Hispanics

The Hispanic population in the United States grew by 43% in the last decade, surpassing 50 million and accounting for about 1 out of 6 Americans, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. Analysts seized on data showing that the growth was propelled by a surge in births in the U.S., rather than immigration, pointing to a growing generational shift in which Hispanics continue to gain political clout and, by 2050, could make up a third of the U.S. population. "In the adult population, many immigrants helped the increase, but the child population is increasingly more Hispanic," said D'Vera Cohn, a senior writer at the Pew Research Center.

Net migration from Mexico to the United States has come to a statistical standstill, stalling one of the most significant demographic trends of the last four decades. Amid an economic downturn and increased enforcement at the U.S.-Mexico border, the number of Mexicans coming to the United States dropped significantly, while the number of those returning home increased sharply over the last several years, according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center. "The largest wave of immigration in history from a single country to the United States has come to a standstill," the report says.

Nearly half of the Latino and African American students who should have graduated from California high schools in 2002 failed to complete their education, according to a Harvard University report released Wednesday. In the Los Angeles Unified School District, the situation was even worse, with just 39% of Latinos and 47% of African Americans graduating, compared with 67% of whites and 77% of Asians.

Researchers have called it the “Hispanic paradox”: When it comes to breast cancer, prostate cancer and heart disease, Latino patients in the U.S. survive longer after diagnosis than their non-Latino white and black counterparts  - even though studies have found they tend to have fewer resources and less access to care than non-Latino whites. It's the same for lung cancer, said scientists at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami in a paper published online Monday by the journal Cancer .  Querying a vast database that tracks U.S. cancer cases, the researchers looked at 172,398 patients diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer, a common subtype of the disease, in the U.S. from 1988 to 2007.

The two lines begin forming outside the Crystal Cathedral before 9 on Sunday mornings. It is a mostly immigrant crowd -- Mexicans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, among others -- and they stand patiently, unfurling umbrellas against the sun. When the doors open for the 9:30 English-language service, the lines don't budge. It isn't for a lack of seats inside -- so few people are there that cameramen have trouble finding crowd shots for the "Hour of Power" television program, which has been broadcast from the Garden Grove megachurch since 1970.

The drama of Chavez Ravine begins with what photo-essayist Don Normark called "a poor man's Shangri-La" -- the villages of La Loma, Bishop and Palo Verde, home to some 1,100 mainly poor, mainly Mexican American families. The terrain was rough and steep, the views picturesque, the community tradition-steeped and tightly knit as it lived in sight of City Hall's tower yet a world apart.

Beatriz Cisneros, daughter Roxan and her friend Lizzett Santa Cruz swooped into one of the many bridal shops on Santa Ana's 4th Street like hunters tracking prey. Gem-studded tiaras in clear plastic boxes lined the shelves to their right. To their left were displays of satin altar pillows, lace-trimmed photo albums, gold-rimmed champagne glasses and silver crucifixes. A sewing machine hummed in the background. The accessories could wait.

The prayer in Spanish sounded like one from an ordinary Catholic Mass. But the man who led it wore a coyote-skin headdress and called himself the last of 13 generations of brujos -- witch doctors -- in his family. FOR THE RECORD: Santa Muerte: An article in Monday's Section A about followers of the sect of Santa Muerte misspelled the last name of Rick Nahmias, a photographer who has documented the movement, as Nahmais. — The name the worshipers invoked was not that of the Virgin Mary but of Santa Muerte, or "Holy Death," a Mexican folk saint linked to narcotics trafficking, a kind of female grim reaper with a skull for a face.

I am writing in response to the article by Richard Rodriguez (Editorial Pages, May 20), "Hispanics, in Changing, Change America." I am a third-generation Mexican-American, or Hispanic, if you like. A product of assimilation inherited by my parents, the only thing that identifies me as a Mexican is my outward appearance. Like Rodriguez, my ancestors migrated to America long ago. Ever since then, from generation to generation, our family has conformed to the mold of a typical middle-class Mexican-American family.

An order from Ventura County Sheriff Larry Carpenter instructing Sheriff's Department personnel to refer to Latino suspects and victims as Hispanics rather than Mexicans has sparked criticism from some Latino county residents. The order, issued last week on the recommendation of the department's Minority Relations Committee, requested that deputies and other staff members stop describing all Latinos as Mexicans over police radios. Many Latinos say the term ignores their Indian heritage.

