ABSTRACT
Hispanics were among the first immigrants to the United States. More than twenty years before the Pilgrims established a foothold near Plymouth Rock, the Spanish had already created settlements in New Mexico. Yet Hispanics are also among the most recent immigrants. For the past thirty years, well over one-third of foreign nationals emigrating to the United States have come from Latin American and Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries. Like all immigrants, Hispanics have encountered in their adopted country a host of conflicting perceptions and government policies about immigrants. At times, United States policy has encouraged Hispanic immigration, in order to meet labor shortages and serve foreign policy objectives. At other times, the United States has tried to close the gate to Hispanic immigration and even forcibly returned not only legal residents, but also Hispanic citizens to their countries of origin. Some Americans view Hispanic immigrants as hard workers who add to the diversity of the country. Others perceive Hispanic immigrants as a population that drains the public coffers and contributes to the Balkanization of the United States. 1
