous]] and [[White Mexicans|European]] ancestry, along with [[Afro-Mexicans|African]]. Also on a smaller scale, some also have backgrounds of East Asian and Middle Eastern descent (mainly Lebanese). The majority of the Mexican population identifies as [[mestizo]]. In colonial times, Mestizo was understood to be a person of mixed heritage, particularly European and Native American.<ref>{{cite book|title=Race and Classification: The Case of Mexican America}}</ref>

The meaning of the word has changed through time, and in the early 21st century, it is used to refer to the segment of the Mexican population who are of at least partial Indigenous ancestry, but do not speak [[Languages of Mexico|Indigenous languages]].<ref name="EL MESTIZAJE Y LAS CULTURAS REGIONALES">{{cite web|last1=Navarrete|first1=Federico|title=El Mestizaje Y Las Culturas Regionales|url=http://www.nacionmulticultural.unam.mx/Portal/Izquierdo/BANCO/Mxmulticultural/Elmestizajeylasculturas-elmestizaje.html|publisher=Programa Universitario México Nacion|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823015618/http://www.nacionmulticultural.unam.mx/Portal/Izquierdo/BANCO/Mxmulticultural/Elmestizajeylasculturas-elmestizaje.html|archive-date=August 23, 2013|language=es|date=2004|quote=en el censo de 1930 el gobierno mexicano dejó de clasificar a la población del país en tres categorías raciales, blanco, mestizo e indígena, y adoptó una nueva clasificación étnica que distinguía a los hablantes de lenguas indígenas del resto de la población, es decir de los hablantes de español}}</ref> 

Thus in Mexico, the term "Mestizo", while still applying mostly to people who are of mixed European and Indigenous descent, to various degrees, has become more of a cultural label rather than a racial one. It is vaguely defined and may include people who do not have Indigenous ancestry, people who do not have European ancestry, as well as people of mixed descent.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lizcano Fernandez|first1=Francisco|title=Composición étnica de las tres áreas culturales del continente americano al comienzo del siglo XXI|journal=Convergencia|volume=12|issue=38|date=August 2005|hdl=20.500.11799/38330}}</ref>

Such transformation of the word is the result of a concept known as ''"mestizaje"'', which was promoted by the post-revolutionary Mexican government in an effort to create a united Mexican ethno-cultural identity with no racial distinctions.<ref>Knight, Alan. 1990. "Racism, Revolution and ''indigenismo'': Mexico 1910–1940". Chapter 4 in ''The Idea of Race in Latin America, 1870–1940''. Richard Graham (ed.) pp. 78–85</ref> It is because of this that sometimes the Mestizo population in Mexico is estimated to be as high as 93% of the Mexican population.<ref name="Silva-Zolezzi et al 2009">{{cite journal|last1=Silva-Zolezzi|first1=Irma|last2=Hidalgo-Miranda|first2=Alfredo|last3=Estrada-Gil|first3=Jesus|last4=Fernandez-Lopez|first4=Juan Carlos|last5=Uribe-Figueroa|first5=Laura|last6=Contreras|first6=Alejandra|last7=Balam-Ortiz|first7=Eros|last8=del Bosque-Plata|first8=Laura|last9=Velazquez-Fernandez|first9=David |last10=Lara |first10=Cesar|last11=Goya|first11=Rodrigo|last12=Hernandez-Lemus|first12=Enrique|last13=Davila|first13=Carlos|last14=Barrientos|first14=Eduardo|last15=March|first15=Santiago|last16=Jimenez-Sanchez|first16=Gerardo|title=Analysis of genomic diversity in Mexican Mestizo populations to develop genomic medicine in Mexico|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|date=26 May 2009|volume=106|issue=21|pages=8611–8616|doi=10.1073/pnas.0903045106|pmid=19433783|pmc=2680428|bibcode=2009PNAS..106.8611S|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Per the [[2020 United States census|2020 US census]], the majority of Mexican Americans identified as being [[Some Other Race]] (42.2%) or [[Two or more races|Multiracial]] (32.7%) with the remainder identifying as white (20.3%), Native American (2.4%), [[Black Hispanic and Latino Americans|black]] (1.9%) and [[Asian Hispanic and Latino Americans|Asian]] / [[Pacific Islander Americans|Pacific Islander]] (0.5%).<ref>{{Cite web|title=2020 Census Illuminates Racial and Ethnic Composition of the Country |url=https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/improved-race-ethnicity-measures-reveal-united-states-population-much-more-multiracial.html|access-date=2024-12-31|publisher=United States Census Bureau|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=1 in 7 People Are 'Some Other Race' On The U.S. Census. That's A Big Data Problem|work=NPR |date=30 September 2021 |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/09/30/1037352177/2020-census-results-by-race-some-other-latino-ethnicity-hispanic |last1=Wang |first1=Hansi Lo }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Reyes|first=Russell Contreras,Yacob|date=2021-08-19|title=Number of U.S. Latinos identifying as multiracial skyrockets 567% as census gives more options|url=https://www.axios.com/2021/08/19/multiracial-identity-us-latinos-black-indigenous|access-date=2024-12-31|website=Axios|language=en}}</ref>
{{bar box
|title= 2010 US Census<ref name="US Census 2010">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-04.pdf|title=The Hispanic Population: 2010 Census Brief|access-date=November 16, 2012}}</ref>
|titlebar=#ddd
|left1='''Self-identified Race'''
|right1='''Percent of population'''
|float=right
|bars=
{{bar percent|[[White Americans|White]] alone|Blue|52.8}}
{{bar percent|[[African Americans|Black]]|Blue|2}}
{{bar percent|[[Asian Americans|Asian]]|Blue|0.1}}
{{bar percent|[[Native Americans in the United States|American Indians and Alaska Natives]]|Blue|0.4}}
{{bar percent|[[Pacific Islands Americans|Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders]]|Blue|0.2}}
{{bar percent|[[Multiracial American|Two or more races]]|Blue|5.0}}
{{bar percent|Some Other Race|Blue|39.5}}
{{bar percent|'''Total'''|Blue|100}}
|caption=
}} This identification as "some other race" reflects activism among Mexican Americans as claiming a cultural status and working for their rights in the United States, as well as the separation due to different language and culture. Hispanics are not a racial classification but an ethnic group.

The barrier that the language places on people who are immigrating from Mexico is difficult due to the importance that is placed in the United States related to knowing how to speak English. The lack of support from surrounding people places an even more difficult strain given that there is not much remorse or yet very little patience that comes from those who these Mexican immigrants may find themselves seeking aid from.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Lievano|first1=Wilson|title=The Impact of Language Barriers for Latinos Across America|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/news/photos/articles/2023-09-15/the-impact-of-language-barriers-for-latinos-across-america|website=usnews.com|publisher=usnews|access-date=December 11, 2023}}</ref>

Genetic studies made in the Mexican population have varied as to whether European or Amerindian ancestry predominates in the population. For instance, a 2006 study conducted by Mexico's [[National Institute of Genomic Medicine INMEGEN|National Institute of Genomic Medicine (INMEGEN)]], which genotyped 104 samples, reported that Mestizo Mexicans are 58.96% European, 35.05% Amerindian, and 5.03% African.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |author1=J.K. Estrada |author2=A. Hidalgo-Miranda |author3=I. Silva-Zolezzi |author4=G. Jimenez-Sanchez |title=Evaluation of Ancestry and Linkage Disequilibrium Sharing in Admixed Population in Mexico |url=http://www.ashg.org/genetics/abstracts/abs06/f1065.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913031830/http://www.ashg.org/genetics/abstracts/abs06/f1065.htm |archive-date=September 13, 2014 |access-date=July 18, 2012 |publisher=ASHG}}</ref> According to a 2009 report by the Mexican Genome Project, which sampled 300 Mestizos from six Mexican states and one Indigenous group, the gene pool of the Mexican mestizo population was calculated to be 55.2% percent Indigenous, 41.8% European, 5% African, and 0.5% Asian.<ref name="Silva-Zolezzi et al 2009" /> There is genetic asymmetry, with the direct paternal line predominately European and the maternal line predominately Amerindian. A 2012 study published by the ''[[Journal of Human Genetics]]'' found the paternal ancestry of the Mexican Mestizo population to be predominately European (64.9%) followed by Amerindian (30.8%) and African (5%).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Martínez-Cortés |first1=G |last2=Salazar-Flores |first2=J |last3=Fernández-Rodríguez |first3=LG |last4=Rubi-Castellanos |first4=R |last5=Rodríguez-Loya |first5=C |last6=Velarde-Félix |first6=JS |last7=Muñoz-Valle |first7=JF |last8=Parra-Rojas |first8=I |last9=Rangel-Villalobos |first9=H |year=2012 |title=Admixture and population structure in Mexican-Mestizos based on paternal lineages |journal=J. Hum. Genet. |volume=57 |issue=9 |pages=568–74 |doi=10.1038/jhg.2012.67 |pmid=22832385 |quote=In the total population sample, paternal ancestry was predominately European (64.9%), followed by Native American (30.8%) and African (4.2%). |doi-access=free}}</ref> An autosomal ancestry study performed in 2007 on residents of Mexico City reported that the European ancestry of Mexicans was 52%, with the rest being Amerindian and some African contribution. Maternal ancestry was analyzed, with 47% being of European origin. Unlike previous studies that included only Mexicans who self-identified as Mestizos, the only criteria for sample selection in this study was that the volunteers self-identified as Mexicans.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Price |first1=Alkes L. |last2=Patterson |first2=Nick |last3=Yu |first3=Fuli |last4=Cox |first4=David R. |last5=Waliszewska |first5=Alicja |last6=McDonald |first6=Gavin J. |last7=Tandon |first7=Arti |last8=Schirmer |first8=Christine |last9=Neubauer |first9=Julie |last10=Bedoya |first10=Gabriel |last11=Duque |first11=Constanza |last12=Villegas |first12=Alberto |last13=Bortolini |first13=Maria Catira |last14=Salzano |first14=Francisco M. |last15=Gallo |first15=Carla |date=June 2007 |title=A Genomewide Admixture Map for Latino Populations |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=80 |issue=6 |pages=1024–1036 |doi=10.1086/518313 |pmc=1867092 |pmid=17503322 |last16=Mazzotti |first16=Guido |last17=Tello-Ruiz |first17=Marcela |last18=Riba |first18=Laura |last19=Aguilar-Salinas |first19=Carlos A. |last20=Canizales-Quinteros |first20=Samuel |last21=Menjivar |first21=Marta |last22=Klitz |first22=William |last23=Henderson |first23=Brian |last24=Haiman |first24=Christopher A. |last25=Winkler |first25=Cheryl |last26=Tusie-Luna |first26=Teresa |last27=Ruiz-Linares |first27=Andrés |last28=Reich |first28=David}}</ref>

Focusing on populations of Mexican origin or descent in the US, one study found an average of 48.9% Indigenous ancestry in this population, with the remainder being primarily European. Younger Mexican Americans tend to have more Indigenous ancestry; in those studied born between the 1940s and 1990s, there was an average increase in Indigenous ancestry of 0.4% per year. Though there is no simple explanation, it is possibly some combination of [[assortative mating]], changes in migration patterns over time (with more recent immigrants coming from areas of more concentrated Indigenous communities), population growth and other unexamined factors. The study also found that Indigenous ancestry varied by region, with Mexican-Americans from Chicago having an average of 56.2%, while those from San Diego had an average of only 42.8% Indigenous ancestry.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Spear|first1=Melissa L|last2=Diaz-Papkovich|first2=Alex|last3=Ziv|first3=Elad|last4=Yracheta|first4=Joseph M|last5=Gravel|first5=Simon|last6=Torgerson|first6=Dara G|last7=Hernandez|first7=Ryan D|date=2020-12-29|editor-last=Sohail|editor-first=Mashaal|editor2-last=Wittkopp|editor2-first=Patricia J|editor3-last=Sohail|editor3-first=Mashaal|editor4-last=Wojcik|editor4-first=Genevieve L|title=Recent shifts in the genomic ancestry of Mexican Americans may alter the genetic architecture of biomedical traits|journal=eLife|volume=9|article-number=e56029|doi=10.7554/eLife.56029|pmid=33372659|pmc=7771964|issn=2050-084X|doi-access=free}}</ref>

[[File:Family_eating_meal.jpg|thumb|250px|Mexican American family eating a meal]]

While Mexico does not have comprehensive modern racial censuses, some international publications believe that Mexican people of predominately European descent (Spanish or other European) make up approximately one-sixth (16.5%); this is based on the figures of the last racial census in the country, made in 1921.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/379167/Mexico/27384/Ethnic-groups|title=Encyclopædia Britannica: Mexico Ethnic groups|date=18 July 2023}}</ref> According to an opinion poll conducted by the [[Latinobarómetro]] organization in 2011, 52% of Mexican respondents said they were mestizos, 19% Indigenous, 6% white, 2% mulattos, and 3% other race.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.infoamerica.org/primera/lb_2011.pdf|title=Informe 2011 Latinobarómetro – pag. 58|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>

=== US Census Bureau classifications ===
[[File:Vincent_Barabba_Census.jpg|thumb|right|175px|[[Vincent Barabba]] notable figure in the U.S. Census Bureau, serving as its director from 1974 to 1979, where he played a key role in modernizing census methodologies and improving the use of data for public policy and planning.]]

As the United States' borders expanded, the [[United States Census Bureau]] changed its racial classification methods for Mexican Americans under United States jurisdiction. The Bureau's classification system has evolved significantly from its inception:
* From 1790 to 1850, there was no distinct racial classification of Mexican Americans in the US census. The categories recognized by the [[Census Bureau]] were ''White,''  ''Free People of Color'', and ''Black''. The Census Bureau estimates that during this period the number of persons who could not be categorized as white or black did not exceed 0.25% of the total population based on 1860 census data.<ref name="historical census">
{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html|title=Historical Census Statistics on Population Totals By Race, 1790 to 1990, and By Hispanic Origin, 1970 to 1990, For The United States, Regions, Divisions, and States|author=Gibson, Campbell|author2=Jung, Kay|access-date=December 7, 2006|date=September 2002|work=Working Paper Series No. 56|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120812191959/http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html|archive-date=August 12, 2012}}</ref>
* From 1850 through 1920, the Census Bureau expanded its racial categories to include multi-racial persons, under ''[[Mestizos]]'',  ''[[Mulattos]]'', as well as new categories of distinction of ''[[Amerindians]]'' and ''[[Asians]].'' It classified Mexicans and Mexican Americans as "white".<ref name="historical census"/>
* The 1930 US census added a separate category for "color" or "race" which declassified Mexicans as white. Census workers were instructed to write "W" for white and "Mex" for Mexican. Other categories were "Neg" for Negro; "In" for Amerindian; "Ch" for Chinese; "Jp" for Japanese; "Fil" for Filipino; "Hin" for Hindu; and "Kor" for Korean.<ref name="1930 census">
{{cite web|url=http://www.genealogybranches.com/1930census.html|title=US Population in the 1930 Census by Race|year=2002|access-date=December 7, 2006}}</ref>
* In the 1940 census, due to widespread protests by the Mexican American community following the 1930 changes, Mexican Americans were re-classified as ''White''. Instructions for enumerators were: "Mexicans – Report 'White' (W) for Mexicans unless they are definitely of Indigenous or other non-white race." During the same census, however, the bureau began to track the ''White population of Spanish mother tongue''. This practice continued through the 1960 census.<ref name="historical census"/> The 1960 census also used the title "Spanish-surnamed American" in their reporting data of Mexican Americans; this category also covered Cuban Americans, Puerto Ricans and others under the same category.
* From 1970 to 1980, there was a dramatic increase in the number of people who identified as "of Other Race" in the census, reflecting the addition of a question on 'Latino origin' to the 100-percent questionnaire, an increased propensity for Latinos to identify as other than White as they agitated for civil rights, and a change in editing procedures to accept reports of "Other race" for respondents who wrote in ethnic Hispanic entries, such as Mexican, Cuban, or Puerto Rican. In 1970, such responses in the Other race category were reclassified and tabulated as white. During this census, the bureau attempted to identify all ''Hispanics'' by use of the following criteria in sampled sets:<ref name="historical census"/>
** Spanish speakers and persons belonging to a household where the head of household was a Spanish speaker
** persons with Spanish heritage by birth location or surname
** Persons who self-identified Spanish origin or descent
* From 1980 on, the Census Bureau has collected data on Latino origin on a 100-percent basis. The bureau has noted in 2002 that an increasing number of respondents identify as of Latino origin but not of the ''White'' race.<ref name="historical census"/>
For certain purposes, respondents who wrote in "Chicano" or "Mexican" (or indeed, almost all Latino origin groups) in the "Some other race" category were automatically re-classified into the "White race" group.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seer.cancer.gov/manuals/2007/SPCSM_2007_AppendixD.pdf|title=Race and Nationality Descriptions from the 2000 US Census and Bureau of Vital Statistics. 2007. May 21, 2007.|access-date=2014-01-06}}</ref>

===Politics and debate of racial classification===
[[File:Portrait of Romualdo Pacheco (cropped).png|thumb|200px|[[Romualdo Pacheco]], a Californio statesman and first Mexican to serve in the US House of Representatives (1877)]]

