Would Trump object to Mexico seizing Hidalgo County, Texas?

By Philip Bump
June 15 at 3:17 PM

After publicly calling for Russia to rejoin the G-7 group of nations, President Trump reportedly came to the country’s defense behind closed doors as well. According to BuzzFeed News, he dismissed the central reason for Russia’s ouster from the group-formerly-known-as-the-G-8 during the group’s meeting in Quebec last weekend. Russia’s seizure of Crimea was warranted, he reportedly implied, because residents of Crimea spoke Russian anyway.

It is true that most Crimeans speak Russian, as indicated in a survey published by The Washington Post shortly before the invasion. In fact, that bit of data was cited by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a speech in March 2014 addressing the move. Trump’s reported argument is not a new one. But it does bring up an interesting point, as illustrated in this tweet from Texas-based writer Chris Hooks.

Link to tweet

If countries are welcome to seize those parts of neighbors that share their language, the United States might be about to get slightly smaller.

According to Census Bureau data, there are at least five counties in which a majority of the population speaks Spanish. (The bureau has recent data only for larger counties.) They are:

Yuma County, Ariz. 53.3 percent Spanish speakers.

Imperial County, Calif. 77.5 percent Spanish speakers.

Miami-Dade County, Fla. 74.4 percent Spanish speakers.

El Paso County, Tex. 72.4 percent Spanish speakers.

Hidalgo County, Tex. 84.4 percent Spanish speakers.

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