El Magonista | Nov. 16, 2023 | Vol. 11, No. 35

Hispanics are now 19.1% of the U.S. population but are projected to make up 26.9% of the population in nearly four decades.

The U.S. Latino population, now about 1 in 5 Americans, is projected to continue increasing through the year 2060, when over 1 in 4 Americans are likely to be Latino, according to U.S. Census Bureau projections released Thursday.

Hispanics are now 19.1% of the U.S. population but are projected to make up 26.9% of the population in less than four decades. Meanwhile, the non-Hispanic white population is projected to continue to decline from 58.9% now to 44.9% by 2060.

Overall, the U.S. population is projected to continue to grow from 333 million today to a high of nearly 370 million in 2080, but then dip downward to 366 million in the year 2100.

The projections are an update from those last issued by the Census Bureau in 2017. The numbers issued Thursday incorporated data on births, deaths and international migration, leading to a slower pace of population growth than previously projected, Census Bureau demographer Sandra Johnson stated in a news release.

“The U.S. has experienced notable shifts in the components of population change over the last five years,” she said. “Some of these, like the increases in mortality caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, are expected to be short-term while others, including the declines in fertility that have persisted for decades, are likely to continue into the future."

The bureau issued four sets of projections for the overall population based on different scenarios. They refer to the four projections as the middle series or the most likely projections; the high immigration scenario; the low immigration scenario; and the far less likely zero-immigration scenario.

In every scenario, drops in fertility and an aging population will lead to more deaths than births in the U.S. That is expected to happen in 2038 in the most likely projections; in 2036 in the low immigration scenario; and in 2042 in the high immigration scenario. In the zero-immigration scenario, it happens in 2033.

Because the U.S. is projected to have more deaths than births, immigration is projected to be the largest contributor to population growth.

In the high immigration scenario, the U.S. population reaches 435 million by 2100.

In the most likely projections, the population peaks at 370 million in 2080, then drops to 366 million in 2100. The low-immigration scenario is projected to peak at around 346 million in 2043 and decline thereafter, dropping to 319 million in 2100... READ MORE

This city of 1 million, a blend of big hotels and impoverished suburbs, tourism and drug violence, is trying to recover at a similarly unequal rhythm.

ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) — The 58-year-old woman, a cook by profession, toiled on a recent afternoon inside a luxury apartment with expansive views of the Pacific, putting Gucci and Dior shoes into a bag to take to her employer. Around her only the apartment’s skeleton and piles of debris, walls and windows stripped by Hurricane Otis, remained.

But Rufina Ruiz was optimistic. Her house, in a suburb near the entrance to Acapulco, only flooded, while homes in the adjacent neighborhood were “buried.” And she still has a job, even though that meant she was not home when the government census of the hurricane’s victims was taken, which would have translated into aid. “I’d rather work,” she said.

More than two weeks after Otis went from tropical storm to Category 5 hurricane in a record 12 hours, catching authorities and residents flat footed, this city of 1 million, a blend of big hotels and impoverished suburbs, tourism and drug violence, is trying to recover at a similarly unequal rhythm.

Cars can again drive down the city’s main streets past rubble and felled palm trees. Signs around the city read “free food.” There are lines everywhere: for water, food, access to pharmacies.

Acapulco’s wealthiest residents, who fled either before Otis or immediately after, began to return to take stock of their seaside properties.

Along Acapulco’s coastal boulevard that encircles the bay once bobbing with yachts, a young man pulled tables and chairs out of a small restaurant. Nearby, workers nailed boards over broken shop windows.

Soldiers and National Guard troops fill the central streets, easily outnumbering the once ubiquitous palm trees.

Some residents complain that authorities didn’t provide more information about what was coming. Even those who heard Otis had become a Category 5 hurricane didn’t understand what that meant... READ MORE

ACAPULCO —  Acapulco’s iconic cliff divers are ready to resume daily shows, but there are no spectators to witness their death-defying leaps from the craggy heights of La Quebrada into the churning sea below.

“We live off tourism, and there are no tourists now,” lamented Brandon Palacios, one of the divers.

Likewise, Tomás Mayo, a familiar figure in a cowboy hat and boots who has strummed his guitar for decades along Acapulco’s beaches, has no audience for his serenades. “The beaches are empty,” he noted.

