Schneider



=Hispanic Population Growth in Wisconsin =

The Hispanic population in Wisconsin has almost reached 6% of the states population at 5.9% according to the 2010 census. This is quite an increase from the 3.9% in 2000 and 1.9% in 1990. Hispanics contributed 44% of the overall growth in Wisconsin. The Hispanic population in the state grew 74% in the last decade. Wisconsin’s Hispanics are primarily Mexican in origin (67%), followed by Puerto Rican (16%). The 2010 count showed there were 336,056 Hispanics in the state, an increase of 143,135 from 2000. These large increases were not always normal. Before 2000 there was still an increase in the population but it was more linear compared to the exponential growth of recent years


 * 1) ======1930 to 2010======
 * 2) ======Why Wisconsin======

1930 to 2010
From 1850 to 1930, the foreign-born population of the United States increased with large-scale immigration from Europe during most of this period. From 1930 to 1950, the foreign-born population of the United States had declined. These declines reflected the extremely low level of immigration during the 1930s and 1940s mostly due to the Great Depression and WWII. Since 1970, the foreign-born population of the United States has increased rapidly due to large-scale immigration, primarily from Latin America.

Data on country of birth information for people of Hispanic origin was available starting in 1970. Through 1940, census data on nationality of the population were based on data for the total population. In the 1950 census, an "Other races" category was added in an attempt to identify individuals of mixed White, Black, and Indian ancestry. This attempt was only partially successful; however, the "Other races" category was retained, and with self-identification of race and Hispanic origin, there has been a dramatic increase since 1970 in the "Other races" population. This is due primarily to individuals who are of Hispanic origin and who choose not to report in a specific racial category, such as White or Black.


 * = Year: ||= Population: ||= % increase ||
 * = 1930 ||= N/A ||= N/A ||
 * = 1940 ||= 12,677* ||= N/A ||
 * = 1950 ||= 13,703* ||= N/A ||
 * = 1960 ||= 18,328* ||= N/A ||
 * = 1970 ||= 33,000 ||= N/A ||
 * = 1980 ||= 62,972 ||= 90% ||
 * = 1990 ||= 93,194 ||= 48% ||
 * = 2000 ||= 192,921 ||= 107% ||
 * = 2010 ||= 336,056 ||= 74% ||
 * indicates "other" category

Why Wisconsin?
Wisconsin's Spanish-speaking communities date back to 1910, when early Mexican immigrants settled here following the outbreak of the Mexican revolution. Census reports show only 200 Hispanics in Wisconsin in 1940 and only about 1,000 in 1950, out of a total population of more than 3 million. These figures are misleading, however, since they omit seasonal and temporary workers recruited by Wisconsin manufacturers and agricultural firms. By 1925, for example, a fluid community of about 9,000 Mexican Americans lived in Milwaukee, and from then until the 1970s thousands of Spanish-speaking workers and their families moved into Wisconsin every year. During World War II, increased demand for food and a labor shortage expanded the need for farm workers. The federal Emergency Farm Labor Program, adopted in 1943, allowed employers to hire non-residents to work in the fields, and Wisconsin growers imported male farm hands from British Honduras and Mexico. After the war, the importation of Mexican workers continued under the federal "Bracero" program, which brought millions of Mexican farm laborers north until it was discontinued in 1964. In the early 1950s, about 12,000 migrant workers came to Wisconsin each summer.

Seasonal workers in farm fields and canning factories were not the only Spanish-speaking immigrants who entered Wisconsin in the middle of the last century. People from Mexico are the largest Spanish-speaking group in Wisconsin. Arriving in large numbers in the 1950s and after, they found an established community to join, particularly in Milwaukee and other cites in the southeast part of the state. Another fast-growing group of Spanish speakers is Puerto Ricans, who began arriving in Wisconsin in the late 1940s, drawn to industrial jobs in Milwaukee, Kenosha and Racine counties.  By 1970 more than 40,000 Hispanic residents called Wisconsin their permanent home, the majority living in Milwaukee and Racine counties and working in factories alongside their German, African American, Polish and Scandinavian neighbors.

In More Recent Times



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