USA Immigration News

California Attracts Highest Number of U.S. Immigrants

California has the highest rate of U.S. immigrants among U.S. states, according to a new report released on June 21, 2012.

U.S. immigration accounts for 27 percent of the California's population, the highest rate among U.S. states, says the report. Immigrants to California also contribute 34 percent to the state's labor force and produce the same percentage of its annual GDP, or more than USD 600 billion.

Reshma Shamasunder, Executive director of the California Immigrant Policy Centre indicated that U.S. immigrant workers were the backbone of key industries in California and they became innovators, entrepreneurs, active community members, and community leaders in society.

The study also reveals that 61 percent of immigrants aged 16 and above are participating in the labor force, compared to the 57 percent among non-immigrants. Immigrants are reported to be prominent in the agriculture, manufacturing, and repair and personal service industries. Immigrant households make up 27 percent of total household income, representing a substantial share of all spending power in the state.

"Their substantial contributions as workers and consumers help fuel the state's economy and are spread throughout many California regions," told Dr Manuel Pastor, the director of the USC Centre for the Study of Immigrant Integration. In Los Angeles County, immigrants make up 35 percent of the local population. The longer immigrants stay in the region, the more the poverty rate declines and home ownership rises, the study says. 60 percent of the immigrants in Los Angeles County are from Latin America while 31 percent are Asian Americans.

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