Growing up in the suburbs of Detroit, Helen Iris Torres responded to questions about her identity by telling people she was Puerto Rican. It didn't matter that schoolbooks referred to her as Hispanic. Now, as head of an organization that supports women of Latin American heritage, Torres still says she's a "proud Puerto Rican" but prefers the term Latina, which she says encompasses the larger community of Spanish speakers in the country. Torres' quandary is reflected in a new report by the Pew Hispanic Center, which suggests that the majority of people of Latin American descent choose to identify themselves by their countries of origin, over either Latino or Hispanic.

New Mexico was planning to celebrate its statehood centennial by inviting tourists to come experience the state's rich culture, take in its extraordinary views and have epic outdoor adventures. But the Land of Enchantment's promotion hit a snag, raising questions about who exactly is being represented in the celebration -- and reviving  historical insecurities. It all started when the New Mexico Department of Tourism began planning  a $2-million marketing campaign to attract outsiders to the state, which  had observed its statehood centennial Jan. 6. The department had learned that the state ranked 38th in a poll ranking tourists' preferred destinations -- and wanted to do something about that.

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich dueled for Florida's Latino voters as they raced across the state Friday -- with Romney netting the backing of Puerto Rico Gov. Luis G. Fortuno and Gingrich announcing his support for legislation allowing children brought into the country illegally to earn citizenship by joining the military. The two men outlined their views on Latin American policy during back-to-back speeches before the Hispanic Leadership Network gathering in Miami-Dade County, where three-quarters of Republican voters are Latino.

Hispanic women may be at higher risk of dying from breast cancer compared with white women, a study finds. The study ws presented this week at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center-American Assn. for Cancer Research San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium . Researchers looked at survival rates among 577 Hispanic and white women with invasive breast cancer who were part of the New Mexico Women's Health Study. They discovered that Hispanic women had about a 20% higher risk of dying from breast cancer compared with white women.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has declined a request to intervene on behalf of Dodgers owner Frank McCourt in his showdown with Major League Baseball, Rep. Charles Gonzalez said Friday. Gonzalez (D-San Antonio), the chairman of the CHC, met Friday with MLB lobbyists. He said he had requested a meeting with Commissioner Bud Selig to discuss issues of concern to the Latino community but said the CHC would not stand with McCourt in his battle against Selig. "We can't take sides in a business dispute," Gonzalez said.

The two lines begin forming outside the Crystal Cathedral before 9 on Sunday mornings. It is a mostly immigrant crowd -- Mexicans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, among others -- and they stand patiently, unfurling umbrellas against the sun. When the doors open for the 9:30 English-language service, the lines don't budge. It isn't for a lack of seats inside -- so few people are there that cameramen have trouble finding crowd shots for the "Hour of Power" television program, which has been broadcast from the Garden Grove megachurch since 1970.

Recognizing their "exceptional academic achievements," two dozen high school seniors from the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys have been named National Hispanic Scholars, the College Board has announced. Evelyn Davila, who directs the 13-year-old program out of an office in Washington, D.C.

today through Oct. 15--with a prime-time schedule of Latino-themed programs, including six original shows, 11 encore presentations and short profiles of five Southern Californians who have made special contributions to the local Latino community. Among the premieres is "The Border," a two-hour PBS special airing Monday that examines life along the line separating the U.S. and Mexico.

A months-long campaign by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the National Hispanic Media Coalition to protest the Liberman Broadcasting Inc. talk show "Jose Luis Sin Censura" has picked up steam, with two large companies agreeing to pull their commercials from the program. The organizations said Thursday that Time Warner Cable and AT&T Inc. have withdrawn advertising from the show, which is produced in Burbank and runs on Liberman's Spanish-language EstrellaTV network, including on the network's flagship station, KRCA-TV Channel 62 in Los Angeles.

The Hispanic population in the United States grew by 43% in the last decade, surpassing 50 million and accounting for about 1 out of 6 Americans, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. Analysts seized on data showing that the growth was propelled by a surge in births in the U.S., rather than immigration, pointing to a growing generational shift in which Hispanics continue to gain political clout and, by 2050, could make up a third of the U.S. population. "In the adult population, many immigrants helped the increase, but the child population is increasingly more Hispanic," said D'Vera Cohn, a senior writer at the Pew Research Center.