Rodolfo D. Torres

Latina/o formations in the United States: Laboring classes, migration, and identities

The last four decades have marked an epochal socio-economic transformation in the nature of US society. Nowhere is this more obvious than the precipitous growth of US-born Latino and Mexican/Latino immigrant populations. According to the US census, the previous decade (2000–2010) alone accounted for a 43% increase, with the majority residing in states like California, Illinois, Florida, and New York. However, more recently, new Latino (primarily of Mexican origin) destinations include Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Tennessee. These states are experiencing growth rates exceeding that of the larger Latino Metropolitan areas, where growth exceeds 300%. And a 2014 PEW Hispanic Research report on Puerto Rican migration showed that the population there is declining dramatically, primarily due to the financial instability of the island (Cohn et al., 2014). Latino population is now estimated to be nearly 54 million and with the dubious distinction of being the largest ethnic minority in the United States. More significant than sheer numbers is the fact that Latinos and Ethnicities 2015, Vol. 15(2) 157–164 ! The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1468796814557657 etn.sagepub.com