During the second half of the 20th century the United States underwent a profound demographic transformation. At the end of World War II, just 50 years ago, the population of the United States was largely of white, European origin. Today, there are over 30 million Latinos or people of Latin American origin in the United States, constituting roughly 11 percent of the total population. Census projections now suggest that by the year 2050 fully a quarter of the U.S. population will be of Latino origin.
Immigration is at the heart of that process.
Latin America is now in the middle of the largest exodus in history. The US is the top destination for Latin Americans on the move. Two-thirds of the US Latino population is either immigrant or the children of immigrants. Remittances from Mexicans in NYC are remaking the Puebla economy. Likewise, one cannot fully understand political developments in the Dominican Republic without paying attention to Washington Heights, where Dominicans, now the largest immigrant group in New York have concentrated.