I don't even like the whole "legal hispanic" term; it implies that all hispanics are immigrants, even if our families have been here for 200 years.
Not totally sure on this but I think Jimmy Carter & co. had a big hand in coining the term "hispanic".......I know he was a big advocate of the UN's Declaration of Human Rights some years ago and I think they needed an all inclusive term to pump up the propaganda machine and start the process of dissolving our borders.