In some cases, legal classification of White racial status has made it difficult for Mexican-American rights activists to prove minority discrimination. In the case ''[[Hernandez v. Texas]]'' (1954), civil rights lawyers for the appellant, named Pedro Hernandez, were confronted with a paradox: because Mexican Americans were classified as White by the federal government and not as a separate race in the census, lower courts held that they were not being denied equal protection by being tried by juries that excluded Mexican Americans by practice. The lower court ruled there was no violation of the Fourteenth Amendment by excluding people with Mexican ancestry among the juries. Attorneys for the state of Texas and judges in the state courts contended that the amendment referred only to racial, not "nationality", groups. Thus, since Mexican Americans were tried by juries composed of their racial group—whites—their constitutional rights were not violated. The US Supreme Court ruling in ''Hernandez v. Texas'' case held that "nationality" groups could be protected under the Fourteenth Amendment, and it became a landmark in the civil rights history of the United States.<ref name="Another White Race:">{{cite web|url=https://litigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com/webcd/app?action=DocumentDisplay&crawlid=1&srctype=smi&srcid=3B15&doctype=cite&docid=21+Law+&+Hist.+Rev.+109&key=9eb15db6c4cb5ea99766572941111225|title=LexisNexis® Litigation Essentials – Error|website=litigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com|access-date=7 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007170227/https://litigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com/webcd/app?action=DocumentDisplay&crawlid=1&srctype=smi&srcid=3B15&doctype=cite&docid=21+Law+&+Hist.+Rev.+109&key=9eb15db6c4cb5ea99766572941111225|archive-date=7 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/347us475|title=Hernandez ''v.'' Texas|website=[[Oyez Project|Oyez]]|publisher=[[Chicago-Kent College of Law]]|access-date=2019-10-05}}</ref>

[[File:Octaviano Larrazolo, bw photo portrait, 1919.jpg|thumb|left|200px|[[Octaviano Larrazolo]] became the first Mexican American to serve in the US Senate (1928)]]
While Mexican Americans served in all-White units during World War II, many Mexican–American veterans continued to face discrimination when they arrived home; they created the G.I. Forum to work for equal treatment.<ref name="Mexican American voters">{{cite web|url=http://www1.cuny.edu/portal_ur/content/voting_cal/mexican_american.html/|title=Mexican American Voters / Voting Rights and Citizenship|work=cuny.edu|access-date=2014-04-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140411152220/http://www1.cuny.edu/portal_ur/content/voting_cal/mexican_american.html|archive-date=2014-04-11}}</ref>

In times and places in the United States where Mexicans were classified as White, they were permitted by law to intermarry with what today are termed "non-Latino whites". Social customs typically approved of such marriages only if the Mexican partner was not of visible Indigenous ancestry.<ref>{{cite book|last=De Genova|first=Nicholas|title=Racial Transformations: Latinos And Asians|page=96|publisher=Duke University Press|year=2006|isbn=978-0-8223-3716-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EypC4KRNR9oC&pg=PA95}}</ref>

In the late 1960s the founding of the Crusade for Justice in Denver and the land grant movement in New Mexico in 1967 set the bases for what would become known as Chicano (Mexican American) nationalism. The 1968 Los Angeles, California school walkouts expressed Mexican-American demands to end ''de facto'' ethnic segregation (also based on residential patterns), increase graduation rates, and reinstate a teacher fired for supporting student political organizing. A notable event in the Chicano movement was the 1972 Convention of La Raza Unida (United People) Party, which organized with the goal of creating a third party to give Chicanos political power in the United States.<ref name="Mexican American voters"/>

In the past, Mexicans were legally considered "White" because either they were accepted as being of Spanish ancestry, or because of early treaty obligations to Spaniards and Mexicans that conferred citizenship status to Mexican peoples before the American Civil War. Numerous slave states bordered Mexican territory at a time when 'whiteness' was nearly a prerequisite for US citizenship in those states.<ref name="Haney-Lopez0">{{cite book|author=Haney-Lopez, Ian F.|title=White by Law: The Legal Construction of Race|publisher=New York University|year=1996|chapter=3 Prerequisite cases|page=61}}</ref><ref name="Haney-Lopez1">{{cite book|author=Haney-Lopez, Ian F.|title=White by Law: The Legal Construction of Race|publisher=New York University|year=1996|chapter=Appendix "A"}}</ref>

[[File:Henry Cisneros (P15195).jpg|thumb|200px|[[Henry Cisneros]] the first Mexican American mayor of a major U.S. city, San Antonio, Texas, in 1981. Cisneros later went on to serve as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development]]

Although Mexican Americans were legally classified as "white" in terms of official federal policy, socially they were seen as "too Indian" to be treated as such.<ref name=ManifestDestinies>{{cite book|author=Gomez, Laura E.|title=Manifest Destinies|publisher=NYU Press|date=Feb 6, 2018}}</ref> Many organizations, businesses, and homeowners associations and local legal systems had official policies in the early 20th century to exclude Mexican Americans in a racially discriminatory way.<ref name="autogenerated2"/> Throughout the Southwest, discrimination in wages was institutionalized in "White wages" versus lower "Mexican wages" for the same job classifications.<ref name="autogenerated2"/> For Mexican Americans, opportunities for employment were largely limited to guest worker programs.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite web|url=http://www.understandingrace.org/history/society/post_war_economic_boom.html|title=RACE – History – Post-War Economic Boom and Racial Discrimination|publisher=Understandingrace.org|date=1956-12-21|access-date=2014-01-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130818185124/http://www.understandingrace.org/history/society/post_war_economic_boom.html|archive-date=2013-08-18}}</ref>

The ''bracero'' program, begun in 1942 during World War II, when many United States men were drafted for war, allowed Mexicans temporary entry into the United States as migrant workers at farms throughout California and the Southwest. This program continued until 1964.<ref name="autogenerated1"/><ref name="autogenerated11">{{Cite web|url=http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=173707|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929122851/http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=173707|title=JS Online: Filmmaker explores practice of redlining in documentary|archive-date=29 September 2007}}</ref><ref name="Pulido 53">{{cite book|last=Pulido|first=Laura|title=Black, Brown, Yellow, and Left: Radical Activism in Los Angeles|page=53|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-24520-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CzarnBhJiZUC&pg=PA53|year=2006}}</ref>

[[File:Lucille_Roybal-Allard_official_photo.jpg|thumb|left|200px|[[Lucille Roybal-Allard]], daughter of [[Edward R. Roybal]], first Latino chair of the [[Congressional Hispanic Caucus]]]]

While both Mexican American and African American minorities were subject to segregation and racial discrimination, they were treated differently. Segregation is the physical separation of peoples on the basis of ethnicity and social custom historically applied to separate African Americans and Mexican Americans from Whites in Texas. Racial attitudes that supported segregation of African Americans probably arrived in Texas during the 1820s in company with the "peculiar institution," slavery. Anglo-Americans began extending segregation to Mexican Americans after the Texas Revolution as a social custom. Tejanos formed a suspect class during and after the revolution, and that fact led to a general aversion of them. After the Civil War, segregation developed as a method of group control. For both minority groups, segregation existed in schools, churches, residential districts, and most public places such as restaurants, theaters, and barber shops. By the latter years of the nineteenth century, institutionalized segregation flourished legally in places with a visible Black population and was extended informally to Tejanos. Most Texas towns and cities had a "Negro quarter" and a "Mexican quarter."<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/segregation#:~:text=By%20the%20latter%20years%20of,and%20a%20%22Mexican%20quarter.%22|title=Segregation}}</ref>

Although the law specified until 1890 that Black schools were to have equal access to the common school fund, they often did not. In the early twentieth century, Black and Mexican schools faced lamentable conditions endemic in an antiquated educational system, and educational reforms of the Progressive era did not improve matters. During the 1920s, Black schoolchildren were more likely to miss school than White students, Black teachers received less pay and training than their White counterparts, and teaching accommodations ordinarily amounted to one-room buildings generally under the tutelage of a single teacher. The same circumstances applied to Hispanic students, who were segregated because some Whites thought them "dirty" and because some White employers desired an uneducated, inexpensive labor pool. Whatever schools existed often suffered from inadequate financing, poor educational facilities, and racist curriculum.<ref name="Robert Calvert 1996">{{cite book|first=Robert|last=Calvert|title=Segregation|url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/segregation|date=1 January 1996|publisher=Texas State Historical Association}}</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2024}}

==Demographics==
[[File:Janet_Murguía_NCLR_President_and_CEO.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Janet Murguía]] is president of [[UnidosUS]], the United States' largest Hispanic nonprofit advocacy organization.]]
Per 2021 data, Mexican Americans are concentrated in California (34%), Texas (26%), Arizona (5%), Illinois (5%), and Colorado (2%).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/fact-sheet/us-hispanics-facts-on-mexican-origin-latinos/|title=Facts on Hispanics of Mexican origin in the United States, 2021|first1=Mohamad|last1=Moslimani|first2=Luis|last2=Noe-Bustamante|first3=Sono|last3=Shah|date=16 August 2023|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>

The counties with the largest Mexican population are [[Los Angeles County]], [[Harris County, Texas|Harris County]], [[Cook County]] and [[Dallas County, Texas|Dallas County]]. The metropolitan areas with the largest Mexican population is [[Greater Los Angeles]], the [[Chicago metropolitan area]], [[Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex]], and [[Greater Houston]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Batalova |first1=Jeanne Batalova Jeanne |url=https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/mexican-immigrants-united-states#:~:text=The%20four%20counties%20with%20the,of%20the%20Mexican%20immigrant%20population.|title=Mexican Immigrants in the United States|date=12 October 2022}}</ref>

Mexican Americans have long been the second largest minority group in the United States after African Americans.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rodriguez|first=M.S.|title=Rethinking the Chicano Movement|publisher=Taylor & Francis|series=American Social and Political Movements of the 20th Century|year=2014|isbn=978-1-136-17537-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ydWBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA3|page=3}}</ref>

The Mexican American population was still concentrated in Southwestern states such as Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, and California in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Mexican Americans starting moving from the southwestern to large northeastern and midwestern cities after World War II. Large Mexican American communities developed in cities in the northeast and midwest such as St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. Around 90 percent of Mexicans in the United States live in urban areas.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LV4WAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA358|title=An Historical Introduction to American Education: Third Edition|first=Gerald L.|last=Gutek|date=18 September 2012|publisher=Waveland Press|isbn=978-1-4786-0889-9|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>

There is recent Mexican enclaves in [[Salt Lake City]] and [[Atlanta]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bKKLqGC5K3YC&dq=%22mexican%22+population+growing+in+%22atlanta%22&pg=PA46|title=Mexican Americans and the U.S. Economy|first=Arturo|last=Gonz‡lez|date=4 December 2002|publisher=University of Arizona Press|isbn=978-0-8165-1977-4|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>

The Mexican population has been rapidly increasing in North Carolina and Georgia.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dctqAAAAQBAJ&dq=%22mexican%22+population+growing+in+%22georgia%22&pg=PA11|title=Chicanas and Chicanos in Contemporary Society|first=De Roberto M.|last=Anda|date=18 August 2004|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-0-7425-7304-8|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>

Mexican Americans have the highest fertility rate in the United States. While only 10% of the United States's population was Mexican American in the year 2008, 16% of the country's births were to Mexican mothers. Mexican-Americans are generally younger than other racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Mexican Americans also have more children than other races and Hispanic groups in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2011/07/14/ii-mexican-american-fertility-patterns/|title=II. Mexican-American Fertility Patterns|date=14 July 2011|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>

===Mexican-born population over time===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year !! Population<ref name=invsn>[https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/charts/mexican-born-population-over-time?width=900&height=850&iframe=true Number of Mexican Immigrants and Their Share of the Total U.S. Immigrant Population, 1850–2019], ''Migration Policy Institute''</ref>!! Percentage of all<br /> US immigrants
|-
| 1850 || 13,300 || 0.6
|-
| 1860 || 27,500 || 0.7
|-
| 1870 || 42,400 || 0.8
|-
| 1880 || 68,400 || 1.0
|-
| 1890 || 77,900 || 0.8
|-
| 1900 || 103,400 || 1.0
|-
| 1910 || 221,900 || 1.6
|-
| 1920 || 486,400 || 3.5
|-
| 1930 || 641,500 || 4.5
|-
| 1940 || 357,800 || 3.1
|-
| 1950 || 451,400 || 3.9
|-
| 1960 || 575,900 || 5.9
|-
| 1970 || 759,700 || 7.9
|-
| 1980 || 2,199,200 || 15.6
|-
| 1990 || 4,298,000 || 21.7
|-
| 2000 || 9,177,500 || '''29.5'''
|-
| 2010 || '''11,711,100''' || 29.3
|-
| 2019 || 10,931,900 || 24.3
|-
|}

==Culture==
{{Main|Mexicanization#United States}}[[File:Quinceañera. Santa Fe (14369403262).jpg|thumb|right|300px|A [[Quinceañera]] celebration in [[Santa Fe, New Mexico]] ]]

Mexican American culture reflects the influences of Spain, Mexico, and indigenous cultures.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/immigration/mexican/|title=Mexican &#124; Immigration and Relocation in U.S. History &#124; Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress &#124; Library of Congress|website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>

Family units and structures are typically larger among Mexican Americans. Parents and elders are treated with a high degree of respect by Mexican Americans. Mexican Americans often celebrate [[Quinceañeras]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://info.umkc.edu/latinxkc/essays/spring-2017/mexican-immigration-family/|title=Mexican Immigration to the United States and Its Effect on Mexican Culture and the Family Structure – LatinxKC|access-date=1 March 2024}}</ref>

=== Fashion ===
{{See also|Zoot suit|Mexican-American women's fashion}}

===Food and drink===
{{Main|Mexican-American cuisine}}
{{Excerpt|Mexican-American literature|paragraphs=1}}Mexican Americans have influenced American cuisine, [[burrito]]s, [[enchilada]]s, [[guacamole]], [[nachos]], [[taco]]s, [[tamale]]s, and [[tortilla]]s, are regular in American vernacular.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Mexican Food Revolution|url=https://americanhistory.si.edu/food/resetting-table/mexican-food-revolution|website=National Museum of American History|date=August 16, 2013}}</ref> The cuisines of [[New Mexican cuisine|New Mexican]] and [[Tex-Mex]] are native to the [[cuisine of the Southwestern United States]], and Mexican cuisine has influenced [[Californian cuisine]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gilsgourmet.com/post/history-of-california-cuisine|title=History of California Cuisine|date=27 January 2020}}</ref> Mexican American cuisine, including dishes, snacks, seasonings, and cultural traditions, has significantly influenced American cuisine. Tortillas have risen to become the second most popular packaged bread, while [[Salsa (food)|salsa]] consistently outsells ketchup as a condiment in the United States. Mexican cuisine is now recognized as one of the "top three" ethnic cuisines, alongside Italian cuisine and Chinese cuisine, in the preferences of Americans. Additionally, American fast food chains like [[Chipotle Mexican Grill]] and [[Taco Bell]] have popularized the concept of Mexican cuisine, making it widely recognized in the United States.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Long |first1=Lucy M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DBzYCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA417|title=Ethnic American Food Today: A Cultural Encyclopedia |date=17 July 2015 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |isbn=978-1-4422-2731-6 }}</ref>

=== Literature ===
===Music===
The popular radio format [[Regional Mexican]] includes Mexican styles of music; [[Norteño (music)|Norteño]], [[ranchera]], [[Conjunto]], [[Son Jarocho]], [[Mexican cumbia|Cumbia]], and [[mariachi]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Mexican American Song|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197459|website=Library of Congress|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306162420/https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197459|archive-date=March 6, 2014}}</ref> It also includes the indigenous and Mexican American music styles of the [[New Mexico music]], [[Tejano music]], [[Chicano rock]], [[Chicano rap]] and [[Cumbia rap]], which originate in the United States.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=fV80DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA59|title= Chicano Popular Culture, Second Edition: Que Hable el Pueblo|isbn= 978-0-8165-3741-9|last1= Tatum|first1= Charles M.|date= 5 September 2017|publisher= University of Arizona Press}}</ref> Mexican Americans also have played and have continued to play significant roles in the production, exhibition, signification and reception of [[West Coast hip-hop]]. Since the 1980s, African-American rappers from Los Angeles, including [[Ice-T]] and [[Eazy-E]] have helped Mexican-American rappers achieve recognition.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Alba |first1=Alicia Gasper De |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wbAYDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA109|title=Velvet Barrios |date=30 April 2016 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-137-04269-9 }}</ref>

=== Sports ===
[[File:A Mexican-American Fan Displays His World Cup Regalia (4706247134).jpg|thumb|Fan at the [[2010 FIFA World Cup Group C#England vs United States|2010 U.S. vs. England FIFA World Cup match]]]]
[[Association football|Soccer]] is a major sport for many Mexican Americans, with some supporting or even playing for the [[Mexico national football team|Mexican national team]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-24 |title=USMNT-Mexico rivalry: How Americans with Mexican roots navigate divided loyalties |url=https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/usmnt-mexico-rivalry-how-americans-with-mexican-roots-navigate-divided-loyalties/ |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=CBSSports.com |language=en}}</ref> [[Fastpitch softball]] has also been played by some Mexican American communities for several decades, contributing to cultural and social solidarity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chappell |first=Ben |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AZE2EAAAQBAJ&dq=info:_yi3HMckEqwJ:scholar.google.com/&pg=PT5 |title=Mexican American Fastpitch: Identity at Play in Vernacular Sport |date=2021-08-17 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-1-5036-2860-1 |language=en}}</ref> 

