By Horacio Rentería
A total of 79% of Latinos living in the United States are American citizens; 67% are citizens by birth, and about 13% are immigrants who have become naturalized citizens.
These figures come from a recent Pew Research Center study, which highlights a notable increase compared with the 71% recorded in the year 2000 — a change spanning just over two decades.
According to Pew’s latest findings, “Latinos are among the fastest-growing racial or ethnic groups in the United States.”
AROUND 68 MILLION
The report notes that between 2000 and 2024 — the 24-year period analyzed — “the Latino population nearly doubled, growing from 35.3 million to 68 million.”
Because of this expansion, Pew states that over roughly two and a half decades, Latinos accounted for more than half of the nation’s total population growth.
The study also reports that “today, Latinos are the second-largest racial or ethnic group in the country, making up one in every five Americans.”
Another key finding is the demographic diversity of the Latino population: “Latinos are extraordinarily diverse, relatively young, mostly U.S.-born, and increasingly dispersed throughout the nation.”
The report also highlights that “undocumented Latino immigrants made up 14% of all Latinos in the United States in 2023.”
FEAR OF DEPORTATION
Between February 24 and March 2 of this year, the Pew Hispanic Center conducted a survey to measure Latino attitudes toward federal immigration enforcement and deportations. Its main conclusion:
“In the midst of increased immigration enforcement during the early weeks of President Donald Trump’s term, 42% of Hispanic adults say they are worried that they or someone close to them could be deported.”
Given the surge in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations so far this year, that concern has only intensified.
HISTORIC DROP
In the same context, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported that this past October saw “the lowest number of encounters in CBP history.”
With 30,561 total encounters nationwide, the agency stated that this figure represents “the lowest number of encounters to begin a fiscal year ever recorded by CBP.”
The number is 29% lower than the previous historic minimum of 43,10 in October of fiscal year 2012, and 79% lower than October 2024.
CBP clarifies that an “encounter” refers to any interaction with a non-citizen that results in a detention, expulsion, or a determination of inadmissibility.