The Hispanic Challenge

The persistent inflow of Hispanic immigrants threatens to divide the United States into two peoples, two cultures, and two languages. Unlike past immigrant groups, Mexicans and other Latinos have not assimilated into mainstream U.S. culture, forming instead their own political and linguistic enclaves-from Los Angeles to Miami-and rejecting the AngloProtestant values that built the American dream. The United States ignores this challenge at its peril. By Samuel P. Huntington Huddled masses: Mexican workers gather at the Smithfield hog plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina, to celebrate asaint's feast day in June 2000. They were hired to replace American workers who quit over low wages.