===Gangs===
{{See also|Cholo (subculture)}}
A cholo is a Mexican American person who participates with Mexican-American gang subculture. Cholos speak [[Caló (Chicano)|Caló]], a term derived from the [[Caló language]] of [[Romani people]] (Gypsies) from [[Gitanos|Spain]] and [[Romani people in Portugal|Portugal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/cholo-gang-subculture|title=Cholo}}</ref> The [[Mexican Mafia]] is active in Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mexican-Mafia|title=Mexican Mafia}}</ref>

==Economic and social issues==
===Immigration issues===
{{See also|2006 United States immigration reform protests|Illegal immigration to the United States}}
:''See also [[Strangers No Longer]]: Together on the Journey of Hope'', a pastoral letter written by both the [[United States Conference of Catholic Bishops]] and the [[Mexican Episcopal Conference]], which deals with the issue of migration in the context of the United States and Mexico.
[[File:Cesar Chavez Day.jpg|thumb|left|[[Cesar Chavez]]'s supporters say his work led to numerous improvements for union laborers. Although the [[UFW]] faltered a few years after Chavez died in 1993, he became an iconic "folk saint" in the pantheon of Mexican Americans.]]
Since the 1960s, Mexican immigrants have met a significant portion of the demand for low cost labor in the United States.<ref>Scruggs, O. (1984). Operation Wetback: The Mass Deportation of Mexican Undocumented Workers in 1954. Labor History, 25(1), 135–137. Retrieved from America: History & Life database.</ref> Fear of [[deportation]] makes them highly vulnerable to exploitation by employers. Many employers, however, have developed a "don't ask, don't tell" attitude toward hiring Mexican nationals residing in the country illegally. In May 2006, hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, Mexicans and other nationalities, walked out of their jobs across the country in [[2006 United States immigration reform protests|protest]] to support immigration reform (many in hopes of a path to citizenship similar to the [[Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986]] signed into law by President Ronald Reagan, which granted citizenship to Mexican nationals living and working without documentation in the US). Governmentalities have been the result of unequal relations with its northern neighbors versus a response to more locally driven needs.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Marchand|first=Marianne H.|date=June 2017|title=Crossing Borders: Mexican State Practices, Managing Migration, and the Construction of "Unsafe" Travelers: Crossing Borders|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lamp.12118|journal=Latin American Policy|language=en|volume=8|issue=1|pages=5–26|doi=10.1111/lamp.12118}}</ref>

US politicians cited numbers as high as 20 million illegal immigrants in the United States without providing statistical proof.<ref name="gale encyclopedia" />

[[File:May 1 2006 Rally in Chicago.jpg|thumb|right|A rally on [[International Workers' Day|May Day]] [[2006 United States immigration reform protests|2006]] in Chicago. The protests began in response to proposed legislation known as [[H.R. 4437]], which would raise penalties for [[illegal immigration]] and classify illegal immigrants and anyone who helped them enter or remain in the US as felons.]]
Some immigrants to the United States, both from Mexico and elsewhere, oppose illegal immigration, even if they once lacked documents themselves.  However, according to a survey conducted by the [[Pew Research Center]] in June 2007, 63% of Americans would support an immigration policy that would put illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship if they "pass background checks, pay fines and have jobs, learn English", while 30% would oppose such a plan. The survey also found that if this program was instead labeled "amnesty", 54% would support it, while 39% would oppose.<ref>{{cite web|author=Publications|url=http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=335|title=Summary of Findings: Mixed Views on Immigration Bill|publisher=People-press.org|date=2007-06-07|access-date=2014-01-06}}</ref>

[[Alan Greenspan]], former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, has said that the growth of the working-age population is a large factor in keeping the economy growing and that immigration can be used to grow that population. According to Greenspan, by 2030, the growth of the US workforce will slow from 1 percent to 1/2 percent, while the percentage of the population over 65 years will rise from 13 percent to perhaps 20 percent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/testimony/2003/20030227/|title=FRB: Testimony, Greenspan-Aging population-February 27, 2003|publisher=Federal Reserve|date=2003-02-27|access-date=2014-01-06}}</ref> Greenspan has also stated that immigration reform could be brought about with a "stroke of the pen", referring to the [[Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007]] which would have created a guest worker program and put illegal immigrants currently residing in the US on a path to citizenship if they met certain conditions.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2007-05-17-greenspan-immigration_N.htm|work=USA Today|title=Immigration curbs hurting US, Greenspan says|date=May 17, 2007|access-date=May 12, 2010}}</ref>

==Discrimination and stereotypes==
{{main|Anti-Mexican sentiment|Latinophobia}}{{See also|Madrigal v. Quilligan}}
[[File:Solo s 48 Fleetline.jpg|thumb|right|[[Lowrider]] began in the Mexican-American barrios of Los Angeles in the mid-to-late 1940s and during the post-war prosperity of the 1950s. Initially, some youths would place sandbags in the trunk of their customized cars to create a lowered effect.]]

Throughout US history, Mexican Americans have endured various types of negative stereotypes which have long circulated in media and popular culture.<ref>Flores Niemann Yolanda, ''et al''. ''Black-Brown Relations and Stereotypes'' (2003); Charles Ramírez Berg, ''Latino Images in Film: Stereotypes, Subversion, & Resistance'' (2002); Chad Richardson, ''Batos, Bolillos, Pochos, and Pelados: Class & Culture on the South Texas Border'' (1999)</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p111385_index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022070241/http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p111385_index.html|title=Life on the Texas-Mexico Border: Myth and reality as represented in Mainstream and Independent Western Cinema|archive-date=22 October 2007}}</ref> Mexican Americans have also faced discrimination based on ethnicity, race, culture, poverty, and use of the Spanish language.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/lhr/21.1/forum_wilson.html|title=Steven H. Wilson &#124; Brown over "Other White": Mexican Americans' Legal Arguments and Litigation Strategy in School Desegregation Lawsuits &#124; Law and History Review, 21.1|date=26 September 2003 |publisher=The History Cooperative|access-date=2014-01-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930061850/http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/lhr/21.1/forum_wilson.html|archive-date=2012-09-30}}</ref>

Mexicans faced [[Racial segregation in the United States|racially segregated]] schooling in a number of Western states during the Depression era. In Wyoming, the segregation of Mexican children—regardless of US citizenship—mirrored the South's Jim Crow laws. The segregation of Mexicans also occurred in California and in neighboring Colorado, Montana, and Nebraska.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Guzmán|first1=Gonzalo|title="Things change you know": Schools as the Architects of the Mexican Race in Depression-Era Wyoming|journal=History of Education Quarterly|date=November 2021|volume=61|issue=4|pages=392–422|doi=10.1017/heq.2021.37|s2cid=240357463|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Garcia|first1=David|title=Strategies of Segregation: Race, Residence, and the Struggle for Educational Equality|date=2018|publisher=University of California Press|location=Oakland, CA}}</ref>

Since the majority of [[Illegal immigration to the United States|illegal immigrants in the US]] have traditionally been from Latin America, the Mexican American community has been the subject of widespread immigration raids. During [[The Great Depression]], the United States government sponsored a [[Mexican Repatriation]] program which was intended to encourage people to voluntarily move to Mexico, but thousands were deported against their will. During the 1930s, between 355 000 and 1 million individuals were repatriated or deported to Mexico, approximately 40 to 60 percent of which were actually United States citizens – overwhelmingly children. Voluntary repatriation was far more common than formal deportation.<ref name="gratton">{{cite news|url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/102163/imre12054.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|title=Immigration, Repatriation, and Deportation: The Mexican-Origin Population in the United States, 1920–1950|last1=Gratton|first1=Brian|last2=Merchant|first2=Emily|date=December 2013|pages=944–975|publisher=The International migration review|issue=4|volume=47}}</ref><ref name="Balderrama-2006"/><ref>[http://campusapps.fullerton.edu/news/2005/valenciana.html 1930s Mexican Deportation: Educator brings attention to historic period and its effect on her family] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061005062329/http://campusapps.fullerton.edu/news/2005/valenciana.html |date=October 5, 2006 }}</ref><ref name="autogenerated3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.counselingkevin.com/the_economy/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070902035337/http://www.counselingkevin.com/the_economy/index.html|title=Counseling Kevin: The Economy|archive-date=2 September 2007}}</ref> In the post-war era, the Justice Department launched [[Operation Wetback]].<ref name="autogenerated3" />

[[File:No Dogs-Negroes-Mexicans - Racist Sign from Deep South - National Civil Rights Museum - Downtown Memphis - Tennessee - USA.jpg|thumb|left|Sign from a restaurant in Dallas, Texas, now located in the [[National Civil Rights Museum]]]]
During World War II, more than 300,000 Mexican Americans served in the US armed forces.<ref name="autogenerated8" /> Mexican Americans were generally integrated into regular military units; however, many Mexican–American War veterans were discriminated against and even denied medical services by the [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs]] when they arrived home.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> In 1948, war veteran [[Hector P. Garcia]] founded the [[American GI Forum]] to address the concerns of Mexican American veterans who were being discriminated against. The AGIF's first campaign was on the behalf of [[Felix Longoria]], a Mexican American private who was killed in the Philippines while in the line of duty. Upon the return of his body to his hometown of [[Three Rivers, Texas]], he was denied funeral services because of his nationality.

The [[Zoot Suit riots]] took place from June 3–8, 1943, in Los Angeles involving white American servicemen stationed in Southern California and young Latino and Mexican American city residents.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/zoot-suit-riots|title=Zoot Suits Riots|website=History.comdate=December 14, 2023|date=9 August 2023}}</ref> It was one of the dozen wartime industrial cities that suffered race-related riots in the summer of 1943. White servicemen and white [[Angelenos]] attacked and stripped children, teenagers, and youths who wore [[zoot suit]]s. While most of the violence was directed toward Mexican American youth, [[African Americans|African American]] youths who were wearing zoot suits were also attacked.<ref>{{cite book|last=Peiss|first=Kathy|year=2011|page=33|title=Zoot Suit|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0-8122-2303-3|quote=Over the next few days, crowds of white civilians joined in the rampage, targeting mainly Mexican American youths but also some African Americans and Filipinos.}}</ref> The defiance of zoot suiters became inspirational for [[Chicano]]s during the [[Chicano Movement]] that worked to embrace a Chicano identity and worldview that combated structural [[Racism in the United States|racism]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sandoval|first=Denise M.|title=Black and Brown in Los Angeles: Beyond Conflict and Coalition|publisher=[[University of California Press]]|location=Berkeley, California|year=2013|isbn=978-0-520-95687-2|editor-last=Kun|editor-first=Josh|pages=197|chapter=The Politics of Low and Slow/Bajito y Suavecito: Black and Chicano Lowriders in Los Angeles, from the 1960s through the 1970s|editor-last2=Pulido|editor-first2=Laura}}</ref>

[[File:Tropical_Amèrica_.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[América Tropical: Oprimida y Destrozada por los Imperialismos|''America Tropical'']] mural by artist David Alfaro Siqueiros, created in 1932, that depicts the struggles of indigenous peoples and critiques imperialism, colonialism, and the exploitation of labor.]]

In the 1948 case of ''[[Perez v. Sharp]]'', the Supreme Court of California recognized that the [[Anti-miscegenation laws|ban on interracial marriage]] violated the Fourteenth Amendment of the Federal Constitution from 1868. The case involved Andrea Perez, a Mexican-American woman listed as White, and Sylvester Davis, an African American man.<ref name="Traynor-1948">{{cite web|url=https://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/perez-v-sharp-26107|title=Perez v. Sharp – 32 Cal.2d 711 – Fri, 10/01/1948 {{!}} California Supreme Court Resources|website=scocal.stanford.edu|access-date=2019-10-05}}</ref>

In 1971, U.S. president [[Richard Nixon]] is recorded exhibiting prejudice toward Mexican Americans and African Americans. Referring to Latinos he states, "At the present time they steal, they're dishonest, but they do have some concept of family life. They don't live like a bunch of dogs, which the Negroes do live like."<ref>{{cite news|title=Nixon on Tape Expounds on Welfare And Homosexuality|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-11-07-9911070165-story.html|access-date=December 14, 2023|work=Chicago Tribune}}</ref>

[[File:TaqueriaMiLindoHuetamoHoustonTX.jpg|thumb|left|Food truck Mi Lindo [[Huetamo]] No. 2, in Houston, Texas.]]

In 2006, ''Time'' magazine reported that the number of hate groups in the United States increased by 33% since 2000, with illegal immigration being used as a foundation for recruitment.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1198895,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060616064019/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1198895,00.html|archive-date=June 16, 2006|magazine=Time|title=How Immigration is Rousing the Zealots|date=May 29, 2006|access-date=May 12, 2010|first=Jeffrey|last=Ressner}}</ref> According to the 2011 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Hate Crimes Statistics Report, 56.9% of the 939 victims of crimes motivated by a bias toward the victims' ethnicity or national origin were directed at Latinos.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2011/narratives/victims|title=Victims|website=Fbi.gov|access-date=7 October 2017}}</ref> In California, the state with the largest Mexican American population, the number of hate crimes committed against Latinos almost doubled from 2003 to 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.democracynow.org/2007/12/5/fbi_statistics_show_anti_latino_hate|title=FBI Statistics Show Anti-Latino Hate Crimes on the Rise|publisher=Democracy Now!|access-date=2014-01-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ccsre.stanford.edu/reports/exec_summary5.pdf|title=Latino Communities of the Central Valley: Population, Families, and Households|access-date=2008-03-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216020854/http://ccsre.stanford.edu/reports/exec_summary5.pdf|archive-date=2008-02-16}}</ref> In 2011, hate crimes against Hispanics declined 31% in the United States and 43% in California.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fronterasdesk.org/news/2012/dec/17/report-shows-anti-latino-hate-crimes-down/|title=Report Shows Anti-Latino Hate Crimes Down 31 Percent|website=Fronterasdesk.org|access-date=7 October 2017|archive-date=29 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629211538/http://www.fronterasdesk.org/news/2012/dec/17/report-shows-anti-latino-hate-crimes-down/}}</ref> The [[2019 El Paso shooting]] which resulted in 23 deaths, was a result of the gunman's racist attitude towards Mexican Americans and Latino immigrants in general.

In 2015, future president [[Donald Trump]] offended Mexican Americans by stating "They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people." He began construction on and partially built the [[Mexico–United States border wall]] to prevent illegal Mexican immigrants from entering the United States.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/4473972/donald-trump-mexico-meeting-insult/|title=Here Are All the Times Donald Trump Insulted Mexico|first=Katie|last=Reilly|date=31 August 2016|magazine=Time|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=18BEEAAAQBAJ&q=donald+trump+%22mexican+americans%22+discrimination|title=Trumpism, Mexican America, and the Struggle for Latinx Citizenship|first1=Phillip B.|last1=Gonzales|first2=Renato|last2=Rosaldo|first3=Mary Louise|last3=Pratt|date=15 October 2021|publisher=University of New Mexico Press|isbn=978-0-8263-6285-8|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-border-wall-was-never-just-about-security-it-ncna952011|title=Trump's border wall was never just about security. It's meant to remind all Latinos that we're unwelcome.|publisher=[[NBC News]]|date=28 December 2018}}</ref>

Although many Mexican Americans descend from indigenous Amerindians, and although many Mexican Americans have been in country for many generations, Mexicans are often seen and stereotyped as newly arrived cultural parasites and border hoppers in the United States. Mexican men are stereotyped as illiterate criminals. Mexican women are depicted as hypersexual. Mexicans are stereotyped as lazy, dirty, physically unattractive menaces.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/mexican.htm|title=Mexican and Latino Stereotypes – Jim Crow Museum|website=jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref> Mexicans are also stereotyped to be drug dealers and gang members.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G7vOEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA650|title=Race and Racism in the United States|isbn=978-1-4408-0346-8 |last1=Gallagher |first1=Charles A. |last2=Lippard |first2=Cameron D. |date=24 June 2014 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA }}</ref>

==Social status and assimilation==
{{See also|Tex-Mex|Mexican cuisine in the United States}}
[[File:'View of Santa Fe Plaza in the 1850s' by Gerald Cassidy, c. 1930 (cropped).JPG|thumb|left|[[Santa Fe Plaza]] c, 1850, after the [[Mexican Cession]] to the United States.]]

