Miss USA 2016 Latinas
Two Latinas are vying for the Miss USA 2016 crown and representing the states of California and Texas. Meet them here! MUO

The competition to find the next Miss USA 2016 is heating up in Las Vegas. Out of a total of 52 contestants vying for the crown, there are two Latinas in the mix representing California and Texas. This is considerably less than last year when there were eight of Latino origin competing.

Nadia Mejia (20): Nadia Grace Mejia is a 20-year-old full time model born and raised in California and currently lives in Huntington Beach. She has traveled the world for her modeling career and has worked for brands such as Nordstrom, Ulta, Reef, PacSun, JC Penny, Asos and many more. She is a worship leader at the Angelus Temple Dream Center in Los Angeles and sings for more than 3,000 people at four services a week. Nadia is a spokesperson for the National Eating Disorder Association, spreading the message to "Love the skin you're in" nationwide, sharing her own personal experience of suffering from Anorexia. Her main goal is to one day open up a Latin American-Mediterranean Fusion restaurant that will enable her to embrace her ethnicity of being Ecuadorean and Lebanese. Nadia's mother was a former Miss USA contestant in 1989 representing the state of West Virginia and her father was a one hit wonder in the '90s, also known as "Rico Suave."

Miss USA 2016 Contestants: California
Nadia Mejia is representing California in the Miss USA 2016 beauty pageant. MissUniverseOrganization/JonathanCarter

Daniella Rodriguez (19): Daniella Rodriguez is majoring in Teaching at Texas A&M International University. After earning her bachelors degree, she intends to secure a masters degree in school counseling. Judging from her resume, however, Daniella’s talents could take her in a direction more in keeping with her love of the spotlight. With good reason, she considers acting to be her greatest talent. She began acting as a child, attending acting camps and appearing in independent films for the University of Texas. So it is no surprise that her dream job is to become a successful actress. For now, Daniella’s daily life largely centers on her family. She works with her parents at their family-owned businesses. For recreation, they take trips to their ranch or to the lake, where she enjoys riding four wheelers and jet skiing. Daniella looks forward to one day being in the position to repay her parents for all the sacrifices they have made on her behalf.

Miss USA 2016 Contestants: Texas
Daniella Rodriguez is representing Texas in the Miss USA 2016 beauty pageant. MissUniverseOrganization/JonathanCarter

A preliminary competition taking place on Wednesday, June 1 will have the girls in swimwear and evening gowns. The judges will score all the girls and determine the Top 15, which will be announced during the live telecast on Sunday, June 5. The Miss USA 2016 main show will be hosted by Julianne Hough and Terrence Jenkins. Both will be joined by Ashley Graham from backstage that will have the inside scoop and all the drama from behind the scenes. Musical performers include Chris Young and Backstreet Boys. Judges for the telecast are Ali Landry, Crystle Stewart, Joe Zee and Laura Brown. Miss USA 2016 will air live from Las Vegas starting at 7 p.m. ET on the FOX network.

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