In recent years, more than one million Latin Americans in search of a better life have surged into the United States. The US has undergone one of its history’s most dramatic demographic and cultural shifts, with Latinos expected to emerge as an American majority by 2050.

The Whole Enchilada details how this influx has resulted in acute growing pains. Today, conservative commentators rail against porous borders and the influence of illegal workers on job availability; hate crimes against Latinos have increased, as seen in the infamous murder in Patchogue, New York; unemployment soars in Latino communities; and young Hispanics are joining gangs at staggering rates.

The film also shows the increasing Latino vibrancy, optimism, and empowerment, particularly in Los Angeles. LA City Councilman Tony Cardenas, touted as a future political leader; actress Lupe Ontiveros; Josefina Lopez, the screenwriter of Real Women Have Curves; and TV anchor Geraldo Rivera deliver interviews on their experience and perspective of the shifting Latino American culture. The film also captures the appointment of the Supreme Court's first Hispanic justice, Sonia Sotomayor, which sends a powerful message of hope and opportunity to the Latino community.

As The Whole Enchilada concludes, the current demographic transition is tearing up many of the old political, economic, and cultural certainties of the United States. But then, the ‘old’ certainties are not so very old, and they have been constantly redefined over American history, from the time the first pilgrims stepped onto Plymouth rock through every wave of immigrants since then. Latinos are changing the country today—and they know they are changing it—but the one thing that is constant about America is its demographic change. Nativistic white Americans might not like it, but Native Americans didn’t like it either starting in 1492.
‒Anthropological Review Database