There have been increases in average personal and household incomes for Mexican Americans in the 21st century. US-born Americans of Mexican heritage earn more and are represented more in the middle and upper-class segments more than most recently arriving Mexican immigrants.
[[File:Día de Los Muertos Celebration.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Two Mexican American boys at a [[Día de Los Muertos]] celebration in [[Greeley, Colorado]]]]

Most immigrants from Mexico, as elsewhere, come from the lower classes and from families generationally employed in lower skilled jobs. They also are most likely from rural areas. Thus, many new Mexican immigrants are not skilled in white collar professions. Recently, some professionals from Mexico have been migrating, but to make the transition from one country to another involves re-training and re-adjusting to conform to US laws —i.e. professional licensing is required.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Salgado|first1=Casandra D.|last2=Ortiz|first2=Vilma|date=2019-05-03|title=Mexican Americans and wealth: economic status, family and place|journal=Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies|volume=46|issue=18|pages=3855–3873|doi=10.1080/1369183X.2019.1592878|s2cid=155153400|issn=1369-183X}}</ref> Millions crossed into the United States to find work that would help them survive as well as sustain their families in Mexico.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Minian|first=Ana Raquel|title=Undocumented Lives|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2018|page=76|language=English}}</ref> However now, Mexican Americans, primarily those who are bilingual are being used by firms to attract immigrant clientele. More value is being placed on Mexican Americans because they possess the ability to communicate with Spanish-speaking clients, thus expanding the customer range of companies.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Jiménez|first=Tomás R.|date=September 2007|title=Weighing the Costs and Benefits of Mexican Immigration: The Mexican-American Perspective|journal=Social Science Quarterly|volume=88|issue=3|pages=599–618|doi=10.1111/j.1540-6237.2007.00474.x|s2cid=8854023|via=Business Source Complete}}</ref>

[[File:CornmealProducts.jpg|left|thumb|[[Mexican food]] has become part of the mainstream American market, just as [[Italian food]] did decades before and assimilated to the American market like [[Tex-Mex]].]]
According to James P. Smith, the children and grandchildren of Hispanic immigrants tend to lessen educational and income gaps with White American. Immigrant Latino men earn about half of what whites make, while second generation US-born Hispanics make about 78 percent of the salaries of their white counterparts and by the third generation US-born Latinos make on average identical wages to their US-born white counterparts.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20060618/ai_n16490113|work=Deseret News (Salt Lake City)|title=Assimilation of immigrants is not a problem in the U.S|first=Tyler|last=Cowen|date=June 18, 2006}}</ref> However, the number of [[Mexican American professionals]] have been growing in size since 2010.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mexican American Proarchive|url=http://mexican-american-proarchive.com/2014/12/slow-and-steady-progress-for-mexican-american-professionals-the-results-of-the-american-surveys-for-the-years-2010-2012-show-positive-results/|website=Mexican American Proarchive|date=2014-12-09}}</ref> According to Gutiérrez, Ramón throughout the 1980s, single Mexican women have made up an important portion of this migration, they are representing up to 40% of the total immigrant movement. Mexican women are mostly employed in service-related jobs such as service workers, housekeepers, and nannies, with a smaller involvement in agricultural labor. While Mexicans who have strong academic skills, have been granted with legal status in the United States, and their percentage is less compared to the infusion of unskilled immigrants.<ref>{{Citation|last=Gutiérrez|first=Ramón A.|title=Mexican Immigration to the United States|date=2019-07-29|url=https://oxfordre.com/americanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-9780199329175-e-146|encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History|access-date=2023-12-06|language=en|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.013.146|isbn=978-0-19-932917-5}}</ref>

Huntington (2005) argues that the sheer number, concentration, linguistic homogeneity, and other characteristics of Latin American immigrants will erode the dominance of English as a nationally unifying language, weaken the country's dominant cultural values, and promote ethnic allegiances over a primary identification as an American. Testing these hypotheses with data from the US Census and national and Los Angeles opinion surveys, Citrin et al. (2007) show that Latinos generally acquire English and lose Spanish rapidly beginning with the second generation, and appear to be no more or less religious or committed to the work ethic than native-born non-Mexican American whites. However, the children and grandchildren of Mexican immigrants were able to make close ties with their extended families in Mexico, since United States shares a 2,000-mile border with Mexico. Many had the opportunity to visit Mexico on a relatively frequent basis. As a result, many Mexicans were able to maintain a strong Mexican culture, language, and relationship with others.<ref>{{cite book|last=LeeAnne|first=Gelletly|title=Mexican Immigration|publisher=Mason Crest|location=Philadelphia}}</ref>

South et al. (2005) examine Hispanic spatial assimilation and inter-neighborhood [[geographic mobility]]. Their longitudinal analysis of seven hundred Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban immigrants followed from 1990 to 1995 finds broad support for hypotheses derived from the classical account of assimilation into American society. High income, English-language use, and embeddedness in American social contexts increased Latin American immigrants' geographic mobility into multi-ethnic neighborhoods. US citizenship and years spent in the United States were positively associated with geographic mobility into different neighborhoods while co-ethnic contact and prior experiences of ethnic discrimination decreased the likelihood that Latino immigrants would move from their original neighborhoods and into non-Latino white census tracts.<ref>South, Scott J.; Crowder, Kyle; and Chavez, Erick. "Geographic Mobility and Spatial Assimilation among US Latino Immigrants." ''International Migration Review'' 2005 39(3): 577–607. {{ISSN|0197-9183}}</ref>
{{clear}}

===Intermarriage===
[[File:Jessica_Alba_Cropped2.png|thumb|right|200px|[[Jessica Alba]]'s mother has [[Danish people|Danish]], [[Welsh people|Welsh]], German and French ancestry, while her paternal grandparents, who were born in California, were the children of Mexican immigrants.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hollywood Now: New Fall Previews – InterfaithFamily|url=http://www.interfaithfamily.com/arts_and_entertainment/popular_culture/Hollywood_Now_New_Fall_Previews.shtml|website=interfaithfamily.com|access-date=June 15, 2015|date=August 29, 2014|last=Miller|first=Gerri}}</ref>]]

According to 2000 census data, US-born ethnic Mexicans have a high degree of [[Interracial marriage in the United States|intermarriage]] with [[non-Hispanic whites|non-Latino whites]].  Based on a sample size of 38,911 US-born Mexican husbands and 43,527 US-born Mexican wives:<ref name="Borjas1">{{cite book|last1=Borjas|first1=George J.|title=Mexican Immigration to the United States|date=2007|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-06668-4|page=244|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_iONl31AMQYC&pg=PA244}}</ref>
* 50.6% of US-born Mexican men and 45.3% of US-born Mexican women were married to US-born Mexicans;<ref name=Borjas1 />
* 26.7% of US-born Mexican men and 28.1% of US-born Mexican women were married to non-Hispanic whites; and<ref name=Borjas1 />
* 13.6% of US-born Mexican men and 17.4% of US-born Mexican women were married to Mexico-born Mexicans.<ref name=Borjas1 />
In addition, based on 2000 data, there is a significant amount of ethnic absorption of ethnic Mexicans into the mainstream population with 16% of the children of mixed marriages not being identified in the census as Mexican.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=_iONl31AMQYC&pg=PA244 ''Mexican Immigration to the United States'' edited by George J. Borjas] page 252 | retrieved March 20, 2013</ref>

A study done by the National Research Council (US) Panel on Hispanics in the United States published in 2006 looked at not only marriages, but also non-marriage unions.  It found that since at least 1980, marriage for females across all Hispanic ethnic groups, including Mexican Americans, has been in a steady decline.<ref name="Landale1">Nancy S. Landale, R. Salvador Olopesa, and Christina Bradatan. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK19902/ Hispanic Families in the United States: Family Structure and Process in an Era of Family change].</ref> In addition, the percentage of births to unmarried mothers increased for females of Mexican descent from 20.3% in 1980 to 40.8% in 2000, more than doubling in that time frame.<ref name=Landale1 /> The study also found that for females of all Hispanic ethnicities, including Mexican origin, "considerably fewer births to unmarried Latino mothers involve partnerships with non-Latino white males than is the case for married Latino mothers.  Second, births outside marriage are more likely to involve a non-Latino black father than births within marriage."<ref name=Landale1 /> Additionally, "Unions among partners from different Latino origins or between Latino and non-Latino blacks are considerably more evident in cohabitation and parenthood than they are in marriage. In particular, unions between Latinos and non-Latino blacks are prominent in parenthood, especially non-marital births."<ref name=Landale1 /> Furthermore, for 29.7% of unmarried births to native-born females of Mexican origin and 40% of unmarried births to females of "Other Latino" origin, which may include Mexican American, information on the father's ethnicity was missing.<ref name=Landale1 /> The study was supported by the US Census Bureau, among other sources.<ref name=Landale1 />

=== Double-Marginalization ===
Two marginalized identities has a bigger impact on the oppression and struggles that the oppressed face. This is specially true in the case of women and immigrants.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Deusdad-Ayala|first1=Blanca|last2=Moya|first2=Eva M.|last3=Chávez-Baray|first3=Silvia M.|date=2012|title=Violencia de género y mujeres migrantes en la frontera: el Caso de El Paso, Texas. [Domestic Violence Against Migrant Women at the Border: The Case Study of El Paso, Texas. ]|url=http://www.uhu.es/publicaciones/revistas/portularia/index.php?CDer=1&NR=2&volumen=12&top=12&NArticulo=1116|journal=Portularia|language=en|volume=12|issue=Addenda|pages=13–21|doi=10.5218/prts.2012.0002|hdl=10272/5904|issn=1989-5399}}</ref> The level of education and the cultural factors directly effect women facing domestic violence, and women with lower levels of literacy have a higher vulnerability in facing abuse.

==Segregation issues==
===Housing market practices===
Studies have shown that the segregation among Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants seems to be declining. One study from 1984 found that Mexican American applicants were offered the same housing terms and conditions as non-Hispanic white Americans. They were asked to provide the same information (regarding employment, income, credit checks, etc.) and asked to meet the same general qualifications of their non-Hispanic white peers.<ref name="autogenerated7">James, Franklin J., and Eileen A. Tynan. Minorities in the Sunbelt. New Jersey: The State University of New Jersey, 1984.</ref> In this same study, it was found that Mexican Americans were more likely than non-Hispanic white Americans to be asked to pay a security deposit or application fee<ref name="autogenerated7" /> and Mexican American applicants were also more likely to be placed onto a waiting list than non-Latino white applicants.<ref name="autogenerated7" />

===Battle of Chavez Ravine===
[[File:Dodger Stadium view of downtown 2015-10-04.jpg|thumb|right|View of downtown and the Palos Verdes Peninsula]]
The '''[[Battle of Chavez Ravine]]''' has several meanings, but often refers to controversy surrounding government acquisition of land largely owned by Mexican Americans in Los Angeles' [[Chavez Ravine]] over approximately ten years (1951–1961). The eventual result was the removal of the entire population of Chavez Ravine from land on which Dodger Stadium was later constructed.<ref name="Shatkin-2017">{{cite web|url=https://www.scpr.org/news/2017/10/31/77135/remembering-dodger-stadium-when-it-was-chavez-ravi/|title=What Dodger Stadium looked like when it was Chavez Ravine|last=Radio|first=Southern California Public|date=2017-10-31|website=Southern California Public Radio|access-date=2019-10-05}}</ref> The great majority of the Chavez Ravine land was acquired to make way for proposed public housing.  The public housing plan that had been advanced as politically "progressive" and had resulted in the removal of the Mexican American landowners of Chavez Ravine, was abandoned after passage of a public referendum prohibiting the original housing proposal and election of a conservative Los Angeles mayor opposed to public housing. Years later, the land acquired by the government in Chavez Ravine was dedicated by the city of Los Angeles as the site of what is now [[Dodger Stadium]].<ref name="Shatkin-2017" />

===Hispanic segregation versus Black segregation===
[[File:East LA Interchange map.svg|thumb|right|alt=Map of East LA Interchange|Viramontes' childhood neighborhood was divided by the East LA interchange in the early 1960s. The novel ''[[Their Dogs Came with Them]]'' focuses on the freeway construction and difficult conditions for the Mexican Americans living in this area at the time.]]

When comparing the contemporary segregation of Mexican Americans to that of Black Americans, some scholars claim that "Hispanic segregation is less severe and fundamentally different from Black residential segregation." suggesting that the segregation faced by Latinos is more likely to be due to factors such as lower socioeconomic status and immigration while the segregation of African Americans is more likely to be due to larger issues of the history of [[racism in the United States|racism in the US]].<ref name="autogenerated9">Martin, Michael E. Residential Segregation Patterns of Latinos in the United States, 1991–2000. New York: Routledge, 2007.</ref>

Legally, Mexican Americans could vote and hold elected office, however, it was not until the creation of organizations such as the League of United Latin America Citizens and the G.I. Forum that Mexican Americans began to achieve political influence. [[Edward R. Roybal|Edward Roybal's]] election to the Los Angeles City Council in 1949 and then to Congress in 1962 also represented this rising Mexican American political power.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/R/ROYBAL,-Edward-R--(R000485)/|title=ROYBAL, Edward R. {{!}} US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives|website=history.house.gov|access-date=2019-10-05}}</ref> In the late 1960s the founding of the Crusade for Justice in Denver in and the land grant movement in New Mexico in 1967 set the bases for what would become the Chicano (Mexican American) nationalism. The 1968 Los Angeles school walkouts expressed Mexican American demands to end segregation, increase graduation rates, and reinstate a teacher fired for supporting student organizing. A notable event in the Chicano movement was the 1972 Convention of La Raza Unida (United People) Party, which organized with the goal of creating a third party that would give Chicanos political power in the United States.<ref name="Mexican American voters"/>

[[File:Los Angeles County Mexican 2000.png|thumb|left|Map of Los Angeles County showing percentage of population self-identified as ''Mexican'' in ancestry or national origin by census tracts. Heaviest concentrations are in [[East Los Angeles, California|East Los Angeles]], [[Echo Park, Los Angeles|Echo Park]]/[[Silver Lake, Los Angeles|Silver Lake]], [[South Los Angeles]] and [[San Pedro, Los Angeles|San Pedro]]/[[Wilmington, Los Angeles|Wilmington]].]]
In the past, Mexicans were legally considered "White" because either they were considered to be of full Spanish heritage, or because of early treaty obligations to Spaniards and Mexicans that conferred citizenship status to Mexican peoples at a time when whiteness was a prerequisite for US citizenship.<ref name="Haney-Lopez0"/><ref name="Haney-Lopez1"/> Although Mexican Americans were legally classified as "White" in terms of official federal policy, many organizations, businesses, and homeowners associations and local legal systems had official policies to exclude Mexican Americans. Throughout the southwest discrimination in wages were institutionalized in "white wages" versus lower "Mexican wages" for the same job classifications. For Mexican Americans, opportunities for employment were largely limited to guest worker programs. The bracero program, which began in 1942 and officially ended in 1964, allowed them temporary entry into the United States as migrant workers in farms throughout California and the Southwest.<ref name="autogenerated1"/><ref name="autogenerated2"/><ref name="autogenerated11"/><ref name="Pulido 53"/>

Mexican Americans legally classified as "White", following anti-[[miscegenation]] laws in most western states until the 1960s, could not legally marry African or Asian Americans (See ''[[Perez v. Sharp]]'').<ref name="Traynor-1948" /> However, most were not socially considered white, and therefore, according to Historian Neil Foley in the book ''The White Scourge: Mexicans, Blacks, and Poor Whites in Texas Cotton Culture'', Mexicans and Mexican-Americans did marry non-whites typically without reprisal.

Despite the similarities between Mexican American and African American patterns of segregation, there were important differences. The racial demarcations between whites and blacks in a state like Texas were inviolable, whereas those between whites and Mexican Americans were not. It was possible for Mexican Americans to attend white schools and colleges, mix socially with whites and marry whites: all of these things were impossible for African Americans, largely due to the legalized nature of black-white segregation. Racial segregation was rarely as rigid for Mexican Americans as it was for African Americans, even in situations where African Americans enjoyed higher economic status than Mexican Americans.<ref name="Jason McDonald 2012">{{cite book|first=Jason|last=McDonald|title=Racial Dynamics in Early Twentieth-Century Austin, Texas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JB-l5_Y3LCgC&pg=PP2|date=14 June 2012|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-0-7391-7097-7}}</ref>

===Segregated schools===
[[File:Mexican school in Peñasco, New Mexico.jpg|thumb|''[[Mendez v. Westminster]]'' was a 1947 federal court case that challenged Mexican remedial schools in [[Orange County, California]]. In its ruling, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in an ''[[en banc]]'' decision, held that the forced segregation of Mexican American students into separate "Mexican schools" was unconstitutional and unlawful because Mexicans were white. It was the first ruling in the United States in favor of desegregation.]]

In the 1940s in Texas, Mexican American children were at times forced to register at "Mexican schools", where classroom conditions were poor, the school year was shorter, and the quality of education was substandard.<ref name="autogenerated5">Ferg-Cadima, James A. Black, [http://www.maldef.org/publications/pdf/LatinoDesegregationPaper2004.pdf "White and Brown"]. Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. April 28, 2008 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008072018/http://www.maldef.org/publications/pdf/LatinoDesegregationPaper2004.pdf |date=October 8, 2007 }}</ref>

Various reasons for the inferiority of the education given to Mexican American students have been listed by James A. Ferg-Cadima including: inadequate resources, poor equipment, unfit building construction. In 1923, the Texas Education Survey Commission found that the school year for some non-white groups was 1.6 months shorter than the average school year.<ref name="autogenerated5" /> Some have interpreted the shortened school year as a "means of social control" implementing policies to ensure that Mexican Americans would maintain the unskilled labor force required for a strong economy. A lesser education would serve to confine Mexican Americans to the bottom rung of the social ladder. By limiting the number of days that Mexican Americans could attend school and allotting time for these same students to work, in mainly agricultural and seasonal jobs, the prospects for higher education and upward mobility were slim.<ref name="autogenerated5" />

===Immigration and segregation===
[[File:El Paso Morning Times, El Paso, Texas, January 30, 1917.png|thumb|left|''El Paso Morning Times'' newspaper January 30, 1917, headlinedː "Bill Before Legislature to Prevent Mexicans Voting" depicts the [[1917 Bath riots]] begun by Carmelita Torres at the Santa Fe International Bridge disinfecting plant at the El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico border.]]

