Latin America is now in the middle of the largest exodus in history, and the US is the top destination. The Census Bureau estimates that by the year 2050 a full quarter of the US population, nearly 100 million people, will be of Latino origin. This demographic transformation will lead the way to other changes and will likely redefine geopolitical relationships in the continent. In brief, the lives of Latin Americans and US citizens will become more interlinked than ever in a web of political, economic and social dimensions. For example, one cannot fully understand political developments in the Dominican Republic without paying attention to Washington Heights, where Dominicans, now the largest immigrant group in New York, have concentrated. Today, over 35 million Latinos constitute roughly 12.5 percent of the total US population. The GDP generated by the Latino population of the US is estimated to be six hundred billion dollars, equal to the national GDP of Mexico.

Since its inception in 1994, the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) has encouraged and supported teaching and research on the issues that link the Americas and its diaspora through a variety of initiatives including research projects, conferences and publications. The Center's Inter-Faculty Committee on Latino Studies, currently chaired by Neil L. Rudenstine Professor of the Study of Latin America, David Carrasco, has steered the development of efforts in the areas of immigration and Latino Studies, the latter broadly defined as the scholarly study of the Latin-American origin population of the United States and its transnational links across disciplines.