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In a recent interview Ann Coulter claimed:

America has already taken in one-fourth of Mexico's entire population.

Is this true?

Chad
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  • The claim is not clear. Has already taken in one-fourth of the population since when? Does this mean 1/4 of Mexican citizens currently live in the U.S., or what? – Reinstate Monica -- notmaynard May 28 '15 at 21:46
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    @Sklivvz I am confused why this was put on hold. There is a notable claim that can be challenged... – Chad May 29 '15 at 14:56
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    It is notable, but ill-defined. Starting in what year? How do you treat Mexicans in the USA due to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the Gadsden Purchase? Should Mexicans that later return to Mexico be included? Many of Mexican-descent were forced to Mexico during the great depression http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Repatriation – DavePhD May 29 '15 at 16:47
  • @DavePhd Those numbers are so small it doesn't really matter. My first thought on this and bared out by the numbers in the answer below you would need over 20 million immigrants in the last few years to get even close to that number. And my understanding is most of the Hispanic immigrants in the last few years were more central america(guatmalan, salvadoran etc) rather than mexican – Chad May 29 '15 at 17:48
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    The claim is completely generic. Maybe it's just misquoted. Most Mexicans are obviously in America. If she means the US, has taken in when? Over the last year, ten years, 100 years, its foundation? Which Mexican population, the one of today, 10 years ago, 100 years ago, etc... How many generations are we counting? Just the people who immigrate or their descendants? *Do not attempt to answer these questions*, but let *her* answer them by quoting her statement with enough context. – Sklivvz May 29 '15 at 17:51
  • I do not have the full context its out of an interview she did that a transcript of is linked. Its posted on her website so I seriously doubt its a misquoted. And honestly I don't think it matters where you take the snapshot or how you calculate the numbers, the claim seems incredibly unrealistic. – Chad May 29 '15 at 17:58
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    @Chad I like and upvoted the question, but I think this is the wrong stack exchange for a proper answer, because moderators delete answers with calculations as "theoretical". Elsewhere, maybe historySE, you could specify what time period (starting year) you want considered, and how people that return to Mexico should be treated in the calculation, and the person answering would be free to do calculations. – DavePhD May 29 '15 at 20:46

1 Answers1

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In 2013, data suggests that the Mexican population is estimated at 122.3 million mexicans. enter image description here
Graph source: Google. Number source: World Bank

  • 25% of 122.3 million = 30,575,000 million immigrants.

So, the claim is that there are 30m mexican immigrants in the States. Is it true?

A record 33.7 million Hispanics of Mexican origin resided in the United States in 2012, according to an analysis of Census Bureau data by Pew Research Center. This estimate includes 11.4 million immigrants born in Mexico and 22.3 million born in the U.S. who self-identified as Hispanics of Mexican origin.

enter image description here

Retrieved from pewhispanic.org

You should note here based on the definition of immigrants; 22.3 million people who are born in the U.S. from a Mexican origin are not immigrants.

The would mean there 33.7 million Hispanics of Mexican origin in the US but only 11.4 million are considered immigrants (born in Mexico).

Sklivvz
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George Chalhoub
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  • Removed long thread about definitions. The claim should be defined enough to make this answerable, debating definition in comments is pointless. – Sklivvz May 29 '15 at 22:19
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    And note that even if they were immigrants that would mean 20%, not 25%. You have to count the total population, not what's left. – Loren Pechtel May 31 '15 at 00:58
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    Well technically, if they are born of a mexican mother or father they are entitled to nationality. If all of them took it then yes 25%. But highly unlikely. – Jose Luis Jul 17 '15 at 13:22