Historically, immigrants first settled in immigration hubs, where immigrants of similar background settle after they first arrive to the United States. Although they are segregated from the general population, hubs have helped many immigrants to acclimate to the United States, learn English, accumulate wealth, and once they are established, move into mainstream society.<ref name="autogenerated6">{{cite journal|last1=White|first1=Michael J.|first2=Catherine|last2=Bueker|first3=Jennifer E.|last3=Glick|date=August 2002|title=The Impact of Immigration on Residential Segregation Revisited|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/252197245}}</ref>

This model of immigration and residential segregation, explained above, is the model which has historically been accurate in describing the experiences of Latino immigrants. However, the patterns of immigration seen today no longer follows this model. This old model is termed the standard spatial assimilation model. More contemporary models are the polarization model and the diffusion model: The spatial assimilation model posits that as immigrants would live within this country's borders, they would simultaneously become more comfortable in their new surroundings, their socioeconomic status would rise, and their ability to speak English would increase. The combination of these changes would allow for the immigrant to move out of the barrio and into the dominant society. This type of assimilation reflects the experiences of immigrants of the early twentieth century.<ref name="autogenerated9" />

Polarization model suggests that the immigration of non-black minorities into the United States further separates blacks and whites, as though the new immigrants are a buffer between them. This creates a hierarchy in which blacks are at the bottom, whites are at the top, and other groups fill the middle. In other words, the polarization model posits that Asians and Hispanics are less segregated than their African-American peers because white American society would rather live closer to Asians or Latinos than African-Americans.<ref name="autogenerated6" />

The diffusion model has also been suggested as a way of describing the immigrant's experience within the United States. This model is rooted in the belief that as time passes, more and more immigrants enter the country. This model suggests that as the United States becomes more populated with a more diverse set of peoples, stereotypes and discriminatory practices will decrease, as awareness and acceptance increase. The diffusion model predicts that new immigrants will break down old patterns of discrimination and prejudice, as one becomes more and more comfortable with the more diverse neighborhoods that are created through the influx of immigrants.<ref name="autogenerated6" /> Applying this model to the experiences of Mexican Americans forces one to see Mexican American immigrants as positive additions to the "American melting pot", in which as more additions are made to the pot, the more equal and accepting society will become.

==The Chicano movement and the Chicano Moratorium==
{{See also|Chicano movement|Chicano studies}}
[[File:Ruben Salazar Globe Lobby Plaque.jpg|thumb|A plaque honoring Ruben Salazar mounted in the Globe Lobby of the Los Angeles Times Building in downtown Los Angeles]]
The Chicano Moratorium, formally known as the National Chicano Moratorium Committee, was a movement of Chicano anti-war activists that built a broad-based but fragile coalition of Mexican-American groups to organize opposition to the [[Vietnam War]]. The committee was led by activists from local colleges and members of the "[[Brown Berets]]", a group with roots in the high school student movement that staged walkouts in 1968, known as the [[East L.A. walkouts]], also called "blowouts".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/departures/the-chicano-moratorium|title=The Chicano Moratorium|date=7 November 2011|publisher=PBS SoCal|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>

The best known historical fact of the Moratorium was the death of [[Rubén Salazar]], known for his reporting on civil rights and police brutality. The official story is that Salazar was killed by a [[tear gas]] canister fired by a member of the [[Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department]] into the Silver Dollar Café at the conclusion of the [[National Chicano Moratorium March]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/death-ruben-salazar-33584|title=Death of Rubén Salazar &#124; Smithsonian American Art Museum|website=americanart.si.edu|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>

==Education==
===Parental Involvement===

[[File:Sal-Castro.png|thumb|upright|[[Sal Castro]] was a Mexican-American [[Education|educator]] and activist. He was most well known for his role in the 1968 [[East L.A. walkouts]]. See [[Walkout (film)|''Walkout'' (film)]].]]

For a long time, there has been a misconception that the parents of Mexican American students are not involved in their children's education; however, multiple studies have demonstrated that parents are involved in their children's education (Valencia & Black, 2002).<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Valencia|first1=Richard R.|title='Mexican Americans Don't Value Education!' On the Basis of the Myth, Mythmaking, and Debunking|journal=Journal of Latinos and Education|date=April 2002|volume=1|issue=2|pages=81–103|doi=10.1207/S1532771XJLE0102_2|s2cid=144594549}}</ref> It is important to know that the parents of Mexican American students frequently display their involvement through untraditional methods; such as, consejos, home-base practices, and high academic expectations.

[[File:Cavazos.jpg|thumb|left|175px|[[Lauro Cavazos]], [[United States Secretary of Education|Secretary of Education]] from August 1988 to December 1990]]

Literature has demonstrated that parental involvement has had a positive influence in the academic achievement of Mexican American students. Studies have shown that Mexican families show their value towards education by using untraditional methods (Kiyama, 2011).<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kiyama|first1=Judy Marquez|title=Family Lessons and Funds of Knowledge: College-Going Paths in Mexican American Families|journal=Journal of Latinos and Education|date=January 2011|volume=10|issue=1|pages=23–42|doi=10.1080/15348431.2011.531656|hdl=1802/23012|s2cid=17247506|hdl-access=free}}</ref> One educational practice that is commonly used among Mexican families are consejos (advice). Additional research has supported the idea that parents' consejos have had a significant influence on the education of Mexican American students. Espino (2016)<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Espino|first1=Michelle M.|title=The Value of Education and Educación: Nurturing Mexican American Children's Educational Aspirations to the Doctorate|journal=Journal of Latinos and Education|date=2 April 2016|volume=15|issue=2|pages=73–90|doi=10.1080/15348431.2015.1066250|s2cid=146963763}}</ref> studied the influence that parental involvement had on seven, 1st generation Mexican American PhDs. The study found that one of the participant's father would frequently use consejos to encourage his son to continue his education. The father's consejos served as an encouragement tool, which motivated the participant to continue his education. Consejos are commonly associated with the parents' occupation. Parents use their occupation as leverage to encourage their child to continue his or her education, or else they may end up working an undesirable job (Espino, 2016). While this might not be the most common form of parental involvement, studies have shown that it has been an effective tool that encourages Mexican American students. Although that might be an effective tool for Mexican American students, a mother can be just as an important figure for consejos. A mother's role teaches their child the importance of everyday tasks such as knowing how to cook, clean and care for oneself to be independent and also to help out around the house. The children of single mothers have a huge impact on their children in pushing them to be successful in school to have a better life than what they provided to their children. Most single mothers live in poverty and are dependent of the government, so they want the best for their children so they are always encouraging their children to be focused and do their best.

[[File:Arizona Ethnic Studies.jpg|right|alt=Protesters against HB 2281|thumb|Protesters are seen in June 2011 in support of the [[Tucson Unified School District]]'s Mexican-American studies program. A new state law HB2281 effectively ended the program, saying it was divisive.]]

Another study emphasized the importance of home-based parental involvement. Altschul (2011)<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Altschul|first1=I.|title=Parental Involvement and the Academic Achievement of Mexican American Youths: What Kinds of Involvement in Youths' Education Matter Most?|journal=Social Work Research|date=1 September 2011|volume=35|issue=3|pages=159–170|doi=10.1093/swr/35.3.159}}</ref> conducted a study that tested the effects of six different types of parental involvement and their effect on Mexican American students. The study used previous data from the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS) of 1988. The data was used to evaluate the influence of parental practices in the 8th grade and their effect on students once they were in the 10th grade. Altschul (2011) noted that home-based parental involvement had a more positive effect on the academic achievement of Mexican American students, than involvement in school organizations. The literature suggests that parental involvement in the school setting is not necessary, parents can impact the academic achievement of their children from their home.

Additional literature has demonstrated that parent involvement also comes in the form of parent expectations. Valencia and Black (2002) argued that Mexican parents place a significant amount of value on education and hold high expectations for their children. The purpose of their study was to debunk the notion that Mexicans do not value education by providing evidence that shows the opposite. Setting high expectations and expressing their desire for their children to be academically successful has served as powerful tools to increase of the academic achievement among Mexican American students (Valencia & Black, 2002). Keith and Lichtman (1995)<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Keith|first1=Patricia B.|last2=Lichtman|first2=Marilyn V.|title=Does parental involvement influence the academic achievement of Mexican-American eighth graders? Results from the National Education Longitudinal Study.|journal=School Psychology Quarterly|date=1994|volume=9|issue=4|pages=256–273|doi=10.1037/h0088292}}</ref> also conducted a research study that measured the influence of parental involvement and academic achievement. The data was collected from the NELS and used a total of 1,714 students that identified as Mexican American (Chicana/o). The study found a higher level of academic achievement among 8th grade Mexican American students and parents who had high educational aspirations for their children (Keith & Lichtman, 1995).

[[File:Children_statue.jpg|thumb|left|[[Sylvia Mendez]] Historic Freedom Trail and Monument]]

Additional research done by Carranza, You, Chhuon, and Hudley (2009)<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Carranza|first1=Francisco D.|last2=You|first2=Sukkyung|last3=Chhuon|first3=Vichet|last4=Hudley|first4=Cynthia|title=Mexican American adolescents' academic achievement and aspirations: the role of perceived parental educational involvement, acculturation, and self-esteem|journal=Adolescence|date=22 June 2009|volume=44|issue=174|pages=313–334|id={{Gale|A207643292}} {{INIST|21922379}}|pmid=19764269}}</ref> added support to the idea that high parental expectations were associated with higher achievement levels among Mexican American students. Carranza et al. (2009) studied 298 Mexican American high school students. They studied whether perceived parental involvement, acculturation, and self-esteem had any effect on academic achievement and aspirations. Results from their study demonstrated that perceived parental involvement had an influence on the students' academic achievement and aspirations. Additionally, Carranza et al. noted that among females, those who perceived that their parents expected them to get good grades tended to study more and have higher academic aspirations (2009). The findings suggest that parental expectations can affect the academic performance of Mexican American students.

''[[Stand and Deliver]]'' was an inductee of the 2011 [[National Film Registry]] list.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|title=Complete National Film Registry Listing – National Film Preservation Board|work=The Library of Congress|access-date=2018-03-18}}</ref><ref name="LOC">{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2011/11-240.html|title=2011 National Film Registry More Than a Box of Chocolates|work=Library of Congress|date=December 28, 2011|access-date=December 29, 2011}}</ref> The National Film Board said that it was "one of the most popular of a new wave of narrative feature films produced in the 1980s by Latino filmmakers" and that it "celebrates in a direct, approachable, and impactful way, values of self-betterment through hard work and power through knowledge."<ref name="LOC"/>

==Mexican American communities==

[[File:Los Angeles with Mount Baldy.jpg|thumb|250px|Los Angeles attracts Mexican American immigrants because of its rich Spanish and Mexican architecture, history and culture.]]
[[File:Record Ave. & Hammel St..jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[City Terrace]] streets]]

Large Mexican American populations by both size and per capita exist in the following American counties, metropolitan areas, and cities:

=== Arizona ===
* [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] – Fifth-largest Mexican-American population.
* [[Tucson metropolitan area|Tucson]] – 30% of the almost 1 million people in the metro area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-context=adp&-qr_name=ACS_2009_5YR_G00_DP5YR5&-ds_name=ACS_2009_5YR_G00_&-tree_id=5309&-redoLog=true&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=31000US46060&-format=&-_lang=en|title=American FactFinder|publisher=Factfinder.census.gov|access-date=2014-01-06|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200211182359/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-context=adp&-qr_name=ACS_2009_5YR_G00_DP5YR5&-ds_name=ACS_2009_5YR_G00_&-tree_id=5309&-redoLog=true&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=31000US46060&-format=&-_lang=en|archive-date=2020-02-11}}</ref>
* Arizona border: 80% [[Santa Cruz County, Arizona|Santa Cruz County]], which includes [[Nogales, Arizona|Nogales]], is Mexican-American, while more than 100,000 Mexican-Americans reside in and around [[Yuma, Arizona|Yuma]]

=== California ===
* [[Southern California]] around Los Angeles has the highest absolute number of Mexican-Americans of any region in the country. [[History of the Mexican Americans in Los Angeles|The city proper is home to over 1.2&nbsp;million of Mexican ancestry]], another 2.3&nbsp;million throughout [[Los Angeles County, California|Los Angeles County]], and a total of about 6.3&nbsp;million in the five-county [[Greater Los Angeles Area]]. Unsurprisingly, it has the largest Mexican American population in the United States. (according to the 2010 census, L.A. is now 31.9% of Mexican descent with numerous [[Central American]] national groups).
** [[East Los Angeles, California]] – Unincorporated community of roughly 130,000, name synonymous with Mexican Americans, 97% Hispanic, 88% of Mexicans are immigrant, 40% of east L.A. residents reportedly Mexican including American-born.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|title=U.S. Census website|date=29 November 2014|access-date=7 October 2017}}</ref>  Neighborhoods in the City of Los Angeles east of the [[Los Angeles River]], such as [[Boyle Heights, Los Angeles|Boyle Heights]], [[El Sereno, Los Angeles|El Sereno]] and [[Glassell Park, Los Angeles|Glassell Park]] are mostly Mexican-American.
*** [[Montebello, California]] – Over 62% of the population is Mexican.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.infoplease.com/us/california/demographic-statistics-119|title=Demographic Statistics for Montebello, California}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://maps.latimes.com/neighborhoods/neighborhood/montebello/|title=Montebello|website=Mapping L.A.|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>
** [[Culver City, California]] was the site of the infamous [[Zoot Suit riots]] in 1943, but it and other Westside communities have some of the lowest percentage of Mexican Americans in Los Angeles County
** [[South Los Angeles|South]] and Southeast Los Angeles are now predominately Latino
*** [[Long Beach, California]] – Third largest city in [[Southern California]], one of many cities in the region with a large Mexican/Latin American population, 165,240 in 2021.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://data.census.gov/map/040XX00US06$1600000/ACSDT5YSPT2021/B01003/B01003_001E?t=401:4015&layer=VT_2021_160_00_PY_D1&breaks=Manual(2500,12500,23921,83210)&loc=33.9735,-118.4313,z9.6003 |title=Census Data B01003 Total Population}}</ref>
*** [[Pico Rivera, California|Pico Rivera]] and [[West Whittier-Los Nietos, California|West Whittier-Los Nietos]] have long been historically Mexican-American, with their roots in the Jimtown shantytown.
*** [[South Gate, California]] – Over 70.77% of the population is Mexican or Mexican American.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://zipatlas.com/us/ca/city-comparison/percentage-mexican-population.htm|title=Cities with the Highest Percentage of Mexicans in California &#124; Zip Atlas}}</ref>  The nearby cities of [[Bell, California|Bell]], [[Bell Gardens, California|Bell Gardens]], [[Cudahy, California|Cudahy]], [[Huntington Park, California|Huntington Park]],[[Lynwood, California|Lynwood]], and [[Maywood, California|Maywood]] are also mostly Mexican.
*** More than half of the populations of [[Downey, California|Downey]] and [[Whittier, California|Whittier]] are of Mexican descent, many being transplants from East L.A..<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-downey-latinos-20150805-story.html|title=Latinos' rising fortunes are epitomized in Downey|website=Los Angeles Times|date=2015-08-05}}</ref>  The two cities both lay claim to being the "Mexican Beverly Hills"<ref>{{cite web |title=The 'Mexican Beverly Hills' |last=Galindo |first=Erick |others=Photography by June Canedo |date=2020-12-05 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/05/style/mexican-beverly-hills-downey-los-angeles.html |work=[[New York Times]]}}</ref>
** [[San Gabriel Valley]] – There is a large Mexican American community in San Gabriel Valley cities such as [[El Monte, California|El Monte]], [[Baldwin Park, California|Baldwin Park]], [[Pomona, California|Pomona]] and [[West Covina]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Mexican Americans: Leadership, Ideology, and Identity, 1930–1960}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Mexican American Baseball in the Central Coast|page=89}}</ref>
*** [[La Puente, California]] – About three-quarters are of Mexican ancestry or Hispanic
** [[San Fernando Valley]]: 42 percent of the San Fernando Valley is Hispanic or Latino.<ref>{{cite web |title=San Fernado Valley CCD |url=https://censusreporter.org/profiles/06000US0603792785-san-fernando-valley-ccd-los-angeles-county-ca/ |website=censusreporter |access-date=January 30, 2024}}</ref>  Predominately Mexican-American communities include [[San Fernando, California |San Fernando]], [[Pacoima, California|Pacoima]] and [[Panorama City, California |Panorama City]].
** [[Inland Empire, California]] (Riverside/ San Bernardino Counties- and the cities of that namesake) – About a third of the population are of Mexican descent. Including [[Pomona, California|Pomona]] and [[Romoland, California|Romoland]] with high Mexican percentages.
*** [[Riverside, California|Riverside]],<ref name="factfinder2.census.gov">{{cite web|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_SF1_QTP10&prodType=table|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212055907/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_SF1_QTP10&prodType=table|archive-date=February 12, 2020|title=American FactFinder – Results|author=Data Access and Dissemination Systems (DADS)|publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref> [[Adelanto]], [[Hesperia, California|Hesperia]], [[Victorville]] and [[Apple Valley, California|Apple Valley]] in the [[Victor Valley]],<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cruz|first1=Rene Ray De La|title=Strength in numbers: Hispanics now the majority in Inland Empire|url=https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20170928/strength-in-numbers-hispanics-now-majority-in-inland-empire|website=Daily Press|date=September 28, 2017}}</ref> [[Rialto, California|Rialto]] and [[San Bernardino, California|San Bernardino]],<ref name="factfinder2.census.gov" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.riversideca.gov/athomeinriverside/neighborhoods-eastside.asp|title=Riverside, California &#124; City of Arts & Innovation &#124; at Home in Riverside}}</ref> [[Redlands, California|Redlands]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Mexican Americans in Redlands|year=2012}}</ref>
*** [[Indio, California|Indio]]<ref name="factfinder2.census.gov" /> and [[Coachella, California]] (primarily Mexican-American).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_SF1_QTP6&prodType=table|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212213134/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_SF1_QTP6&prodType=table|archive-date=2020-02-12|title=American FactFinder – Results|author=Data Access and Dissemination Systems (DADS)|publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref>
** In 2021, there were over one million Mexican-American residents of [[Orange County, California]]
*** [[Santa Ana, California|Santa Ana]] – 78% Latino with the majority (223,010) being of Mexican descent.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Nagourney|first1=Adam|last2=Medina|first2=Jennifer|title=This City Is 78% Latino, and the Face of a New California|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/12/us/california-latino-voters.html|website=The New York Times|date=October 11, 2016}}</ref>
*** [[Anaheim, California|Anaheim]]: 165,813 Mexican-Americans
* [[San Diego]], California – slightly less than one-third of the city's population is Latino, primarily Mexican American (354,079 in 2021), making it the lowest percentage of Latinos of any significant border city.  Notable Mexican-American neighborhoods include [[Barrio Logan, San Diego|Barrio Logan]] and [[San Ysidro, San Diego]].  Other San Diego area communities with significant Mexican-American populations include [[Chula Vista, California|Chula Vista]] (152,973, 55.2%), [[Escondido, California|Escondido]] (70,731, 46.9%) and [[National City, California|National City]] (35,356, 63.2%)
* [[Imperial Valley]] region ([[Imperial County, California]], especially [[Calexico, California|Calexico]]). 
* [[San Francisco Bay Area]] – also with over one million Hispanics, many of whom are Mexican Americans, both US-born and foreign-born (see also [[Oakland, California|Oakland]] about 10–20% Hispanic and San Francisco – the Mission District section- the city is 10–20% Hispanic).
** [[East Palo Alto, California|East Palo Alto]]
** [[Half Moon Bay, California|Half Moon Bay]] 
** [[North Fair Oaks, California|North Fair Oaks]] 
** [[Redwood City, California|Redwood City]]
** [[Oakland, California|Oakland]] – Many live in the [[Fruitvale, Oakland|Fruitvale]] district.
** [[San José, California|San José]] – Nearly one-third of the city's population is Mexican American or of Hispanic origin; San Jose has the largest Mexican American population within the Bay Area.
** [[South San Francisco, California|South San Francisco]]
* [[Central Valley of California]] both the [[Sacramento Valley|Sacramento]] and [[San Joaquin Valley]]s have majority Mexican American communities. Examples being [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]] and [[Fresno, California|Fresno]] (248,031 Mexican-Americans)<ref name=CVCities21></ref> and the heaviest concentrations in [[Kern County, California]] around [[Bakersfield, California|Bakersfield]] (184,262 Mexican-Americans)<ref name=CVCities21>{{cite web |url=https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5YSPT2021.B01003?t=001:401:4015&g=050XX00US06019$1600000,06029$1600000,06031$1600000,06107$1600000}}</ref>
**Cities and communities that had at least 85% Mexican Americans in 2021 included [[San Joaquin, California|San Joaquin]] (98.0%), [[Lost Hills, California|Lost Hills]] (95.8%), [[Arvin, California|Arvin]] (94.1%), [[Parlier, California|Parlier]] (93.3%), [[Weedpatch, California|Weedpatch]] (93.1%), [[Firebaugh, California|Firebaugh]] (92.2%), [[Orange Cove, California|Orange Cove]] (90.0%), [[Huron, California|Huron]] (88.6%), [[McFarland, California|McFarland]] (87.8%), and [[Lamont, California|Lamont]] (87.4%)<ref name=CVCities21></ref>
* [[Monterey County, California|Monterey County]], which includes the [[Salinas Valley]] agricultural region, was approximately 55% Mexican-American in 2021.<ref name=MiceAndMen>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5YSPT2021.B01003?t=001:401:4015&g=050XX00US06031$1600000,06053,06053$0600000 }}</ref>  This includes 119,590 in the city [[Salinas, California|Salinas]] and high concentrations in [[Gonzales, California|Gonzales]], [[Greenfield, California|Greenfield]] and [[Soledad, California|Soledad]].<ref name=MiceAndMen></ref>

