Facts about immigration in California

From the Public Policy Institute of California:

California is home to more than 10 million immigrants—about one in four of the foreign-born population nationwide. In 2015, the most current year of data, 27% of California’s population was foreign born, about twice the US percentage. Half of California children had at least one immigrant parent.

Almost half (49%) of California’s immigrants are naturalized US citizens, 26% have some other legal status (including green cards and visas) and about 25% of immigrants in California are undocumented.

The vast majority of California’s immigrants were born in Latin America (52%) or Asia (39%). Leading countries of origin are Mexico (4.3 million), China (914,000), the Philippines (859,000), India (581,000), and Vietnam (507,000). Most (53%) of those arriving between 2011 and 2015 came from Asia; only 22% came from Latin America.

Foreign-born residents accounted for 71% of state residents without a high school diploma and 31% of college-educated residents. But more than half (52%) of foreign-born residents who came to the state between 2011 and 2015—and 58% of those who came from Asia—had attained at least a bachelor’s degree.

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