Latinos Represent Nearly Half of the
Total Foreign-Born Population in U.S.

Latinos represent 45.2% of the total foreign born population in the U.S. according to a new Census report released today. Of the nation's 28.4 million foreign born, over 12. 8 million identified being of Hispanic origin. Over half, nearly 14.5 million or 51%, identified a Latin American country as their region of birth with over half, 7.8 million or 54.2% coming from Mexico alone.

"As the Latino electorate grows in importance in the U.S., it is important to note that 88% of the foreign born that identified a Latin American country as their region of birth were also of voting age or 18 years or older," said Richard Aguinaga WCVI's Research Coordinator. "Yet only 28.3%, or a little over 4 million, of the foreign born that identified a Latin American country as their region of birth were naturalized citizens," concluded Aguinaga. This statistic is compared to a naturalization percentage of 53.1% for the non Latin American foreign born. Specific citizenship statistics are not given in the report for the voting age foreign born subgroup.

Mexicans comprise the largest group within the Latin American non-citizens numbering 6.2 million or 60.2%. Conversely, Mexicans only represent 38.8% or 1.6 million of the Latin American naturalized. With the Latino electorate numbering over 8 million, immigration reforms discussed between the U.S. and Mexico could dramatically impact the eligible Latino voting pool.

Latin American migrants also were concentrated in a few areas. The areas differ based on the place of birth of the Latin American migrants. 3 out of 4 in the Caribbean live either in the New York or Miami metros. On the other hand, those born in Mexico are found largely in the Los Angeles metro area and the state of Texas. Combined, these two areas account for half of the Mexican-born population, or 3.6 million.

The data comes from a comprehensive report released by the Census on the Internet today. The report covers geographic, demographic, social, economic and housing characteristics of the country's foreign-born population. Accompanying it are more than 400 pages of tables, including data on country or area of birth and state and metropolitan area of residence. Statistics from sample surveys are subject to sampling and nonsampling error.

The William C. Velásquez Institute (WCVI) is a non-partisan Latino public policy and research think tank that examines Latino electoral trends. Since it's founding in 1985, WCVI has been at the forefront of Latino research in the areas of civic and economic empowerment. For more information, please refer to the website at www.wcvi.org.