=== Colorado ===
* [[Denver]] – Colorado has the eighth largest population of Hispanics, seventh highest percentage of Latinos, fourth largest population of Mexican-Americans, and sixth highest percentage of Mexican-Americans in the United States. According to the 2010 census, there are over one million Mexican-Americans in Colorado.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dola.colorado.gov/dlg/demog/2010data/race%20and%20hispanic%20origin%20muni.pdf|title=2010 Population by Race and Hispanic Origin|website=Dola.colorado.gov|access-date=7 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919153224/http://dola.colorado.gov/dlg/demog/2010data/race%20and%20hispanic%20origin%20muni.pdf|archive-date=19 September 2018}}</ref> Over one-third of the city's population is Mexican-American or Latino, as well as approximately one-fourth of the entire Denver Metropolitan area. About 17% of the cities population is foreign born, mostly from Latin America.
* [[Greeley, Colorado|Greeley]] – Over one-third of the city's population is Hispanic, mostly Mexican-American.
** [[Garden City, Colorado|Garden City]] is Hispanic majority and [[Evans, Colorado|Evans]] has a very large Hispanic population as well.
* [[Demographics of Colorado|Southern Colorado]] is home to many communities of Hispanics descended from Mexican settlers who arrived during Spanish colonial times. Roughly half of [[Pueblo, Colorado|Pueblo]]'s population is Latino, mostly Mexican-American. Many other towns in southern Colorado have high proportions of Mexican-Americans. [[La Junta, Colorado|La Junta]], [[Rocky Ford, Colorado|Rocky Ford]], [[Las Animas, Colorado|Las Animas]], [[Lamar, Colorado|Lamar]], [[Walsenburg, Colorado|Walsenburg]] and [[Trinidad, Colorado|Trinidad]] all have large Mexican American communities.
** [[San Luis Valley]] – The San Luis Valley has many towns with large Mexican-American populations. [[Antonito, Colorado|Antonito]], [[Blanca, Colorado|Blanca]], [[Center, Colorado|Center]], [[Del Norte, Colorado|Del Norte]], [[Fort Garland, Colorado|Fort Garland]], [[Monte Vista, Colorado|Monte Vista]] and [[Romeo, Colorado|Romeo]] are all Hispanic majority.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://scseed.org/wb/media/SLV%20Statistical%20Profile%2012-03-07.pdf|title=San Luis Valley Statistical Profile|website=Scseed.org|access-date=7 October 2017}}</ref>

===Illinois===
* Illinois – As of 2021, the state has 1.76&nbsp;million people of full or partial Mexican ancestry (13.9% of the state population)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=B03001&g=0400000US17_0500000US170310|title=B03001 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN – United States – 2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates – Chicago city, Illinois|date=July 1, 2021|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=September 15, 2022}}</ref>
** [[Chicago metropolitan area]] – As of 2021, nearly 1.69&nbsp;million people or 17.8% of the metro population<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=B03001:+HISPANIC+OR+LATINO+ORIGIN+BY+SPECIFIC+ORIGIN&g=310XX00US16980|title=B03001 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN – United States – 2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates – Chicago Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metro Area|date=July 1, 2021|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=September 15, 2022}}</ref> (which includes [[Racine County|Racine]] and [[Kenosha County|Kenosha]] counties in Wisconsin and [[Lake County, Indiana|Lake]] and [[Porter County, Indiana|Porter]] counties in Indiana).  After Los Angeles, Chicagoland is the second-largest Mexican American Metropolitan area.
** [[Cook County, Illinois|Cook County]] – As of 2021, 1,032,984 people or 20.0% of the county population,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=B03001:+HISPANIC+OR+LATINO+ORIGIN+BY+SPECIFIC+ORIGIN&g=0500000US17031,170310|title=B03001 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN – United States – 2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates – Cook County, Illinois|date=July 1, 2021|publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref> the [[List of counties in Illinois#Counties|most populous county in the state]].
*** Chicago – As of 2021, 571,577 people or 21.2% of the city population, largest Mexican population outside of the Southwest region. Mexicans represent almost 80% of the Latinos in Chicago.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=B03001:+HISPANIC+OR+LATINO+ORIGIN+BY+SPECIFIC+ORIGIN&g=1600000US1714000|title=B03001 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN – United States – 2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates – Chicago city, Illinois|date=July 1, 2021|publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref>
*** [[Cicero, Illinois|Cicero]] – As of 2021, 67,434 people or 79.42% of the city population,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=B03001:+HISPANIC+OR+LATINO+ORIGIN+BY+SPECIFIC+ORIGIN&g=160XX00US1714351|title=B03001 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN – United States – 2021 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates – Cicero city, Illinois|date=July 1, 2021|publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref> the largest Mexican ancestry majority city in the state
** [[Dupage County, Illinois|Dupage County]] – As of 2021, 98,864 people or 10.7% of the county population,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=B03001:+HISPANIC+OR+LATINO+ORIGIN+BY+SPECIFIC+ORIGIN&g=050XX00US17043|title=B03001 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN – United States – 2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates – Dupage County, Illinois|date=July 1, 2021|publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref> the [[List of counties in Illinois#Counties|second-most populous county in the state]].
** [[Kane County, Illinois|Kane County]] – As of 2021, 140,682 people or 27.1% of the county population,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=B03001:+HISPANIC+OR+LATINO+ORIGIN+BY+SPECIFIC+ORIGIN&g=050XX00US17089|title=B03001 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN – United States – 2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates – Kane County, Illinois|date=July 1, 2021|publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref> the [[List of counties in Illinois#Counties|fifth-most populous county in the state]].
*** [[Aurora, Illinois|Aurora]] – As of 2021, 67,498 people or 36.8% of the city population.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=B03001:+HISPANIC+OR+LATINO+ORIGIN+BY+SPECIFIC+ORIGIN&g=160XX00US1703012|title=B03001 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN – United States – 2021 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates – Aurora city, Illinois|date=July 1, 2021|publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref> 
*** [[Elgin, Illinois|Elgin]] – As of 2021, 46,467 people or 40.7% of the city population.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=B03001:+HISPANIC+OR+LATINO+ORIGIN+BY+SPECIFIC+ORIGIN&g=160XX00US1723074|title=B03001 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN – United States – 2021 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates – Elgin city, Illinois|date=July 1, 2021|publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref> 
** [[Lake County, Illinois|Lake County]] – As of 2021, 127,648 people or 18.0% of the county population,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=B03001:+HISPANIC+OR+LATINO+ORIGIN+BY+SPECIFIC+ORIGIN&g=050XX00US17097|title=B03001 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN – United States – 2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates – Lake County, Illinois|date=July 1, 2021|publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref> the [[List of counties in Illinois#Counties|third-most populous county in the state]].
*** [[Waukegan, Illinois|Waukegan]] – As of 2021, 40,229 people or 44.8% of the city population.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=B03001:+HISPANIC+OR+LATINO+ORIGIN+BY+SPECIFIC+ORIGIN&g=160XX00US1779293|title=B03001 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN – United States – 2021 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates – Waukegan city, Illinois|date=July 1, 2021|publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref> 
** [[Will County, Illinois|Will County]] – As of 2021, 105,266 people or 15.1% of the county population,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=B03001:+HISPANIC+OR+LATINO+ORIGIN+BY+SPECIFIC+ORIGIN&g=050XX00US17197|title=B03001 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN – United States – 2021 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates – Lake County, Illinois|date=July 1, 2021|publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref> the [[List of counties in Illinois#Counties|fourth-most populous county in the state]].

===Indiana===
* [[Lake County, Indiana|Lake County]] – As of 2021, 74,884 people or 15.1% of the county population,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=B03001:+HISPANIC+OR+LATINO+ORIGIN+BY+SPECIFIC+ORIGIN&g=050XX00US18089|title=B03001 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN – United States – 2021 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates – Lake County, Indiana|date=July 1, 2021|publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref> the [[List of counties in Indiana|second-most populous county in the state]].

=== Texas ===
[[File:Oasis_Drive-In,_Crystal_City,_TX_IMG_4246.JPG|thumb|right|250px|Oasis Drive Inn with mural of a [[scarlet macaw]] on US Highway 83 in [[Crystal City, Texas]]]]

* [[Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex|Dallas/Fort Worth Area]] – [[History of Mexican Americans in Dallas–Fort Worth|Fifth-largest Mexican-American population and over 1.75&nbsp;million Mexicans]] in the [[Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex]] (third-largest foreign born Mexican population in the US per MSA).
* [[San Antonio|San Antonio, Texas]] – Over half of the population in the city proper (53.2%, 705,530) and second largest Mexican population of any city in the US.<ref name="factfinder2.census.gov"/>  53% of San Antonio is of Mexican descent, highest percentage of any city with a population of over 1 million.  About 1.2 million Mexicans live in Greater San Antonio, just under half the area's population.<ref name=TexasMetros21></ref>
* The [[Rio Grande Valley]] and [[South Texas]] – Heavily populated by Mexican-Americans, who are the ethnic majority, in a region spanning from [[Laredo, Texas|Laredo]] to [[Corpus Christi, Texas|Corpus Christi]] (247,917 Mexicans in the metro, about 59% of the total population) to [[Brownsville, Texas|Brownsville]].
** [[El Paso, Texas|El Paso]] – Largest Mexican-American community bordering a state of Mexico. 74% of El Paso is of Mexican descent, highest percentage of any city with a population of over 500k.  There are 674,968 Mexicans in the El Paso area.<ref name=TexasMetros21></ref>
** In 2021, it was estimated that 88% of the bordering [[McAllen–Edinburg–Mission metropolitan area]] ([[Hidalgo County, Texas|Hidalgo County]]), which includes [[McAllen, Texas|McAllen]] and [[Edinburg, Texas|Edinburg]], was Mexican-American, which translates to 766,626 Mexican-Americans<ref name=TexasMetros21>{{cite web| title=B01003TOTAL POPULATION, 2021 ACS 5-Year Estimates Selected Population Detailed Tables |url=https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5YSPT2021.B01003?t=001:401:4015&g=040XX00US48$3100000|publisher=[[American Community Survey]]}}</ref>
** [[Laredo, Texas|Laredo]] – The largest Mexican-American community bordering [[Nuevo Laredo|Nuevo Laredo, Mexico]]. The majority of Laredo speaks Spanish as their first language.
** Brownsville,Texas – The Hispanic population of Brownsville is 94.6% due to its proximity to the Mexico border.  361,595 Mexican-Americans live in the Brownsville area
**Eagle Pass area: 52,740 Mexicans, 91% of the population.
* [[Houston|Houston, Texas]] – [[History of Mexican Americans in Houston|Third-largest Mexican ancestry community]] in the United States.<ref name="census">{{Cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=houston+texas+hispanic+or+latino&tid=ACSDP1Y2019.DP05&hidePreview=false|title=Explore Census Data|website=data.census.gov|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>  1,922,721 people live in Metro Houston (about 27% of the population), including 693, 807 in city of Houston proper.<ref name=TexasMetros21></ref>
* [[San Angelo, Texas|San Angelo]] with other areas of [[West Texas]], home to [[Tejanos]].  Many areas of West Texas are one-third or more Latino.<ref name=TexasMetros21></ref>
* [[Greater Austin]] is home to 587,289 Mexican Americans, about 26% of the population.<ref name=TexasMetros21></ref>

===Wisconsin===
* [[Milwaukee County, Wisconsin|Milwaukee County]] – As of 2021, 97,796 people or 10.5% of the county population.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=B03001:+HISPANIC+OR+LATINO+ORIGIN+BY+SPECIFIC+ORIGIN&g=050XX00US55079&tid=ACSDT1Y2021.B03001|title=B03001 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN – United States – 2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates – Milwaukee County, Wisconsin|date=July 1, 2021|publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref>
** [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin|Milwaukee city]] – As of 2021, 77,354 people or 13.4% of the city population.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=B03001:+HISPANIC+OR+LATINO+ORIGIN+BY+SPECIFIC+ORIGIN&g=160XX00US5553000&tid=ACSDT5Y2021.B03001|title=B03001 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN – United States – 2021 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates – Milwaukee city, Wisconsin|date=July 1, 2021|publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref>