Others face more profound troubles. Relatives of four crew members of the sunken yacht Litos still hold out hope that their missing loved ones survived.

“We want the navy and the government to keep doing everything they can to continue the search,” said Mei-li Chew Irra, whose husband, Ulises Díaz Salgado, was the captain. “We cannot give up.”

This is the grim reality of Acapulco more than two weeks after Hurricane Otis — packing Category 5 winds of more than 165 miles an hour — ripped through the fabled Pacific resortand wrought unprecedented devastation, leaving at least 48 dead and 31 still listed as missing, and exacting up to $15 billion in damage.

Acapulco’s glitziest hotels and condominiums are mostly windowless hulks. The one-time hideaway of Johnny (“Tarzan”) Weissmuller and Hollywood pals like John Wayne is a pile of rubble. Overturned yachts and smashed fishing vessels bob in picturesque bays... READ MORE

SALINAS, Calif. —  Neri Ortiz tucked her hands in her lap as she earnestly recounted her latest health episode to Dr. Eva Perusquia.

Recently at work, where Ortiz packages vegetables overnight, she was hit with a wave of nausea and tears. She managed to pull herself together enough to continue her shift, she told the doctor. But it had been years since she’d experienced such an overwhelming emotional surge.

Perusquia listened closely. Ortiz, 42, had been her patient since last year, after seeking out a Spanish-speaking physician at the Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas. Perusquia had been the first doctor to explain her hypothyroidism and why she needed to take a thyroid medication to regulate the condition. Ortiz knew the doctor would understand how she felt.

Perusquia said the spike in emotion could be related to Ortiz’s glucose levels, which can cause mood swings. She would order tests to see whether Ortiz’s levels were normal.

Ortiz was grateful. Having Perusquia explain everything in Spanish was a welcome change after years of going to different doctors. Before, English-speaking doctors had left her confused and doubtful that she understood their instructions... READ MORE

Waiting for years for legalization, undocumented immigrants in the U.S. for decades want Biden to give them work permits. The question is how it would be legally doable.

Many recently arrived Venezuelans celebrated when the Biden administration granted those who were eligible the chance to work in the United States. Consuelo Martinez said she felt deep sadness.

Martinez, originally from Mexico, and her husband have worked in the U.S. for 27 years, without permission and in constant fear of being caught by immigration officers, she said by phone in Spanish.

“When I heard that my Venezuelan brothers and sisters, the president, overnight, gave them permission to work, I became sad. I became very, very sad,” Martinez said. “I cried. I cried because I am 27 years waiting in line, 27 years, so that they can give me permission to work, so I can go to work without fear, I can work calmly, without stress.”

Martinez had traveled to Washington from Chicago on Tuesday along with hundreds of other immigrants, employers and advocates. Organizers said 2,219 people were bused in. They marched to Lafayette Square across from the White House to ask President Joe Biden to use his executive powers to give them a chance to get work permits, as well.

The rally comes amid a lack of any congressional legislation on immigration and decades of Republican legal challenges to expanding work permits and deferred deportations for immigrants who lack legal status but have spent decades living and working in the U.S... READ MORE

In an extraordinary achievement related to documenting the contribution of immigrants to American life, the American Immigration Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping immigrants coming to the United States, just published an interactive map providing deep analysis and data about immigrants in the country.

The Council’s 2023 Map, showcases the contributions of immigrants in the country, all 50 states, and industry sectors across the economy. It also features hundreds of stories and videos from local leaders talking about why immigration matters to them.

Some key findings from the Council’s report include:

All learners deserve a chance, and some new programs are giving them the boost they need

As tuition and related fees skyrocket, finding ways to keep a college degree within reach for anyone willing to work toward one is imperative. Offering every high school student access to college-level courses while in high school is one critical way to do so.

Students who are able to take college-level courses, through Advanced Placement or dual enrollment, can get a head start on college — entering with credits in hand that reduce their tuition costs and shorten their path to a degree.

The courses can also provide a confidence boost to young adults uncertain whether college is for them.

Data and research show that access to college coursework while in high school increases college enrollment, success and graduation rates and has a positive impact on academic performance.

Yet undocumented students, often called Dreamers, are too often excluded from such coursework, particularly dual enrollment.

This lack of access to dual enrollment is just one of the persistent barriers that immigrant students encounter in their pursuit of higher education and career success... READ MORE