The situation in South Florida, is quite different. Here we've been hit by subsequent waves of immigration, it started off with the Cubans, who were mostly middle class and later working class as the economic situation in Cuba deteriorated. Eventually, anyone who could hop on a raft was showing up, so the Cubans ranged across a wide range of economic and social classes. My own people were not part of this migration, we came to this country almost a century ago, we moved primarily to Tampa, and we were highly skilled industrial workers. After the Cubans, we started getting Central Americans, and later, Mexicans, and for the most part these were agricultural workers because Florida has an insatiable appetite for cheap labor in its fields and groves. These folks are, essentially, peasants, many are illiterate, and some don't even speak Spanish, they are Indians. During this time, we started getting waves of immigrants from the West Indies, particularly Jamaica. Along with them came the Haitians, who were Creole (a dialect of French) speakers. Today, we are getting an influx of middle class Columbians (fleeing drug violence), middle class Puerto Ricans (fleeing street crime in their country), and we're gearing up now for middle class Venezuelans (fleeing Chavez). Not all of these groups are destitute, many come with financial resources and some English, so there is some friction between them as they compete for jobs, and they displace existing Hispanic immigrant communities.

All these groups have one thing in common, they come here looking for work, and as long as there are people here willing to hire them, they will keep coming. This is why I know border controls and walls don't work. The Florida Straits won't stop them, so no wall will. The vast majority of them come here on jet planes with tourist visas. This should also give you some idea of why concepts like "the Hispanic Vote" are so meaningless. The Columbians, Cubans, Venezuelans and Puerto Ricans have much more in common with the Anglo populations than they do with the Central Americans or the West Indians. It's not just a question of economic power, either.

These groups have deep differences in ethnicity, culture, language, even their psychology is different. What is happening here in South Florida is a profound social experiment. When you add up all the immigrants, and add African-Americans, the traditional European immigrant origin white population is actually a minority by several percent, even though they are the largest of all the groups. You can't always tell this, because you can't determine if someone is Latin simply by looking at him or hearing him speak. We have assimilated.