=== Other states ===
* [[Las Vegas]], Nevada – 70% of Hispanics that are eligible to vote in Nevada are Mexican<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/fact-sheet/latinos-in-the-2014-election-nevada/|title=Latinos in the 2014 Election: Nevada|date=16 October 2014|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>
** [[North Las Vegas, Nevada|North Las Vegas]] – 30.14% Mexican<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://zipatlas.com/us/nv/city-comparison/percentage-mexican-population.htm|title=Percentage of Mexican Population in Nevada by City &#124; 2023 &#124; Zip Atlas|website=zipatlas.com|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nCuVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT85|title=The Peoples of Las Vegas: One City, Many Faces|isbn=978-0-87417-651-3|last1=Simich|first1=Jerry L.|last2=Wright|first2=Thomas C.|date=7 March 2005|publisher=University of Nevada Press}}</ref>
* [[Yakima Valley AVA|The Yakima Valley]] and [[Tri-Cities, Washington]] – This region of Washington contains many communities of Mexican-American majority thanks to high demand for agricultural labor.
* [[New York City]] – Mexicans are the third largest Hispanic ethnic group after Puerto Ricans and Dominicans. New York City's Mexican population ranked 11th among major American cities in 2000 at 186,872.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tc.columbia.edu/articles/2003/september/mexicans-are-now-new-york-citys-fastest-growing-ethnic-grou/|title=Mexicans Are Now New York City's Fastest Growing Ethnic Group}}</ref>
* [[Oklahoma]] – [[Oklahoma City]] and [[Tulsa]] have sizable growing Mexican populations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://zipatlas.com/us/ok/city-comparison/percentage-mexican-population.htm|title=Percentage of Mexican Population in Oklahoma by City &#124; 2023 &#124; Zip Atlas|website=zipatlas.com|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>
* [[Atlanta]] – Atlanta has a sizable Mexican population. Mexicans are the largest Hispanic ethnic group in Atlanta.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Odem|first1=Mary|last2=Browne|first2=Irene|title=Understanding the Diversity of Atlanta's Latino Population: Intersections of Race, Ethnicity, and Class|journal=Norteamérica, Revista Académica del CISAN-UNAM|date=19 December 2011|volume=6|doi=10.22201/cisan.24487228e.2011.3.147|doi-broken-date=1 July 2025|url=https://www.revistanorteamerica.unam.mx/index.php/nam/article/view/147}}</ref> Mexicans are concentrated in [[Gwinnett County]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://documents.atlantaregional.com/gawsnapshots/mexican.pdf|title=Mexicans|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>
* [[New Orleans]] – Mexicans are one of the largest Hispanic groups in New Orleans following Hondurans.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aag.org/a-glance-at-new-orleans-contemporary-hispanic-and-latino-communities/|title=A Glance at New Orleans' Contemporary Hispanic and Latino Communities|date=2 October 2017}}</ref>
* [[Kansas]] – There is a large Mexican American presence in Kansas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/mexican-americans-in-kansas/17874|title=Mexican Americans in Kansas – Kansapedia – Kansas Historical Society|website=kshs.org|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>
* [[Detroit]] – In the early 1900s, many Mexican American families moved to Michigan and Detroit. The epicenter of Detroit's Mexican American community is [[Mexicantown, Detroit|Mexicantown]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hsmichigan.org/mexicantown|title=Mexicantown &#124; Historical Society of Michigan|website=hsmichigan.org|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>
* New Jersey The North Jersey region (nicknamed "Puebla Jersey" by migrants) is home to Mexican migrants and their descendants primarily from the states of Puebla and Oaxaca. The largest Mexican community is found in the small city of [[Passaic, New Jersey|Passaic]], where roughly a quarter of the city's population is of Mexican origin, where Mexicans began to arrive in the 1970s to work in mills.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/passaic-puebla-connection-new-jersey-enclave-rooted-in-one-mexican-state-1409965651|title=Passaic-Puebla Connection: New Jersey Enclave Rooted in One Mexican State|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=6 September 2014|last1=Haddon|first1=Heather|last2=Roman|first2=Esteban}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/new-jersey-city-has-mexican-flavor-of-the-state-of-puebla/|title=New Jersey city has Mexican flavor of the state of Puebla|date=20 July 2017}}</ref>
* [[Bridgeport]] and [[New Haven]], Connecticut have the 1st and 3rd largest Mexican populations in the [[New England]] region respectively in 2020 (alongside [[Boston]] at #2), despite being much smaller cities. The Mexican population of these respective cities began to grow in the 1990s from the tens into the hundreds, to around 8,000 each by 2020. New Haven has thousands of migrants from [[Tlaxcala]] (some of whom are reported [[Nahuatl]] speakers),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.elalliance.org/languages/nahuatl|title=Nahuatl}}</ref> where New Haven is the primary destination for migrants. Mexicans are the second largest Hispanic group in both cities, but in both they are heavily outnumbered by [[Puerto Ricans]] (Bridgeport has the 7th largest Puerto Rican community in the US), there they outnumber Mexicans roughly 4:1 there. Mexicans are the largest groups in the West End and North [[The Hollow, Bridgeport|Hollow]] census tracts of Bridgeport, while in New Haven they are the largest national origin group in East [[Fair Haven, New Haven|Fair Haven]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/tlaxcala_dreams|title=Tlaxcala Dreams Land in New Haven |date=18 July 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://cinycmaps.com/index.php/ancestry-2013-17/2014-18-top-ahr|title=2014–18 Top AHR}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=bridgeport,+connecticut&g=160XX00US0952000&tid=ACSDP5Y2020.DP05|title=Explore Census Data}}</ref>

=== Other US destinations ===
[[File:Flickr bargas 2306893354--Ninfas on Navigation.jpg|thumb|Original [[Ninfa's]] on Navigation Boulevard, established by [[Ninfa Laurenzo]]]]

Major cities like [[Boise, Idaho|Boise]], Idaho; [[Oklahoma City]], Oklahoma; [[Kansas City, Kansas|Kansas City]], Kansas; Detroit, Michigan; [[Milwaukee]], Wisconsin; [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]], Oregon; [[Salt Lake City]], Utah; [[Seattle]], Washington and [[Minneapolis]], Minnesota have a large Mexican-American population.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewhispanic.org/interactives/hispanic-population-in-select-u-s-metropolitan-areas/|title=Hispanic Population and Origin in Select U.S. Metropolitan Areas, 2014 &#124; Pew Research Center|date=6 September 2016}}</ref>

===US states by Mexican American population===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! State/Territory || Mexican<br />American<br />Population<br />(2020 census)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/detailed-race-ethnicities-2020-census.html|title=Detailed Races and Ethnicities in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2020 Census|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table?t=401:4015&d=DEC+Detailed+Demographic+and+Housing+Characteristics+File+A|title=Explore Census Data|website=data.census.gov|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.socialexplorer.com/blog/post/mexican-american-population-in-the-united-states-10564|title=Mexican-American Population in the United States in 2018|access-date=July 6, 2020|work=Socialexplorer.com}}</ref>|| Percentage
|-
| {{flag|Alabama}} ||align="right"| 148,193 ||align="right"| 2.9%
|-
| {{flag|Alaska}} ||align="right"| 25,177 ||align="right"| 3.4% 
|-
| {{flag|Arizona}} ||align="right"| 1,842,769 ||align="right"| 25.7%
|-
| {{flag|Arkansas}} ||align="right"| 171,732 ||align="right"| 5.6%
|-
| {{flag|California}} ||align="right"| 12,202,347 ||align="right"| 30.8%
|-
| {{flag|Colorado}} ||align="right"| 874,342 ||align="right"| 15.1%
|-
| {{flag|Connecticut}} ||align="right"| 59,453 ||align="right"| 1.6%
|-
| {{flag|Delaware}} ||align="right"| 37,201 ||align="right"| 3.7%
|-
| {{flag|District of Columbia}} ||align="right"| 13,263 ||align="right"| 1.9%
|-
| {{flag|Florida}} ||align="right"| 707,301  ||align="right"| 3.2%
|-
|| {{flagicon|Georgia (U.S. state)}} Georgia ||align="right"| 570,149 ||align="right"| 5.3%
|-
| {{flag|Hawaii}} ||align="right"| 42,941 ||align="right"| 2.9%
|-
| {{flag|Idaho}} ||align="right"| 189,489 ||align="right"| 10.2%
|-
| {{flag|Illinois}} ||align="right"| 1,768,747 ||align="right"| 13.8%
|-
| {{flag|Indiana}} ||align="right"| 374,854 ||align="right"| 5.5%
|-
| {{flag|Iowa}} ||align="right"| 148,097 ||align="right"| 4.6%
|-
| {{flag|Kansas}} ||align="right"| 290,747 ||align="right"| 9.8%
|-
| {{flag|Kentucky}} ||align="right"| 105,469 ||align="right"| 2.3%
|-
| {{flag|Louisiana}} ||align="right"| 103,872 ||align="right"| 2.0%
|-
| {{flag|Maine}} ||align="right"| 7,167 ||align="right"| 0.5%
|-
| {{flag|Maryland}} ||align="right"| 112,886 ||align="right"| 1.8%
|-
| {{flag|Massachusetts}} ||align="right"| 51,646 ||align="right"| 0.7%
|-
| {{flag|Michigan}} ||align="right"| 381,337 ||align="right"| 3.7%
|-
| {{flag|Minnesota}} ||align="right"| 214,435 ||align="right"| 3.7%
|-
| {{flag|Mississippi}} ||align="right"| 56,688 ||align="right"| 1.9%
|-
| {{flag|Missouri}} ||align="right"| 187,563 ||align="right"| 3.0%
|-
| {{flag|Montana}} ||align="right"| 28,347 ||align="right"| 2.6%
|-
| {{flag|Nebraska}} ||align="right"| 159,907 ||align="right"| 8.1%
|-
| {{flag|Nevada}} ||align="right"| 629,558 ||align="right"| 20.2%
|-
| {{flag|New Hampshire}} ||align="right"| 10,102 ||align="right"| 0.7%
|-
| {{flag|New Jersey}} ||align="right"| 252,172 ||align="right"| 2.7%
|-
| {{flag|New Mexico}} ||align="right"| 671,552 ||align="right"| 31.7%
|-
| {{flag|New York}} ||align="right"| 496,747 ||align="right"| 2.4%
|-
| {{flag|North Carolina}} ||align="right"| 563,929 ||align="right"| 5.3%
|-
| {{flag|North Dakota}} ||align="right"| 21,195 ||align="right"| 2.7%
|-
| {{flag|Ohio}} ||align="right"| 219,916 ||align="right"| 1.8%
|-
| {{flag|Oklahoma}} ||align="right"| 353,908 ||align="right"| 8.9%
|-
| {{flag|Oregon}} ||align="right"| 446,629 ||align="right"| 10.5%
|-
| {{flag|Pennsylvania}} ||align="right"| 159,722 ||align="right"| 1.2%
|-
| {{flag|Rhode Island}} ||align="right"| 11,317 ||align="right"| 1.0%
|-
| {{flag|South Carolina}} ||align="right"| 164,506 ||align="right"| 3.2%
|-
| {{flag|South Dakota}} ||align="right"| 20,450 ||align="right"| 2.3%
|-
| {{flag|Tennessee}} ||align="right"| 256,113 ||align="right"| 3.6%
|-
| {{flag|Texas}} ||align="right"| 9,031,289 ||align="right"| 30.9%
|-
| {{flag|Utah}} ||align="right"| 326,430 ||align="right"| 10.0%
|-
| {{flag|Vermont}} ||align="right"| 3,567 ||align="right"| 0.5%
|-
| {{flag|Virginia}} ||align="right"| 197,511 ||align="right"| 2.2%
|-
| {{flag|Washington}} ||align="right"| 783,668 ||align="right"| 10.1%
|-
| {{flag|West Virginia}} ||align="right"| 12,539 ||align="right"| 0.6%
|-
| {{flag|Wisconsin}} ||align="right"| 299,955 ||align="right"| 5.1%
|-
| {{flag|Wyoming}} ||align="right"| 41,891 ||align="right"| 7.2%
|-
| ''Total US'' ||align="right"| 35,850,702 ||align="right"| 10.8%
|}

=== Metropolitan areas with the largest Mexican populations ===
The largest populations of Mexicans are situated in the following metropolitan areas (Source: 2020 ACS 5-Year Estimates):<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDP5Y2020.DP05?g=310XX00US35300|title=Explore Census Data|website=data.census.gov|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2020.B03001?q=B03001:+HISPANIC+OR+LATINO+ORIGIN+BY+SPECIFIC+ORIGIN&g=310XX00US21340|title=Explore Census Data|website=data.census.gov|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/mexican-immigrants-united-states|title=Article: Mexican Immigrants in the United States &#124; migrationpolicy.org|access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>
{{div col start}}
# [[Greater Los Angeles|Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA MSA]] – 4,558,307
# [[Inland Empire|Riverside-San Bernardino, CA MSA]] – 2,046,226
# [[Greater Houston|Houston, TX MSA]] – 1,898,723
# [[Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex|Dallas–Fort Worth, TX MSA]] – 1,758,882
# [[Chicago metropolitan area|Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WI MSA]] – 1,639,211
# [[Phoenix metropolitan area|Phoenix, AZ MSA]] – 1,310,764
# [[Greater San Antonio|San Antonio, TX MSA]] – 1,215,420
# [[San Diego County, California|San Diego, CA MSA]] – 988,825
# [[San Francisco–Oakland–Hayward, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area|San Francisco–Oakland, CA MSA]] – 658,348
# [[El Paso metropolitan area|El Paso, TX MSA]] – 657,078
{{div col end}}

== Health ==

=== Diabetes ===
[[File:Francisco_Cigarroa_Nima2.JPG|thumb|right|200px|[[Francisco G. Cigarroa]] is a distinguished physician and academic leader who has made significant contributions to healthcare and medical education, particularly in Texas]]

[[Diabetes mellitus|Diabetes]] refers to a disease in which the body has an inefficiency of properly responding to [[insulin]], which then affects the levels of glucose. The prevalence of diabetes in the United States is constantly rising. Common types of Diabetes are [[Diabetes mellitus type 1|type 1]] and [[Diabetes mellitus type 2|type 2]]. [[Diabetes mellitus type 2|Type 2]] is the more common type of diabetes among Mexican Americans, and is constantly increasing due to poor diet habits.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Seligman|first1=Rebecca|last2=Mendenhall|first2=Emily|last3=Valdovinos|first3=Maria D.|last4=Fernandez|first4=Alicia|last5=Jacobs|first5=Elizabeth A.|date=March 2015|title=Self-care and Subjectivity among Mexican Diabetes Patients in the United States|journal=Medical Anthropology Quarterly|volume=29|issue=1|pages=61–79|doi=10.1111/maq.12107|issn=0745-5194|pmid=24942832}}</ref> The increase of [[obesity]] results in an increase of [[Diabetes mellitus type 2|type 2 diabetes]] among Mexican Americans in the United States. Mexican American men have higher prevalence rates in comparison to non-Latinos, whites and blacks.<ref name="Martorell-2004">{{cite journal|last=Martorell|first=Reynaldo|date=2004-12-15|title=Diabetes and Mexicans: Why the Two Are Linked|journal=Preventing Chronic Disease|volume=2|issue=1|pages=A04|issn=1545-1151|pmc=1323307|pmid=15670457}}</ref> "The prevalence of diabetes increased from 8.9% in 1976–1980 to 12.3% in 1988–94 among adults aged 40 to 74" according to the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988–1994.<ref name="Martorell-2004" /> In a 2014 study, The US Census Bureau estimates that by 2050, one in three people living in the United States will be of Latino origin including Mexican Americans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.diabetes.org/newsroom/press-releases/2014/diabetes-among-hispanics-all-are-not-equal.html|title=Diabetes Among Hispanics: All Are Not Equal|last1=Drive|first1=American Diabetes Association 2451 Crystal|last2=Arlington|first2=Suite 900|publisher=American Diabetes Association|access-date=2018-12-09|last3=Va 22202 1-800-Diabetes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181210110837/http://www.diabetes.org/newsroom/press-releases/2014/diabetes-among-hispanics-all-are-not-equal.html|archive-date=2018-12-10}}</ref> Type 2 diabetes prevalence is rising due to many risk factors and there are still many cases of pre-diabetes and undiagnosed diabetes due to lack of sources. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services (2011), individuals of Mexican descent are 50% more likely to die from diabetes than their white counterparts.<ref name="Martorell-2004" />
<!-- ==== Risk factors ====
There are several risk factors that put Mexican Americans at a higher risk of obtaining [[type 2 diabetes]]. Among these risks factors are genetics and family history, diet, low levels of physical activity, low socioeconomic status, and lack of access to healthcare.

===== Genetics and Family history =====
Due to genetics, Mexican Americans are among a group that are at an elevated risk to develop [[Diabetes mellitus type 2|type 2 diabetes]]. According to Gallardo, in the article "Fighting 'inevitability' of developing type 2 diabetes in Mexican-Americans", he discussed that this specific group are more [[insulin]] resistant compared to those descended from other heritages.<ref name="Traynor-1948">{{cite web|url=https://www.healio.com/endocrinology/diabetes/news/print/endocrine-today/%7bc61ca2bf-0b87-43d3-a3c0-efd828725109%7d/fighting-inevitability-of-developing-type-2-diabetes-in-mexican-americans|title=Fighting 'inevitability' of developing type 2 diabetes in Mexican-Americans|last=Today|first=Endocrine|last2=May 2006|website=healio.com|access-date=2018-12-09}}</ref> The receptors of Mexican-Americans are faulty and when they bind insulin, the process that is supposed to follow does not occur, rendering these receptors not functional. Gallardo also mentions that compared to Caucasians, the [[Intracellular signaling cascade|intracellular signaling]] insulin cascade that should result is abnormal.<ref name="Traynor-1948" /> Genetics are passed down to offspring and if these fault receptors keep being passed down, it makes type 2 diabetes, a disease that is almost always hard to escape and basically inevitable to develop.

