Amid anti-immigration sentiment and policies, the US Latino population grows and cultural traditions remain

By Karen Esquivel and graphics by Jhasua Razo, CNN en Español

(CNN) — In a country where some 68 million Latin Americans — nearly 20% of the population — are redefining their place in public life, Latino identity in the United States is at a turning point. Growth no longer depends primarily on immigration, but rather on a native-born generation that is transforming priorities and expectations.

But this shift is occurring amid a harsher immigration policy. There have been more than 500,000 deportations and over 1.6 million voluntary self-deportations since January 2025. That reality is impacting the economies of entire neighborhoods, increasing community tensions, and reshaping the political landscape.

Between the growing presence of an increasingly younger population that still celebrates its origins and traditions and the pressure of historically aggressive measures, the question of what it means to be Latino in the US today is taking on new layers of complexity. Who are they, where do they come from, and how do they live?

Many Hispanics feel more connected to the United States but remain tied to their country of origin’s traditions: food, language, and festivities are some of the customs they preserve, according to responses to a CNN survey answered by more than 120 readers, all Latino residents in the U.S.

Sara Sánchez says she still enjoys Salvadoran food such as pupusas and in December celebrates Christmas Eve on December 24 and Christmas the following day with traditional dishes and music from her homeland.

Arepas, for example, are still the preferred food of many Colombians and Venezuelans throughout the United States. Mexicans eat pozole, tacos, or beans on any given day, and Nicaraguans enjoy gallo pinto, a traditional dish that contains rice, beans, chili, and onion.

Mexico’s Independence Day or Día de Muertos are celebrated by people who trace their origins to Mexico; some Colombians maintain religious celebrations such as Día de las Velitas or Colombia’s traditional Christmas festivities with their respective traditional dishes. Venezuelan music, especially Gaitas in December, is present in homes and gatherings.

Diversity of origin

The growing Latino community in the United States reached a record of over 68 million in 2024, according to Census Bureau figures. This means its population is larger than that of countries such as Spain, Canada, and any other in Latin America except Brazil (over 211 million) and Mexico (130 million).

Historically, the Mexican population has been the largest Hispanic group in the United States. In 2024, they totaled 38.9 million (11.5%), a significant increase compared to the 35.9 million counted in 2020, according to Census data.

Second are Puerto Ricans, with 6.1 million (1.8%); followed by Cubans with 2.9 million (0.9%), Salvadorans with 2.7 million, and Dominicans with 2.5 million as of last year.

Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States. For this reason, Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens by birth since 1917, but they do not have the same rights as other citizens of the country: They cannot vote in presidential elections and do not have representation in Congress. They are considered part of the Latino community because the U.S. government defines this group as the population that speaks Spanish or descends from Latin Americans or Spaniards.

People with roots in Central and South America have registered a significant increase, with two populations — Colombia and Honduras — that for the first time since 2010 surpassed the one million mark, while the Venezuelan population reported the fastest growth of Hispanic groups, with an increase of 181% from 2010 to 2020, according to the Census.

The Mexican population is the largest Hispanic group in 40 states, but has settled mainly in California, a state that recorded more than 12.2 million Mexicans as of 2020, according to the Census, followed by Texas (9 million) and Arizona (1.8 million). Their presence and reach in the country have been such that in the 1960s the Chicano movement was born with the objective of empowering the U.S. population of Mexican descent and was focused in the southwestern United States.

Chicano murals, for example, stand out in neighborhoods in California, Texas, and Arizona as a window into the labor struggle, social justice, Mexican Independence, migration, historical figures, pre-Hispanic symbols, and daily life. In Sacramento, California, there is one of the oldest Chicano murals in the country called “The Rise of the Chicano Social Struggle in a Bicultural Society.” These works, created by local artists, are a symbol of resistance and pride for the Latino community.

The South of the U.S. is home to the largest number of Latinos

Geographically, California, Texas, and Florida are the states with the largest Latino populations, but this group has expanded beyond traditional enclaves, settling in areas of the Midwest and the South where the Latino population was historically scarce.

These three states are clear examples of the settlement and expansion of the Latino community. As of 2024, California’s total population was more than 39.4 million people, of which more than 16 million were Latinos (40%) and more than 10 million were immigrants (27%), according to data from the Public Policy Institute of California.

In Texas, a state with more than 31.2 million inhabitants, there are 12.6 million Hispanics (40%), surpassing the White population (39.8%), according to Census data. This means that the Latino community is the largest demographic group in the country’s second largest state.

Meanwhile, Florida is home to 6.7 million Hispanics (28.7%) among its more than 23.3 million residents. The Latino community is also the second-largest ethnic group in the so-called Sunshine State.

Enduring customs

Rodríguez lives in a Latino community in San Francisco, California, a state where Hispanics of Mexican origin make up more than 12% of the population, which — she says — reminds her a lot of Mexico. “Here, there are many street vendors on the streets and they sell all kinds of food, especially on weekends, you find everything: There are pupusas, tamales, tacos, anything. It’s not something you see in other places in the United States, but it reminds me a lot of Mexico,” she explains.

