The question is if my daughter is to be considered Latina for College Apps. Her father and I are both of white race but
her father was born in Mexico and has dual citizenship (Mexico and USA) He has a Mexican passport, and I could get her one too.
Is she Latina???
No.
If your husband were born in China, his progeny would not be Asian. If he were born in Chad, your daughter would not be African-American.
^ But Latino is an ethnicity, not a race. Just knowing he’s white doesn’t answer the question.
Your daughter is in fact Hispanic/Latina under the guidelines from the National Hispanic Recognition Program:
https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt-psat-10/scholarships-and-recognition/national-hispanic-recognition-program
"NHRP’s Definition of Hispanic/Latino
To be eligible, you must be at least one-quarter Hispanic/Latino. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnic category, not a racial category, so you can be of any race.
You must have ancestors from at least one of these countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, MEXICO, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, Uruguay, or Venezuela."
@bodangles Yup. You are correct. I assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that the father was born in Mexico, but is not himself Latino (e.g. child of an expat); just having a Mexican passport does not make him Latino; Mexico nationality law allows that any person born in Mexico, regardless of race or ethnicity of the parents, is a Mexican citizen. If he is, in fact, Latino, then, yes, his daughter would be Latina. So either I jumped the gun, or the OP did not provide us enough background, or both. 
It does kind of sound like the dad does not consider himself Hispanic/Latino based on the wording (“he was born there” not “he is Mexican”) but that might be unintended. Hopefully OP can clarify.
I agree with @bodangles, the way the OP presented it, it made it sound like the dad doesn’t even consider himself Hispanic, so why would the D?
I’ve always been under the impression that if you have to ask, then you aren’t. I just came from a college counseling meeting at my D’s school and one of the things they noted is that they sometimes get calls from college admissions departments wanting them to verify ethnicity. I’d be leery of declaring an ethnicity that the kid doesn’t identify with.
The NHRP rules are all about where people are born. It doesn’t matter where you family came from prior to that.
My wife was born in a South American country after her family fled Austria & Hungary during the Holocaust. By NHRP rules, my kids are considered Hispanic, as their mom (and grandma) were born in one of the countries on the list (in post #3).
Basically if you say you are and with the father being born in Mexico and having a Mexican passport I can’t see how anyone can dispute it. So it’s basically up to you.
Let me explain more clearly…I am looking for the conclusion and legal answer to the question: If my daughters father was born in Mexico, he has a birth certificate and passport, does this make my daughter Latino and is she Mexican? According to the NHRP per “about the same’s” post above she is. If her father was born in Mexico she is 1/2 Mexican. Although we do not speak spanish and are of white race, my husband is proud to be Mexican. If she had to prove ethnicity, wouldn’t the Birth Certificate from her father be enough?
Thank you for your responses!
If your husband is Mexican, why would you even question whether your daughter is 1/2 Mexican? According to your description her race is white and ethnicity is hispanic (mexican).
I agree, her father is Mexican then, yes, she is 1/2 Mexican.
Frankly, I don’t think anyone checks on these things. You don’t have to speak Spanish to be of Hispanic origin and you don’t need a Mexican birth certificate and/or passport.