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Contemporary Issues

Poverty continues to be a serious problem for the Mexican American community. Untrained illegal workers often work for less than the minimum wage and without benefits, such as health insurance and vacations. Many Mexican American young people do not graduate from high school. In East Los Angeles and other impoverished urban neighborhoods, many young Mexican Americans are involved with gangs, illegal drugs, and crime. Yet many more Mexican American youths are also succeeding in academics and other areas, becoming the first in their families to attend college, and entering rewarding careers.

Population experts predict that Hispanic Americans will become the largest minority group in the United States early in the 21st century, and Mexican Americans will constitute a substantial proportion of this group. Many new immigrants are following economic opportunities to regions of the United States that previously had very small Mexican American populations, such as Alaska, Maine, and Hawaii. As the Hispanic community grows, its political influence steadily increases. Mexican Americans increasingly affect decisions made by the national governments in Washington, D.C., and Mexico City. Many American politicians now speak to Mexican American constituents in Spanish and take part in parades through Mexican American neighborhoods, such as La Villita (Little Village) in Chicago and East Los Angeles.

Mexican Americans have begun to use their political power to influence legislation in the United States. Mexican Americans have organized lobbying efforts and public demonstrations in opposition to attempts to drastically restrict immigration into the United States. They have formed coalitions with other minority groups to support threatened bilingual education programs. The Mexican American community has also helped defend affirmative action programs designed to increase the presence of minorities in the workplace and in educational institutions.

Mexican Americans are gaining new influence in Mexico as well. In 1997 the Mexican Congress passed a law permitting Mexican Americans to establish dual citizenship in the United States and Mexico. Mexican Americans, and other Mexicans living abroad, may soon be able to vote in state and local elections in Mexico.