29 February, 2016. Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio – the names tell it all. US Latinos are not only influential voters, but also aspire to the presidency of the United States. What is interesting: The Cuban-born families of the two Republican senators from Texas and Florida, respectively, did not flee from Fidel Castro, like most Cuban immigrants in Florida, but from the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.

Transcultural processes of migration and diaspora can be shown ideally by the immigration history of US Latinos. In contrast to the pressing, precarious situation of refugees from war-torn areas in Africa and the Middle and Near East arriving in Europe today, the migration streams from Latin America to the US have continued for decades. With an annual increase of more than 1 million, approximately 66 million Latinos live in the United States, including the approximately 11.5 million without green cards.

In 1970, the total Latino population in the US was only 7 million. This impressive demographic change urgently requires considering the generational succession that Samuel Huntington ignored in his chapter “The Hispanic Challenge” (in Who are we? 2004), which is inexcusable for a social scientist of his rank. With this, he wanted to reinforce his assertion that Mexican immigrants lack the will to integrate and are Spanish retentive.

The use of language during the integration phase lasting two to four generations follows the usual pattern: The first generation speaks only Spanish at home within the family circle. After a bilingual second generation, the third and fourth generations tend to let the Spanish fade into the background or disappear entirely. Today, only 35 percent of Latinos in the US were actually born outside the US.

The big tension in 2004, when immigrants from Latin America first became the country’s largest minority, was cultivated in a populist manner but has now faded away. Without a solution for the border problems, a familiarization process has started along with growing awareness that California, for example, could hardly function without Latin American workers in low-paying jobs. The relative youth of Latinos will save the United States from many problems that accompany an aging population in the future. That is reason enough not to ostracize them, but instead to work for their successful integration.

At home, continentally
At the same time, US Latinos’ self-confidence is growing. They feel continentally at home, pursuing the American dream, and culture-shock scenarios decrease. Dramatic events are confined to the dangerous, traumatic journey through Central America and Mexico and the illegal border crossings organized and dominated by mafia-like gangs smuggling illegal immigrants. So far, more than 10,000 migrants have lost their lives while trying to cross.

The mass exodus from several Central America countries has forced Barack Obama into crisis management, including efforts to reform immigration laws, and also make substantial investments along the Mexican-American border, which are opposed by the Republican-dominated Congress. The Supreme Court will have to rule on the president’s liberal immigration policy. A key measure would be issuing green cards to the 4-5 million (non-criminal) Sans-Papiers whose children were born in the US.

Miami, ‘Latin America’s capital’ 
On the opposite side of the country, in the Latino enclave Miami, often called the actual capital of Latin America, we see a totally different panorama. Immigrants from the south comprise 70 percent of Miami’s population, and they have political, financial and legal power. In comparison to the English-only stronghold California, immigrants cultivate bilingualism and speak significantly more Spanish.

With the Cuban-US opening, those very precarious boat journeys across the Caribbean Sea are a thing of the past, just like the dominance of Cuban diaspora in the city. Today, Miami has become diverse. With the massive numbers of immigrants from all social ranks in recent years, the social gap has widened: The percentage of Latinos living below the poverty line has increased and, in some areas, the safety situation has deteriorated significantly. Still, Miami presents itself as a prosperous city, as a hub for transport, trade, the media and entertainment industries and, after 2002, with the initial spark of Art Basel Miami, also as city for the arts.

Purchasing power of one trillion USD
Latinos have a strong presence in culture and media in the US, not least because there are approximately 50 TV stations, 200 newspapers and 800 radio stations dedicated to that market. Latinos know about their market value – their brand sells very well. And their buying power is approximately one Trillion USD. For some Latin American countries, remittances their emigrants in the north send home is key to their economic survival.

It is impossible to imagine life in the US without the popular-culture categories in which Latinos are especially successful: sports (ball games and boxing), cooking, dance and music (890 million clicks for “Propuesta Indecente” by Dominican Bachata singer Romeo Santos, who grew up in the Bronx). Latinos also have established themselves influentially in movies, fine arts and literature.

By now, nobody doubts the Latinos’ crucial influence on the presidential elections. In 2016, one cannot get into the White House without them (they number about 27 million voters, but many do not exercise their right to vote). According to The Economist, (“Tu casa es mi casa”, 13 March 2015), almost 1 million Latinos born in the US reach voting age per year, which ultimately also influences politics, because this electorate does not just want immigration problems tackled, but also school reforms, affordable healthcare and policies that help lift them to the middle class (The Economist, “How to fire up America”, 14 March 2015). Latinos used to be a reliable voting block for Democrats (more than 70 percent supported Bill Clinton and Barack Obama; according to MSNBC polls, Hillary Clinton currently has a 51 percent approval rating among Latinos). It remains to be seen whether Republicans can continue their gains in this population group. The range of their opinions is huge: Between Donald Trump’s big talk about Mexico paying for a wall to keep out “illegals” and Jeb Bush’s voter-registration as “Hispanic”, there are the “real” Latinos Rubio and Cruz.

Yvette Sanchez is professor of Spanish Language and Literature at HSG and director of the Centro Latinoamericano-Suizo (CLS-HSG).

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