Well, I think Eleanor is creating a false choice, as BO does so often and so well: Only illegal immigrants could have brought Mexican food to the US?
I don’t know, Taco Bell has been here a long time. Mexican cookbooks, even longer.
I travel extensively in Mexico, and many other countries. Being down there for a week isn’t so bad...but after a week I really really start getting sick and tired of the monotomy of food. It seems Mexicans eat only Mexican food. Same in most other countries. People always say that US and other “white” countries need more diversity...but I challenge you to go anywhere other than very very large cities and find anything other than the local food. You can go to the smallest bun-fd town in Iowa and find a mexican restuarant, a chinese restaurant, an italian restaurant, maybe thai, vietnamese, some places even more variety mediterranian, greek, japanese, and so on.