Although six out of 10 foreign-born residents of the United States came into the country through six "gateway" states between 1995 and 2000, they often moved to other states.
During the five-year period, according to an analysis of Census Bureau data, three of the gateway states -- New York, California and Illinois -- saw a considerable number of their foreign-born populations leave for other places.
Among the biggest beneficiaries of what's known as "secondary migration" were North Carolina, which gained 76,000 foreign residents, and Nevada, which added 73,000. Indeed, the Silver State added more foreign-born residents who came from other states and it did those who came from abroad.
The presence of foreign-born people outside the traditional entry points shows that "opportunities abound throughout the country," said Census Bureau Director Louis Kincannon.
The other three gateway states are Florida, New Jersey and Texas.
Overall, Census found that America now has 33 million residents who are natives of other countries. About 52 percent are from Latin America, 27 percent from Asia and 15 percent from Europe.
Among the states, California ranks first in the proportion of its population who were born outside U.S. borders.
Almost 27 percent of California's population is foreign-born, followed by 21 percent of New York's, 19 percent of New Jersey's and 18 percent of Florida's and Hawaii's.
However, despite the inclination of foreigners to move elsewhere after they enter the United States, all but two of the 10 counties with the largest foreign-born populations -- Miami-Dade, Fla., and
Hudson, N.J. -- are located in either California and New York.
Among other things, the Census figures also reveal that:
New Jersey was the only state to have a net in-migration of foreign-borns during the five-year study period but a net out-migration of native Americans.
California's net out-migration rate of foreign-born residents to other states (30.4 lost per 1,000 population) was higher than its out-migration of natives (22.6 per 1,000).
Between 1995 and 2000, 19,000 foreigners moved to Georgia from just one state, California.
Florida, already a major point of entry, also gained 89,000 foreign-born residents who came from other states. If the 1.2 million foreign-born residents of Miami-Dade County were a city of their own,
the metropolis would be the 10th largest in the country.
Like New Jersey, several Midwestern States, including Nebraska and Kansas, lost native Americans but gained foreign-borns.
Mississippi, West Virginia and Montana have the smallest foreign-born populations. Just 1.1 percent of Mississippi's residents are foreign-born.
More than a third of California's foreign-born residents are from Asia.
Immigrants from Mexico comprise 30 percent of the nation's foreign-born population, and nearly 70 percent of them reside in just three states -- California (41 percent), Texas (21 percent) and Illinois (7 percent).
The largest share of foreign-borns in New York come from the Caribbean (25.6 percent). Asians account for 24.3 percent of the Empire State's foreign-born residents; Europeans, 20.5 percent.
Nearly three out of every four Cubans residing in America call Florida home, yet they represent just 22 percent of the Sunshine State's total foreign-born population.
Seventy-five percent of the foreign-born persons who live in the West live in California.
Published: October 2, 2003
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 When Lew Sichelman first started writing about housing in 1969, he was the youngest real estate writer in the country. Now, 37 years later, he's one of the oldest -- and most decorated.
He has been rated the top housing columnist in the country by the National Association of Realtors as well as by his peers in the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Indeed, NAREE has recognized his work on numerous occasions. One year - due to his advancing age, he can't recall which one - he earned top honors in the annual NAREE Journalism Contest in three out of the four major writing categories. It was the first time one writer has won so many NAREE awards in a single year.
Known for his ability to make even the most difficult topics understandable, Sichelman also has been honored by the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association.
He began providing in-depth coverage of and consumer-oriented information about housing and housing finance at the Washington Daily News, where he was real estate editor. He
held that same position for nine more years at the Washington Star, which purchased the News in 1972.
The Star, a so-called "writer's newspaper" which also had the misfortune of being an evening paper, was put out of its misery in 1981, and Sichelman, who had begun self-syndicating his column in 1978, decided to become a full-time columnist. Today, his column, "The Housing Scene," is distributed by United Media to newspapers throughout the country.
He also is on the staff of National Mortgage News, an independent newspaper which is considered the bible of the mortgage business. And he writes for numerous other publications, including MarketWatch.com, where he answers readers questions once a week, Sports Illustrated (don't ask), RealtyTimes.com, BigBuilder and others.
Sichelman is married, the father of five and grandfather of eleven. |
