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Study details Inland region's big increase in immigrants
The Inland area had the sharpest increase in immigrant residents of any region in California over the past two decades, and, unlike elsewhere, most of the population growth was from immigrants relocating from other parts of the state, a study released Wednesday night found.
The number of immigrants living in Riverside and San Bernardino counties nearly tripled between 1990 and 2007, from 272,000 to more than 760,000, according to the report by the Public Policy Institute of California, a San Francisco-based nonpartisan think tank. Nearly a third of the Inland area's residents are immigrants, compared to 18 percent in 1990. The study was based upon an analysis of U.S. Census data.
Especially in Riverside County, most of those newcomers arrived from other California counties. Between 2004 and 2007, more than four times as many immigrants relocated to Riverside County from other California counties than arrived directly from their native countries, the report found.
Most moved from Los Angeles County, which lost nearly 300,000 immigrants to other California counties between 2004 and 2007, said Sarah Bohn, author of the report. Riverside and San Bernardino counties were the top two destinations, she said.
In that same time period, more than 220,000 people emigrated from their homelands to Los Angeles County, indicating that that county still remains the primary immigrant port of entry in California, she said. Based upon previous trends, many of those recent arrivals to Los Angeles County are likely to eventually move inland, Bohn said.
The Rev. Patricio Guillen, executive director of LibrerÃa Del Pueblo, a San Bernardino-based immigrant-assistance group, said many immigrants moved to the Inland area because of lower rental costs than in coastal counties or to buy a home that was unaffordable further west
PROTECTING CHILDREN
"The high cost of living was beyond people's means," he said. "And some people wanted to protect their children from gangs and other influences (in parts of Los Angeles County). It was a combination of economic and family issues."
The study includes data only as late as 2007 and, because the census does not ask respondents' immigration status, it does not differentiate between legal and illegal immigrants.
Guillen said the economic crisis and stricter immigration enforcement pushed an increasing number of immigrants to leave the Inland area in 2008 and 2009, with some returning to their home countries.
Housing costs have long been a key reason why immigrants move from Los Angeles and other coastal counties to the Inland area, said Luz Gallegos, community programs director of TODEC Legal Center in Perris, which assists immigrants. But in recent years a rising number were attracted by jobs, especially in warehouses and distribution centers, she said.
During the area's building boom in the mid- and late-1990s and early 2000s, some immigrants moved here for construction-related jobs.
Mexican immigrant José Luis Ortega moved with his family from San Diego to Riverside County in 1996 after the painting company he worked for relocated to the Inland area. The company depended heavily on new-construction contracts, and the Inland area offered far more of those, he said.
FINDING JOBS KEY
The company closed three years ago as the housing bust began, Ortega said. Ortega found another job within two weeks.
"If I hadn't found another job, I would have moved somewhere else," Ortega said in Spanish. "I move where the jobs are."
Bohn said jobs and other economic factors largely explain why immigrants relocate and where they choose to settle when arriving in the United States.
Bohn found that California's proportion of the nation's immigrant population is dropping. Nearly 34 percent of immigrants lived in California in 1990. In 2007, fewer than 27 percent lived here.
Immigration growth also slowed in other states with traditionally large immigrant populations, including New York and Illinois, while rising sharply in the South and other areas that previously had relatively few immigrants.
A report released in April by the Washington-based Pew Hispanic Center found that illegal immigrants in particular are settling outside California. In 1990, 42 percent of illegal immigrants lived in California. By 2008, that number had plummeted to 22 percent.
BY THE NUMBERS
202 Percentage increase in immigrants in Riverside County, 1990-2007.
161 Percentage increase in immigrants in San Bernardino County, 1990-2007.
18 Percentage of Inland area's residents who were immigrants, 1990.
31 Percentage of Inland area's residents who were immigrants, 2007.
37 Percentage of state's residents who were immigrants, 2007.
14 Percentage of immigrants in the Inland area with a college degree, 2007.
24 Percentage of immigrants in California with a college degree, 2007.
The Inland area had the sharpest increase in immigrant residents of any region in California over the past two decades, and, unlike elsewhere, most of the population growth was from immigrants relocating from other parts of the state, a study released Wednesday night found.
