California Immigration Snapshot

California is home to more than

10 million immigrants —comprising one in four foreign-born persons nationally

and 25% of the state’s total population.1 85% of these immigrants have lived in the U.S. for 10 or more years.2

50% of California’s children, totaling 4.5 million, have at least one immigrant parent, compared to 25% nationwide.3 Of these 4.5 million children, 90% are U.S.-born citizens.4

Rural and border regions of California are chronically underresourced and underserved. Immigrants and service providers in these regions face unique challenges, including high need, limited infrastructure, and hostile, anti-immigrant environments.5

0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

Legal Status of California’s Foreign-Born Population 10

Regions of Birth for California’s Foreign-Born Population14

£ In San Diego and Imperial counties, proximity to the border makes residents particularly vulnerable to detention and deportation.9

Naturalized Citizens 49%

Other Legal Status (including green card and visa holders) 26%

Undocumented 25%

2.2 million are eligible to naturalize.11

223,000 DACA Recipients13

Europe 6.3%Latin America

(predominantly Mexico) 51.1%

Asia (predominantly Philippines, China, Vietnam, India) 38.9%

Africa 1.8%

Northern America 1.1%

Oceania 0.8%

From 2001 to 2017,

California received 105,000 resettled refugees, ranking #1 in the United States and accounting for one-tenth of all refugee arrivals to the country.12

Unique Challenges by Geography

£ Urban areas, especially Los Angeles, have the largest scale of need.8

£ San Francisco has high rates of naturalization, but counties in the North and East Bay are chronically underserved.6

£ In the Central Valley, nearly 3 in 4 children who have an undocumented parent live in poverty.7

The largest shares of immigrant workers are in the following occupation groups:18

Education Levels21 Health Insurance Coverage22

Workforce and Economic Contributions

HealthEducation

31% Immigrant share of California’s GDP15

In 2014, immigrant-led households in the state paid: 34% Immigrant share

of the state’s labor force.17

$56 billion in federal taxes

$26.4 billion in state and local taxes16

880,000 immigrant business owners accounted for 38.2% of all self-employed California residents in 2015 and generated

$21.8 billion in business income.19

Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance

Production Construction and Extraction

Computer and Mathematical Sciences

Go to www.gcir.org/publications to read the endnotes.

0%

20%

40%

60%

Living in Poverty Employed

NoncitizensNaturalized citizensU.S.-born

Employment and Poverty Rates by Immigration Status20

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

No health insuranceWith health insurance

NoncitizensNaturalized citizensU.S.-born

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Graduate or prof. degree

Bachelor's degreeSome college or associate's degree

High school diploma or GED

Less than high school diploma

Noncitizens

Naturalized citizens

U.S.-born

Endnotes

1 Migration Policy Institute (MPI) – State Immigration Data Profiles: California: Demographics & Social, retrieved from https://www.migrationpolicy.org/data/state-profiles/state/demographics/CA; Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) – Immigrants in California (2017), retrieved from http://www.ppic.org/publication/immigrants-in-california/

2 MPI – State Immigration Data Profiles: California: Demographics & Social.3 Kidsdata.org. (2017, February). Half of CA children have immigrant parents. Retrieved from http://www.kidsdata.org/blog/?p=78044 MPI - Children in U.S. Immigrant Families (2016). Retrieved from

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/charts/children-immigrant-families 5 GCIR 2017 California Field Interviews.6 Pastor, M., et. al., 2012; GCIR 2017 California Field Interviews.7 Pastor, M., et. al., 2013.8 GCIR 2017 California Field Interviews.9 GCIR 2017 California Field Interviews. 10 PPIC - Immigrants in California, 2017.11 Pastor, M., Scoggins, J., Wander, M., Ortiz, R. (2016, July). Data to Inform Strategy: Getting to Know California’s

Eligible-to-Naturalize Adult Population.12 Refugee Processing Center (2018). Reports – Interactive Report: Admissions and Arrivals. Retrieved from

http://ireports.wrapsnet.org/Interactive-Reporting/EnumType/Report?ItemPath=/rpt_WebArrivalsReports/Map%20-%20Arrivals%20by%20State%20and%20Nationality

13 PPIC – DACA and California’s Future (2017). Retrieved from http://www.ppic.org/blog/daca-californias-future/14 MPI – State Immigration Data Profiles: California: Demographics & Social.15 Fiscal Policy Institute analysis of 2015 ACS 1-year data, IPUMS.16 American Immigration Council – Immigrants in California (2017). Retrieved from https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/

research/immigrants-in-california17 Immigrant share of the labor force in 2015. American Immigration Council – Immigrants in California, 2017. 18 American Immigration Council – Immigrants in California, 2017. 19 American Immigration Council – Immigrants in California, 2017.20 Employment rates are shown as percentages of the total U.S.-born, naturalized, and noncitizen populations that are age 16 and

older. These totals include employed individuals, unemployed individuals, and individuals not currently participating in the civilian labor force. MPI – State Immigration Data Profiles: California: Workforce; MPI – State Immigration Data Profiles: California: Income & Poverty.

21 MPI – State Immigration Data Profiles: California: Language & Education.22 MPI – State Immigration Data Profiles: California: Income & Poverty.