In a study done in 2010, called "Diabetes Risk Assessment in Mexicans and Mexican Americans: Effects of Parental History of Diabetes are Modified by Adiposity Level," it was found that there was a significant and positive association between parental history of diabetes and developing [[Diabetes mellitus type 2|type 2 diabetes]] showing more evidence for the genetic basis of diabetes.<ref name="Shatkin-2017">{{cite journal|last=Hsueh|first=Wen-Chi|last2=Hernandez-Avila|first2=Mauricio|last3=Burguete-Garcia|first3=Ana I.|last4=Peart|first4=Tasha|last5=Charlton|first5=R. William|last6=Mondragon|first6=Hector E. Velasco|date=2010-10-01|title=Diabetes Risk Assessment in Mexicans and Mexican Americans: Effects of parental history of diabetes are modified by adiposity level|url=http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/33/10/2260|journal=Diabetes Care|volume=33|issue=10|pages=2260–2265|doi=10.2337/dc10-0992|issn=1935-5548|pmid=20628089|pmc=2945171}}</ref> Results showed that the effects of positive parental diabetes history was further emphasized in subjects that had a lower [[Body mass index|BMI]]. This is why in the non-overweight group that was tested, subjects that had either a mother or father with diabetes, had about 3.3 to 3.4 times the risk of developing diabetes compared with those that had no diabetic parents. When there was a parental history where both parents had diabetes, this risk increased to about 7.9 times.<ref name="Shatkin-2017" />

To further confer the fact that [[Diabetes mellitus type 2|type 2 diabetes]] is due to a genetic risk in Mexican Americans, the San Antonio Heart Study started in 1979 to study diabetes and cardiovascular disease in Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites in [[San Antonio|San Antonio, Texas]] found that the degree of Native American ancestry is a major risk factor for diabetes due to inherited faulty genes.<ref name="Martorell-2004" />

===== Diet =====
Diet is another risk factor for [[Diabetes mellitus type 2|type 2 diabetes]] in Mexican Americans. In a study of dietary patterns in Mexican Americans with Obesity conducted in 2007, it was found that this population has four main dietary patterns: poultry and alcohol, Milk and baked products, traditional Mexican, and meat.<ref name="Dictionary.com">{{cite journal|date=2007-10-01|title=A Study of Dietary Patterns in the Mexican-American Population and Their Association with Obesity|journal=Journal of the American Dietetic Association|volume=107|issue=10|pages=1735–1742|doi=10.1016/j.jada.2007.07.016|issn=0002-8223|last1=Carrera|first1=Patricia M.|last2=Gao|first2=Xiang|last3=Tucker|first3=Katherine L.}}</ref>  It was found that within these dietary patterns there was no distinct healthy pattern group. The contribution of fruit and vegetables combined ranged from about 7% to 12% which is not enough.<ref name="Dictionary.com" /> The traditional Mexican pattern that was identified was found to be the healthiest among the four different patterns. This dietary pattern had the highest intake of fruit, vegetables, and fiber but the levels of each still remained below what a "healthy pattern" is supposed to be.<ref name="Dictionary.com" /> A healthy dietary pattern is one that includes high intakes of fruit, vegetables, reduced fat-dairy products, and fiber, which the Mexican Americans don't consume enough of. This causes them to be deficient in nutrients like [[calcium]], iron [[vitamin A]], [[Folate|folacin]] and [[vitamin C]].<ref name="Dictionary.com" /> Although the traditional Mexican diet has some healthy benefits, it could be improved by the addition of leafy green vegetables, orange vegetables, dairy products, and fruit, and at the same time, by the reduction in intake of sweetened drinks, various fats and processed foods.<ref name="Dictionary.com" />

The unhealthy dietary patterns followed by the Mexican American population has led to a prevalence of [[obesity]] and being [[overweight]]. In the study, it was found that all of the four dietary patterns were characterized by a high mean [[Body mass index|BMI]].<ref name="Dictionary.com" /> Body fat distribution which is measured by the [[Body mass index|BMI]] should be within a normal range to prevent any serious health conditions from developing. According to the American Heart Association, it was concluded that too much fat around the waist area is associated with a higher risk for health problems like [[Hypertension|high blood pressure]], [[Hypercholesterolemia|high blood cholesterol]], [[Diabetes mellitus type 2|type 2 diabetes]], [[Cardiovascular disease|heart disease]] and stroke.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/diabetes/why-diabetes-matters/cardiovascular-disease--diabetes|title=Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes|website=heart.org|access-date=2018-12-09}}</ref> Glanz and colleagues also said that the [[obesity]] epidemic may be continuing not only because of expanding portion sizes but also because of the nutrition environment and the availability of unhealthy food in the neighborhoods that this population lives in.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK220182/|title=Introduction|last=Sim|first=Leslie J.|last2=Parker|first2=Lynn|last3=Kumanyika|first3=Shiriki K.|last4=Making|first4=Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on an Evidence Framework for Obesity Prevention Decision|date=2010|publisher=National Academies Press (US)}}</ref> These poor food choices also stem from the lack of knowledge on nutrition, which indicates that nutrition prevention and other appropriate interventions are needed to combat [[obesity]] and [[Diabetes mellitus type 2|type 2 diabetes]] in Mexican Americans.

===== Low levels of Physical Activity =====
Low levels of physical activity is also a risk factor that contributes to [[Diabetes mellitus type 2|type 2 diabetes]] in Mexican Americans. Physical activity is important to maintain a healthy lifestyle and it also has many benefits that help to prevent diseases like type 2 diabetes from developing. A 2005 behavioral risk factor surveillance system reported that nationally more [[Hispanic]]s (56.3%) than [[non-Hispanic whites]] (48.9%) fail to meet physical activity recommendations.<ref name="Villarreal-2014">{{cite journal|last=Mier|first=Nelda|last2=Medina|first2=Alvaro A|last3=Ory|first3=Marcia G|date=2007-03-15|title=Mexican Americans With Type 2 Diabetes: Perspectives on Definitions, Motivators, and Programs of Physical Activity|journal=Preventing Chronic Disease|volume=4|issue=2|issn=1545-1151|pmc=1893123|pmid=17362615|page=A24}}</ref> Similar studies conducted with Mexican Americans concluded that this Hispanic subgroup is less likely than any other ethnic subgroup to engage in leisure-time physical activity. In another study it was found that were higher levels of physical inactivity among Mexican Americans with [[Diabetes mellitus type 2|type 2 diabetes]] (39%) than among [[non-Hispanic whites]] (34%) or African Americans with the disease (38%).<ref name="Villarreal-2014" /> In this specific study when the participants were asked about what prevented them from being involved in physical activity, one of the major barriers found was not enough time due to work and family obligations.<ref name="Villarreal-2014" /> Other factors included physical pain, depression, lack of motivation, being [[overweight]], unleashed dogs, unsafe neighborhood, lack of sidewalks, lack of physical activity facilities, lack of transportation, and cost.<ref name="Villarreal-2014" /> The low levels of physical activity contribute to [[obesity]] and being [[overweight]] which then also contributes to developing [[Diabetes mellitus type 2|type 2 diabetes]] since [[obesity]] fosters [[insulin resistance]]. If a person exercises and engages in physical activity, there is an increase in [[glucose]] uptake by the [[muscle]]s and [[adipocyte]]s which reduces [[Blood sugar level|plasma glucose]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Chukwueke|first=I.|last2=Cordero-MacIntyre|first2=Z.|date=2010|title=Overview of type 2 diabetes in Hispanic Americans|journal=International journal of body composition research|volume=8|issue=Supp|pages=77–81|issn=1479-456X|pmc=3019531|pmid=21243097}}</ref>

===== Lack of Access to Healthcare =====
Another risk factor to developing [[Diabetes mellitus type 2|type 2 diabetes]], is the lack of access to healthcare. Mexican Americans have less access to healthcare compared to other hispanic groups in the United States.<ref name=":8">{{cite book|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK19910/|title=Access to and Quality of Health Care|last=Kapur|first=Kanika|last2=Escarce|first2=José J.|date=2006|publisher=National Academies Press (US)}}</ref> In a study done in 2006 looking into the access to and quality of healthcare among hispanics and non-Hispanic whites in the United States, it was found that compared with Puerto Ricans and Cubans, Mexicans are less likely to have [[Health insurance coverage in the United States|health insurance coverage]], a usual source of healthcare, have less physician visits, and have less expenditures for medical care.<ref name=":8" /> This lack of access to healthcare correlates to Mexican Americans being mostly of a low socioeconomic class causing them to not be able to pay for health insurance and just avoid seeking medical health care in general. With diseases like [[Diabetes mellitus type 2|type 2 diabetes]], it is crucial to regularly go to the doctor and make sure that if one has a predisposition to getting the disease, to find the best way to manage it and be informed about it. In the article, "Fighting 'inevitability' of developing type 2 diabetes in Mexican-Americans," Gallardo mentions that due to their low socioeconomic status, Mexican Americans are more focused on finding food to eat and maintaining their families that it leads them to adopt a poor lifestyle.<ref name="Traynor-1948" />  This poor lifestyle includes not eating well and not seeking or not being able to receive the proper healthcare as it is needed, putting them at risk for not managing diabetes if they have it or learning about the ways in which they can prevent themselves from developing the disease in the future.

==== Prevention ====
[[Prevention of diabetes mellitus type 2|Prevention]] is important to better control the prevalent development of [[Diabetes mellitus type 2|type 2 diabetes]] in Mexican Americans. A study that was done in June 2018, focused on diabetes prevention in Mexican Americans, specifically in the Tex-Mexican border, and sought to bring about healthy life decisions and suggest diabetes prevention as an alternative in this population who had pre-diabetes and [[Diabetes mellitus type 2|type 2 diabetes]].<ref name=":9">{{cite journal|last=Brown|first=Sharon A.|last2=Perkison|first2=William B.|last3=García|first3=Alexandra A.|last4=Cuevas|first4=Heather E.|last5=Velasquez|first5=Mary M.|last6=Winter|first6=Mary A.|last7=Hanis|first7=Craig L.|date=June 2018|title=The Starr County Border Health Initiative: Focus Groups on Diabetes Prevention in Mexican Americans|journal=The Diabetes Educator|volume=44|issue=3|pages=293–306|doi=10.1177/0145721718770143|issn=1554-6063|pmid=29644932|pmc=6349423}}</ref> Participants were asked on the cultural factors and barriers that influenced their lifestyle behaviors and were allowed talk about their past experiences with their own self-management interventions. They learned ways in which they could manage and prevent themselves from developing diabetes by preparing healthy food and controlling their calorie intake.<ref name=":9" /> Eating healthy, exercising, seeking resources in the community pertaining to diabetes, becoming educated on diabetes and joining diabetes educational support groups are a few of the many possible ways that prevention could be employed among Mexican Americans.<ref name=":9" />-->

==Notable people==
{{main|List of Mexican Americans}}

==See also==
{{Portal|United States|Mexico|Hispanic and Latino Americans}}
* [[Americans]]
* [[Mexicans]]
* [[Indigenous Mexican Americans]]
* [[Mexico–United States barrier]]
* [[Migrant deaths along the Mexico–United States border]]
* [[American immigration to Mexico]]
* [[Mexico–United States relations]]
* [[Hyphenated American]]
* [[Emigration from Mexico]]
* [[History of Mexican Americans in Los Angeles]]
* [[History of Mexican Americans in Texas]]
* [[History of Mexican Americans in Dallas–Fort Worth]]
* [[History of Mexican Americans in Houston]]
* [[History of Mexican Americans in Metro Detroit]]
* [[Mexicans in Chicago]]
* [[History of Mexican Americans in Tucson]]
'''Ethnic:'''
* [[Melting pot]] (metaphor for cultural fusion)
* [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas]]
* [[White Hispanic and Latino Americans]]
* [[White Mexicans]]
* [[Olive skin]]
* [[Mestizo]]
* [[Bronze (racial classification)]]
* [[Brown (racial classification)#Use in the United States|Brown (racial classification)]]
* ''[[La raza cósmica]]''
* [[Afro-Mexicans]]

'''Political:'''
* [[Reconquista (Mexico)]]
* [[Texan raids on New Mexico (1843)]]

'''Cultural:'''
* [[Chicanismo]]
* [[Chicano poetry]]
* [[Chicano nationalism]]
* [[List of Mexican-American writers]]
* [[El Pueblo de Los Ángeles Historical Monument]]
* [[Cholo (subculture)]]

'''Film:'''
* ''[[A Better Life (film)|A Better Life]]''
* [[Cesar Chavez (film)|''Cesar Chavez'' (film)]]
* [[Fools Rush In (1997 film)|''Fools Rush In'' (1997 film)]]
* ''[[From Prada to Nada]]''
* [[La Bamba (film)|''La Bamba'' (film)]]
* [[Lowriders (film)|''Lowriders'' (film)]]
* ''[[McFarland, USA]]''
* [[Spare Parts (2015 film)|''Spare Parts'' (2015 film)]]
* [[The Long Game (film)|''The Long Game'' (film)]]
* ''[[Tortilla Soup]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography/further reading==
{{main|Mexican American bibliography}}
* [[Jay P. Dolan|Dolan, Jay P.]], and Gilberto M. Hinojosa, eds. ''Mexican Americans and the Catholic Church, 1900–1965'' (Volume 1, "Notre Dame History of Hispanic Catholics in the U.S." series), (University of Notre Dame Press, 1994).
* Englekirk, Allan, and Marguerite Marín. "Mexican Americans." ''Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America,'' edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 3, Gale, 2014), pp.&nbsp;195–217. [https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3273300123/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=GPS&xid=ab7d2d8e online]
* Gomez, Laura. [[Manifest Destinies: The Making of the Mexican American Race]] (New York UP, 2007). {{ISBN|978-0-8147-3174-1}}
* Gómez-Quiñones, Juan, and Irene Vásquez. ''Making Aztlán: Ideology and Culture of the Chicana and Chicano Movement, 1966–1977'' (2014)
*MacDonald, Victoria-Maria, ed. '' Latino education in the United States: A narrated history from 1513–2000''. (2000)
* Meier, Matt S., and Margo Gutiérrez. ''Encyclopedia of the Mexican American civil rights movement'' (Greenwood 2000) [https://www.questia.com/library/120072171/encyclopedia-of-the-mexican-american-civil-rights online]
* Quiroz, Anthony (ed.), ''Leaders of the Mexican American Generation: Biographical Essays.'' Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado, 2015.
* [[Cynthia Orozco|Orozco, Cynthia E.]] ''No Mexicans, women, or dogs allowed: The rise of the Mexican American civil rights movement'' (University of Texas Press, 2010) [https://www.questia.com/library/120074575/no-mexicans-women-or-dogs-allowed-the-rise-of-the online]
* Rosales, F. Arturo. ''Chicano! The history of the Mexican American civil rights movement'' (Arte Público Press, 1997); [https://www.questia.com/library/97907989/chicano-the-history-of-the-mexican-american-civil online]
*  {{cite journal|last1=Sánchez|first1=George I|year=2006|title=Ideology, and Whiteness in the Making of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement, 1930–1960|journal=Journal of Southern History|volume=72|issue=3|pages=569–604|jstor=27649149|doi=10.2307/27649149}}

===Primary sources===

* Moquin, Wayne, and Charles Van Doren, eds. ''A documentary history of the Mexican Americans'' (1971) [https://archive.org/details/documentaryhisto00moqu online]

==External links==
{{sister project links|d=Q581921|wikt=Mexican American|c=Mexican American|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|s=no|species=no}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721213311/http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/collections/cema/listguides.html#Chicano California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives – In the Chicano/Latino Collections] – [[University of California Santa Barbara]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090422084217/http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/collections/cema/digitalChicanoArt.html California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives – Digital Chicano Art] – University of California Santa Barbara
* [http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/calcultures/ethnic_groups/ethnic3.html Calisphere > California Cultures > Hispanic Americans] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720093228/http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/calcultures/ethnic_groups/ethnic3.html |date=2011-07-20 }} – [[University of California System]]
* [http://cemaweb.library.ucsb.edu/project_description.html ImaginArte – Interpreting and Re-imaging Chican@Art] – University of California Santa Barbara
* [https://mexican-american.org Mexican American News – Network of the Mexican American Community]
* [http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761587500_1/Mexican_Americans.html Mexican Americans MSN Encarta] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20090619011021/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761587500_1/Mexican_Americans.html Archived] 2009-11-01)
* [http://thinkmexican.tumblr.com/ Think Mexican – News, Culture, and Information on the Mexican Community]
*[http://www.conapo.gob.mx/work/models/CONAPO/intensidad_migratoria/pdf/Regiones.pdf Regiones de origen y destino de la migración México-Estados Unidos]
*[https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/mexican-americans/index.html Mexican Americans | History Detectives | PBS]
*[https://undpress.nd.edu/9780268010973/a-history-of-the-mexican-american-people/ A History of the Mexican-American People]
* [https://www.diputados.gob.mx/comisiones/pofroym/reunwash/wash3.htm Población Mexicana]

{{Mexican diaspora}}
{{Hispanics/Latinos}}
{{Chicano and Mexican American topics}}
{{Demographics of the United States}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Mexican diaspora in the United States|*]]