ABSTRACT
In the 2000 U.S. census, 35.5 million persons (12.5 percent of the U.S. population) identified themselves as Hispanic (“Health Disparities Experienced by Hispanics” 2004). In 2005, Hispanics made up 14 percent (41.3 million) of the U.S. population and had become the largest minority group, surpassing African Americans (“Inside America’s Largest Minority” 2005). Hispanics are also the fastest-growing minority in the United States. Between 1990 and 2000, Hispanics experienced a 58 percent growth compared to 13 percent growth for the total population (Marotta and Garcia 2003). Hispanics are projected to account for 46 percent of all U.S. population growth over the next twenty years (“Inside America’s Largest Minority” 2005). It is estimated that by 2020, Hispanics will constitute 15 percent of the total U.S. population (Marotta and Garcia 2003). By 2050, the Hispanic population is projected to be 81 million, about one-fifth of the projected American population (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1986). Large-scale immigration (especially unauthorized immigration) from Latin America, especially Mexico, accounted for most of the growth in the Hispanic population during the 1990s. However, births to Hispanic immigrants rather than immigration itself is projected to be the key source of growth in the Hispanic population in the future (Pew Hispanic Center 2005).
