Immigrant Diversity Declining; Mexico, Latin America Growing Share of Foreign-Born

8/29/2003

From: Steven Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies, 202-466-8185, sac@cis.org

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29 -- During the 1990s, America's immigrant population grew by 11.3 million, faster than at any time in our history, and at the same became significantly less diverse. One country -- Mexico -- and one region -- Spanish-speaking Latin America -- have come to dominate U.S. immigration. This is true not only nationally but also in most of the states.

These findings are from a new report by the Center for Immigration Studies, using newly released data from the 2000 Census. The report, entitled "Where Immigrants Live: An Examination of State Residency by Country of Origin in 1990 and 2000," contains detailed information for the nation as a whole and for each of the 50 states.

The report is available to the media on an embargoed basis through Thursday, September 4. The report is embargoed until midnight, Thursday night/Friday morning, and may be used for Friday a.m. newspapers. For an embargoed copy of the report, contact Steven Camarota at 202-466-8185 or sac@cis.org.

The Center will host a briefing on the report on Friday, September 5, at 1:30 p.m., at the National Press Club's Lisagor Room. The author of the report, Center for Immigration Studies Director of Research Steven Camarota, will discuss the results and their implications. The briefing is free and open to the public.