Gastronomy is one of the areas where Latinos of Mexican origin have made a strong presence. According to data from Pew Research Center, one in 10 restaurants in the United States serves Mexican food and 85% of counties nationwide have at least one Mexican restaurant.

Clemente López replied that he feels more connected to the United States, but he prefers the food of Honduras, his country of origin, as well as the music and soccer.

Paola Acosta, originally from Colombia and a resident of Florida, came to the U.S. 15 years ago in search of the so-called American dream. For her, the connection to her country of origin is greater and is reflected in her traditional diet: arepas, sancocho, and rice are on her table every day.

And for Marabeth Márquez, the religious traditions of Venezuela are still present in her life in the United States with celebrations such as Christmas Eve on December 24, observing Lent and fasting during Holy Week, in addition to not having adopted holidays like Halloween.

One in every five inhabitants in the United States is Latino (20%), making this group the largest racial minority in the country. Although immigration has historically been a determining factor in this increase, now the births of people of Latino origin have taken first place: just between 2022 and 2023, there were 722,000 births recorded, compared to 437,000 migrants who arrived in the country, according to official figures.

Gina López is a clear example: She was born in New York but feels more identified with the traditions of Colombia, her parents’ country of origin. She now lives in Florida.

Soccer, a sport that connects roots

Regardless of their flag of origin, Latinos in the United States prefer soccer over other sports because it is an extension of their national identity that connects them to their roots. This sport, favored in Latin America, has expanded and gained popularity in the country.

While in 1997, soccer was tied for last place on the list of favorite sports along with figure skating, by 2023, it had climbed to fourth place, just behind American football, baseball, and basketball, according to a Gallup poll. Hispanic television viewers in the U.S. represented the vast majority of soccer’s audience in 2017, with 68% of viewers that year, according to another study from Nielsen.

Talking about this sport among the Hispanic population has another important nuance: Latinos who prefer soccer tend to support teams outside the United States. According to a 2024 report from the marketing and media company For Soccer, 32% of Hispanics consider the U.S. men’s national soccer team their favorite, while 21% prefer the women’s team. However, among Mexican Americans — the largest Hispanic group in the United States — only 40% have one of these U.S. teams as their favorite, which means that most of them prefer other teams, from Mexico or other countries.

Soccer has become a cultural meeting point and a common language for many Colombians, Mexicans, Ecuadorians, Salvadorans, and Venezuelans, mainly in states such as Florida, California and Texas, according to Latinos who responded to CNN’s questionnaire. An example of this is that the states hosting the most Major League Soccer teams — the US professional soccer league — are California, Texas and Florida, which are also the states with the largest Latino populations.

Paola Acosta, a Florida resident, noted that not only is soccer her favorite sport, but she is also a fan of the Colombian national team, her country of origin. And John Jauregui, who was born in California and traces his origin to Mexico, prefers soccer over other sports.

That said, American football and baseball have also become integral parts of the lives of many Latinos in the United States. According to the NFL, by early 2025 there were 39 million Latino fans in the U.S., and according to Nielsen data, the percentage of Hispanic viewers of the Super Bowl increased from 10% in 2016 to 14% in 2024. Meanwhile, the percentage for the World Series went from 10% in 2016 to 15% in 2023.

Spanish language, important in identity

Latinos still maintain Spanish as a way to communicate at home and with close family and friends, in addition to considering it an important part of their identity and traditions. In fact, the United States is already the second country with the most Spanish speakers in the world, according to the report “Spanish: A Living Language 2024,” with just over 57.4 million Spanish speakers, second only to Mexico.

But as the Hispanic population is increasingly made up of individuals born in the U.S., the proportion of Latinos who speak English fluently is growing. In 2022, 72% of Latinos age 5 or older spoke the language fluently, compared to 59% in 2000, according to the Pew Research Center.

Additionally, the proportion of Latinos who speak Spanish at home decreased from 78% in 2000 to 68% in 2022, a figure driven mainly by those born in the United States.

Latinos, a driving force in the economy

Hispanics are a key part and engine in the economic development of the United States and will become even more relevant as the rest of the population ages in the coming decades, according to an analysis by the Latino Donor Collaborative and Arizona State University.

The Latino Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the United States increased from $2.1 trillion in 2015 to $4 trillion in 2023, according to the report, which is equivalent to being the fifth largest economy in the world, behind only the U.S., China, Germany, and Japan, and above the United Kingdom, France, and Italy.

“The magic and secret power, the superpower of the Latino community is the ability to be so diverse, to come from different countries in Latin America and from Spain, but at the same time have certain characteristics that also unite us, such as the great entrepreneurial spirit and the way our community continues to contribute to all aspects of life and American society,” said Frankie Miranda, of Hispanic Federation.

Latinos in the United States are much more than a statistic: They are a force that transforms the country, drives its economy, and renews its culture. They are increasingly American, but their identity is strengthened by traditions and pride, and they are key to the future of the nation, a future that is also expressed in Spanish.

The-CNN-Wire
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