US CENSUS: The Foreign Born From Latin America and the Caribbean: 2010
During the last 50 years, the number of foreign born from Latin America and the Caribbean has increased rapidly, from less than 1 million in 1960 to 21.2 million in 2010. Currently, the foreign born from Latin America represent over half of the total foreign-born population. This brief discusses the size, place of birth, citizenship status, and geographic distribution of the foreign born from Latin America in the United States. It presents data on the foreign born from Latin America at the national and state levels based on the 2010 American Community Survey (ACS).
Here are some of the findings:
In 2000, 16.1 million foreign born from Latin America lived in the United States. Over the last 10 years, the foreign-born population from Latin America increased by 5.1 million, reaching 21.2 million in 2010.
The majority of the foreign born from Latin America were from Central America (70 percent), followed by the Caribbean (18 percent), and South America (13 percent). Mexico accounted for more than half (55 percent) of the foreign born from Latin America. El Salvador and Cuba each represented more than 5 percent.
Among the foreign born from the Caribbean, those born in Cuba (30 percent) and the Dominican Republic (24 percent) represented the largest proportion of all foreign born. Over three-fourths of all foreign born from Central America were born in Mexico (79 percent). Colombia represented the largest share of the foreign born from South America (23 percent).
Although the foreign born from Latin America were found across the country, most were concentrated in only a few states. In 2010, 26 percent (or 5.5 million) of the foreign born from Latin America lived in California, 14 percent (or 3.0 million) in Texas, 13 percent (or 2.8 million).
Central America represented more than half of the Latin American foreign born. The foreign born from Mexico represented about 9 out of 10 foreign born from Latin America in New Mexico, Arizona, and Idaho. The foreign born from the Caribbean represented about one-third of the Latin American foreign born in seven states. Two of these states—Florida (55 percent) and New York (49 percent)—each have Latin American foreign-born populations of 2 million or more.
In 2010, 32 percent of the foreignborn population from Latin America were naturalized citizens. The foreign-born population from Central America had the lowest percent naturalized of all regions of birth (24 percent). Of those born in the Caribbean, 54 percent were naturalized citizens. About 44 percent of the foreign born from South America were naturalized citizens.
Among the country-ofbirth groups shown, Jamaica (61 percent) and Cuba (56 percent) had the highest percent naturalized. By comparison, Mexico (23 percent) and Honduras (21 percent) were among the countries with the lowest percent naturalized.
KJ