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In another side effect of an ailing economy, California's immigrant population shrank for the first time in three decades last year, according to new Census figures.
The number of foreign-born immigrants in California dropped by 1.6 percent, to 9.9 million. Nationwide, it dipped by about 0.1 percent, to just under 38 million, or around 12.5 percent of the American population.
Although the national drop of about 100,000 immigrants was modest, it amounted to the first decline in four years, and is a stark departure from 2007, when the immigrant population surged by 512,000, according to the L.A. Times.
In California and nationwide, the drop was most pronounced among low-skilled Mexican immigrants, the Washington Post reports. Mexicans account for about a third of all the country's foreign-born residents. The most precipitous fall-offs were reported in states among the hardest hit by the recession: California, Florida, Arizona and Michigan.
The figures came from the annual American Community Survey, in which Census officials base their conclusions on a sample of 3 million questionnaires.
While analysts attribute the drop-offs mostly to the economy, some say stricter immigration enforcement is also a factor.
