Zimmerman's mother is Hispanic, from Peru, and his father is white.
Supported by Pete Wilson, the Republican governor at the time, its objective was to keep illegal immigrants, most of whom were and are Hispanic, from using public services such as education and health care, and like the Arizona law, it required police to check up on suspects' immigration status.
According to the Pew Research Center, "Mexicans account for almost 60 percent of the unauthorized immigrants in the United States," and many others are Hispanics from other countries.
Nearly all the growth is expected to be Hispanics (from 11 to 24%) and Asians (from 4 to 8%).
Liz Hodgson Johnson, who is Hispanic, emigrated from Nicaragua in 1981 and has lived on Nostrand Avenue ever since.
Short biographies distributed today by the Gore campaign note that Joseph Austin, a construction worker from Albuquerque, is Hispanic and Joseph Dulin, a principal from Ann Arbor, Mich., is black.
But in a county where half the population is Hispanic, non-Anglo names are strangely absent from the plots.
"It's just smart marketing; it's just smart business," said Henry Bonilla, who is Hispanic and is a former Republican House member from Texas.
Many were Hispanic workers from around the state who had taken the day off to attend.
In 2060 nearly one in three residents will be Hispanic, up from about one in six now.
