South SFV Today

Victor Davis Hanson, in his book, “Mexifornia,” said the contemporary trend away from immigrants following assimilation when they enter the U.S. means they live in the country but do not "become citizens of the United States nor to return to Mexico," and as a result they never find a place in either culture. 

Published in 2003, “Mexifornia" is about how California changed in the years leading up to publication, both politically and culturally. The book uses history and personal memoir in its narrative.

Following is the excerpt from “Mexifornia”:

The goal of assimilation that was once the standard, if unspoken orthodoxy in our schools and government is now ridiculed as racist and untrue. The result is that the very idea of both Mexico and America is changing, as is the experience of the immigrant. Instead of growing more distant, a romanticized Mexico is kept closer to the heart of the new arrival—thus erecting a roadblock on his journey to becoming an American. Those who die as Mexicans in California have sought neither to become citizens of the United States nor to return to Mexico. As a local columnist for our paper recently described their nether world: Pensaban que se iban a ir patras (“They thought they would go back to their home”). Apparently he was sad that those who fled Mexico always nostalgically promised to go back, yet eventually died in the United States.

"Mexifornia" can be found on Encounter Books' website.  

Hanson is a historian, classicist, and commentator. He is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and professor emeritus of classics at California State University, Fresno. Hanson has written extensively on ancient warfare, military history, and contemporary politics. He authored several books, including "The Western Way of War" and "Carnage and Culture." Hanson has been a columnist for various publications and has appeared as a commentator on television and radio programs.