The Backstory: Latino news beyond immigration, 'it's impossible to overstate how important this is'

I'm USA TODAY editor-in-chief Nicole Carroll and this is The Backstory, insights into our biggest stories of the week. If you'd like to get The Backstory in your inbox every week, sign up here.

Reporter Alan Gomez grew up in Miami. Both parents are from Cuba. And he's always been bothered by media coverage of Hispanics.

"The vast majority of major media focus is only through the lens of immigration, and the last few years, illegal immigration," he says. Hispanics are covered "as people crossing a border" instead of "people living in the U.S., living their lives, being members of this society."

We've started a new series, Hecho en USA, to do just that: explore, discuss and draw attention to issues important to Latinos living their lives in the United States, being members of this society. We are publishing the stories in both English and Spanish.

This week, Kate Cimini of the Salinas Californian (part of the USA TODAY Network) wrote about how Hispanics are the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs but still face institutional racism as they build their businesses.

Last month, Gomez wrote about the changing demographics of Little Havana in Miami, how Cubans are moving out and being replaced by immigrants from Mexico and Central America.

He was surprised to learn that before Cubans settled in Little Havana, the area was home to Jewish families. As subsequent generations of those families moved on, Cuban immigrants moved in. And now as Cubans move on, newer immigrants are settling in.

Little Havana is a microcosm for what's happening around the country, Gomez says.

"Hispanics are just the latest big wave of immigrants. The more you can share their whole stories, Americans can see parallels to how their own families got here.

"When you only view immigrants as people who illegally jump the fence or lie to get asylum, it just dehumanizes them. It doesn't allow people to appreciate them for who they are – human beings.

"It's impossible to overstate how important this is."

He's right.

Just as it's our responsibility to cover immigration issues, it's our responsibility to cover the full lives of all Americans, with nuance, with context.

Cimini found that the number of Latino business owners grew 34% over the past 10 years. The growth of all business owners? Just 1%.

That's according to a recent study from Stanford University. The same study showed Latino businesses contribute about $500 billion each year to the U.S. economy. They employ more than 3 million people.

Orlando Osornio, the owner of food truck Tortas al 100, told Cimini it's important for us to cover Latinos in business, because too many people think Latinos only take from the U.S., and don't give.

Cimini also talked to Fausta Ibarra, 59, who owns her own hair salon, Tropical Cuts, in Salinas. Ibarra told her that many Hispanics don't trust or understand financial institutions, or they are denied investment given to other business owners, so often their start-up loans come from family and friends.

"Los Latinos tienen que ganarse el pan cada día," said Ibarra in Spanish. "Yo sí pienso que los Latinos pueden contribuir más si nos dan la oportunidad para sacar adelante a nuestros hijos. Yo pienso que todos tenemos las ganas de progresar pero no se nos dan las facilidades que se les da a una persona ciudadana de aquí."

Cimini translated that to English: "Latinos have to start all over again, every day," Ibarra said. "I do think that Latinos can contribute more to this country if they give us the same opportunity to better ourselves and our children. I think we all want to progress, but they don't give us the same tools they give someone who was born here."

Cimini, a former Spanish teacher who has lived in South America and Spain, speaks three languages. She used both the Spanish and English quotes for a reason.

"People may be surprised to see Spanish in English newspapers," she said. "It's important that we acknowledge that other languages exist and that all language is good language. It's important to see other languages regularly and not see it as 'other.' "

Reporter Chris Quintana is one of the first in his family to graduate from college. He wanted to tell the story of hurdles Latinos face in higher education.

"It's pretty personal to me," says Quintana, who graduated from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque in 2012.

Nearly half of Latino students are the first in their families to go to college. About 70% of Latino undergraduates come from families in the bottom half of earners, he reported. About 2 in 3 white students come from the top half of earners. And while college enrollment is on the decline overall, Hispanic college students rose from 3.17 million in 2016 to 3.27 million in 2017.

What that means, Quintana says, is that universities can't just enroll the students, they need to support them. Many Latino students may not have experienced family members who can help them navigate paying for and succeeding in college.

"People may underestimate what people don't know. I saw that reflected in my reporting," Quintana says. "You're learning on the fly and you're being penalized for it at the same time."

National editor Cristina Silva launched the Hecho project as a way to cover Latinos beyond crime and immigration. Now it's a conversation.

After this week's story on Latino entrepreneurs, readers began posting about their own efforts to start a small business. After Quintana's higher ed story, people were comparing college experiences.

"I love that people are sharing their personal stories with us," Silva said. Next up, we'll have a story on how Hispanic comedians balance humor with avoiding stereotypes. And, we'll look at how larger numbers of Latinos are joining the military, but the number of Latino officers has stayed the same.

When she was a younger reporter, Silva says, "My editor told me no one cares about this. It was difficult to get stories about Latinos published at some of the places where I worked."

With this project, "I didn't have to defend this series or make repeated arguments for it. Everyone was just like, 'yes, let's do it.'"

She pauses, "We shouldn't even call it a project."

She's right.

Coverage of issues important to Latinos – and all diverse populations – shouldn't be special.

It should just be what the media does – for everyone.

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Nicole Carroll is the editor-in-chief of USA TODAY. She is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Benjamin C. Bradlee "Editor of the Year” and proud mom of three. Comments? Questions? Reach her at EIC@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter here.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Backstory: Latino news should go beyond border issues