The number of immigrants living in Riverside and San Bernardino counties nearly tripled between 1990 and 2007, from 272,000 to more than 760,000, according to the report by the Public Policy Institute of California, a San Francisco-based nonpartisan think tank. Nearly a third of the Inland area's residents are immigrants, compared to 18 percent in 1990. The study was based upon an analysis of U.S. Census data.
Especially in Riverside County, most of those newcomers arrived from other California counties. Between 2004 and 2007, more than four times as many immigrants relocated to Riverside County from other California counties than arrived directly from their native countries, the report found.
Most moved from Los Angeles County, which lost nearly 300,000 immigrants to other California counties between 2004 and 2007, said Sarah Bohn, author of the report. Riverside and San Bernardino counties were the top two destinations, she said.
In that same time period, more than 220,000 people emigrated from their homelands to Los Angeles County, indicating that that county still remains the primary immigrant port of entry in California, she said. Based upon previous trends, many of those recent arrivals to Los Angeles County are likely to eventually move inland, Bohn said.
The Rev. Patricio Guillen, executive director of LibrerÃa Del Pueblo, a San Bernardino-based immigrant-assistance group, said many immigrants moved to the Inland area because of lower rental costs than in coastal counties or to buy a home that was unaffordable further west
PROTECTING CHILDREN
"The high cost of living was beyond people's means," he said. "And some people wanted to protect their children from gangs and other influences (in parts of Los Angeles County). It was a combination of economic and family issues."
The study includes data only as late as 2007 and, because the census does not ask respondents' immigration status, it does not differentiate between legal and illegal immigrants.
Guillen said the economic crisis and stricter immigration enforcement pushed an increasing number of immigrants to leave the Inland area in 2008 and 2009, with some returning to their home countries.
Housing costs have long been a key reason why immigrants move from Los Angeles and other coastal counties to the Inland area, said Luz Gallegos, community programs director of TODEC Legal Center in Perris, which assists immigrants. But in recent years a rising number were attracted by jobs, especially in warehouses and distribution centers, she said.
During the area's building boom in the mid- and late-1990s and early 2000s, some immigrants moved here for construction-related jobs.
Mexican immigrant José Luis Ortega moved with his family from San Diego to Riverside County in 1996 after the painting company he worked for relocated to the Inland area. The company depended heavily on new-construction contracts, and the Inland area offered far more of those, he said.
FINDING JOBS KEY
The company closed three years ago as the housing bust began, Ortega said. Ortega found another job within two weeks.
"If I hadn't found another job, I would have moved somewhere else," Ortega said in Spanish. "I move where the jobs are."
Bohn said jobs and other economic factors largely explain why immigrants relocate and where they choose to settle when arriving in the United States.
Bohn found that California's proportion of the nation's immigrant population is dropping. Nearly 34 percent of immigrants lived in California in 1990. In 2007, fewer than 27 percent lived here.
Immigration growth also slowed in other states with traditionally large immigrant populations, including New York and Illinois, while rising sharply in the South and other areas that previously had relatively few immigrants.
A report released in April by the Washington-based Pew Hispanic Center found that illegal immigrants in particular are settling outside California. In 1990, 42 percent of illegal immigrants lived in California. By 2008, that number had plummeted to 22 percent.
BY THE NUMBERS
202 Percentage increase in immigrants in Riverside County, 1990-2007.
161 Percentage increase in immigrants in San Bernardino County, 1990-2007.
18 Percentage of Inland area's residents who were immigrants, 1990.
31 Percentage of Inland area's residents who were immigrants, 2007.
37 Percentage of state's residents who were immigrants, 2007.
14 Percentage of immigrants in the Inland area with a college degree, 2007.
24 Percentage of immigrants in California with a college degree, 2007.
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