Mexican-Americans are likely to remain, in terms of measurements of them as a group, relatively poorer than other Americans and affected by trends characteristic of recent immigration simply because it is unlikely that immigration from Mexico will wind down anytime soon.
Maybe. But even so, the Mexican-American community is creating a society within a society -- one not as atomized as most white or black communities. It may be the atomization that causes so many medical pathologies. Lesser binge drinking? That helps for years. I noted in the last report that California was second-to-last in "adult smokers", if a distant second to Utah. California has a large proportion of Mexican-Americans.
Mexican-Americans apparently smoke less. Such may explain why Texas does so much better in many aspects of health than Oklahoma and most true Southern states. Mexican-Americans may be the difference in health measures between Texas (which has a large Mexican-American population) and Kentucky, which does not.
It could be that among Mexican-Americans there might be some benevolent person watching over someone vulnerable -- like someone old or crippled. Just look at the study on the Chicago heat wave of 1995.
