Mexican Americans (Spanish: mexico-estadounidenses or estadounidenses
de origen mexicano) are Americans who trace their ancestry to Mexico.
The word may refer to someone born in the U.S of Mexican descent or to
someone who emigrated to the U.S. from Mexico. As of July 2018,
Mexican Americans made up 11.3% of the United States' population, as
37.0 million U.S. residents identified as being of full or partial
Mexican ancestry. As of July 2018, Mexican Americans comprised 61.9%
of all Latinos in Americans in the United States. Many Mexican
Americans reside in the American Southwest; over 60% of all Mexican
Americans reside in the states of California and Texas. As of 2016,
Mexicans made up 53% of the total population of Latino foreign-born
Americans. Mexicans are also the largest foreign-born population,
accounting for 25% of the total foreign-born population, as of
2017.The United States is home to the second-largest Mexican community
in the world, second only to Mexico itself, and comprising more than
24% of the entire Mexican-origin population of the world. Mexican
American families of indigenous heritage have been in the country for
at least 15,000 years, and mestizo Mexican American history spans more
than 400 years, since the 1598 founding of Spanish New Mexico. Spanish
subjects of New Spain in the Southwest included New Mexican Hispanos
and Pueblo Indians and Genizaros, Tejanos, Californios and Mission
Indians have existed since the area was part of New Spain. The
majority of these historically primarily Hispanophone populations
eventually adopted English as their first language as part of their
overall Americanization. Approximately ten percent of the current
Mexican-American population are descended from the early colonial
settlers who became U.S. citizens in 1848 via the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo which ended the Mexicanâ€"American War.Although most of the
original Mexican American population were officially deemed white
citizens by the treaty, they have faced and continue to face
discrimination in the form of Anti-Mexican sentiment and
Hispanophobia, historically rooted in the idea that Mexicans were "too
Indian" to be citizens; Indigenous Mexican Americans, such as Pueblo,
were not granted citizenship until the 1920s. Despite assurances to
the contrary, the property rights of formerly Mexican citizens were
often not honored by the U.S. in accordance with modifications to and
interpretations of the Treaty. Continuous large-scale migration,
particularly after the 1910 Mexican Revolution, added to this original
population. During the Great Depression, Mexican Americans were
scapegoated and subjected to an ethnic cleansing campaign of mass
deportation, which affected an estimated 500,000 to two million
people. In violation of immigration law, the federal government
allowed state and local governments to unilaterally deport citizens
without due process. An estimated 85% of those ethnically cleansed
were United States citizens, with 60% being birthright citizens. The
remaining population became more homogeneous and politically active
during the New Deal â€" which largely excluded Mexican Americans â€"
and the World War II era, which brought about the guest-worker Bracero
Program.
de origen mexicano) are Americans who trace their ancestry to Mexico.
The word may refer to someone born in the U.S of Mexican descent or to
someone who emigrated to the U.S. from Mexico. As of July 2018,
Mexican Americans made up 11.3% of the United States' population, as
37.0 million U.S. residents identified as being of full or partial
Mexican ancestry. As of July 2018, Mexican Americans comprised 61.9%
of all Latinos in Americans in the United States. Many Mexican
Americans reside in the American Southwest; over 60% of all Mexican
Americans reside in the states of California and Texas. As of 2016,
Mexicans made up 53% of the total population of Latino foreign-born
Americans. Mexicans are also the largest foreign-born population,
accounting for 25% of the total foreign-born population, as of
2017.The United States is home to the second-largest Mexican community
in the world, second only to Mexico itself, and comprising more than
24% of the entire Mexican-origin population of the world. Mexican
American families of indigenous heritage have been in the country for
at least 15,000 years, and mestizo Mexican American history spans more
than 400 years, since the 1598 founding of Spanish New Mexico. Spanish
subjects of New Spain in the Southwest included New Mexican Hispanos
and Pueblo Indians and Genizaros, Tejanos, Californios and Mission
Indians have existed since the area was part of New Spain. The
majority of these historically primarily Hispanophone populations
eventually adopted English as their first language as part of their
overall Americanization. Approximately ten percent of the current
Mexican-American population are descended from the early colonial
settlers who became U.S. citizens in 1848 via the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo which ended the Mexicanâ€"American War.Although most of the
original Mexican American population were officially deemed white
citizens by the treaty, they have faced and continue to face
discrimination in the form of Anti-Mexican sentiment and
Hispanophobia, historically rooted in the idea that Mexicans were "too
Indian" to be citizens; Indigenous Mexican Americans, such as Pueblo,
were not granted citizenship until the 1920s. Despite assurances to
the contrary, the property rights of formerly Mexican citizens were
often not honored by the U.S. in accordance with modifications to and
interpretations of the Treaty. Continuous large-scale migration,
particularly after the 1910 Mexican Revolution, added to this original
population. During the Great Depression, Mexican Americans were
scapegoated and subjected to an ethnic cleansing campaign of mass
deportation, which affected an estimated 500,000 to two million
people. In violation of immigration law, the federal government
allowed state and local governments to unilaterally deport citizens
without due process. An estimated 85% of those ethnically cleansed
were United States citizens, with 60% being birthright citizens. The
remaining population became more homogeneous and politically active
during the New Deal â€" which largely excluded Mexican Americans â€"
and the World War II era, which brought about the guest-worker Bracero
Program.
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