State of Resistance: California has more immigrants than any other state

Californians rallied at LAX against President Trump's recent order banning Muslims from seven countries.

IS IT any wonder that California voted overwhelmingly against Donald Trump? California has more immigrants than any other state according to the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), a nonpartisan think tank specializing on the Golden State.

California is home to more than 10 million immigrants—about one in four of the foreign-born population nationwide. In 2015, the most current year of data, 27 percent of California’s population was foreign born, about twice the US percentage. Foreign-born residents represented more than 30 percent of the population in eight California counties; in descending order, they are Santa Clara, San Mateo, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Alameda, Imperial, Orange, and Monterey. Half of California children had at least one immigrant parent.

Other findings:

The majority of recent arrivals are from Asia.

The vast majority of California’s immigrants were born in Latin America (52 percent) or Asia (39 percent). California has sizeable populations of immigrants from dozens of countries; leading countries of origin are Mexico (4.3 million), China (914,000), the Philippines (859,000), India (581,000), and Vietnam (507,000). However, most (53 percent) of those arriving between 2011 and 2015 came from Asia; only 22 percent came from Latin America.

Most immigrants in California are documented residents.

Almost half (49 percent) of California’s immigrants are naturalized U.S. citizens, and another 26 percent have some other legal status (including green cards and visas). According to the Center for Migration Studies, about 25 percent of immigrants in California are undocumented.

Net immigration to California has slowed.

In the 1990s, California’s immigrant population grew by 37% (2.4 million). But in the first decade of the 2000s, that growth slowed to 15% (1.3 million), and in the past 10 years, the increase was 11 percent (just over 1 million). The decline in international immigration has been a contributing factor in the slowdown of California’s overall population growth.

Even though most California residents are not immigrants, there is a high awareness of their presence and contributions to the state's bustling economy. If California was a country unto itself. it would be the sixth largest economy in the world. 

Trump's latest threats against sanctuary cities, clean air regulations, environmental protections, women's rights and his attempts to curtail immigration have sparked  some of the biggest demonstrations in the country against Trump during his first two weeks as POTUS.

To read the complete PPIC report, click here.

RELATED: Judge issues nationwide stay of Trump's Muslim ban

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http://ppic.org/main/publication_show.asp?i=258

It's paramount to get more AAPI voters to the polls

Candace Kelley. left, interviews Terry Ao Minnis about the hurdles to becoming a voter for AAPI people.

THOSE WHO VOTED in the last presidential election (in 2012) created the most racially and ethnically diverse electorate in U.S. history. Nearly 1 in 4 votes were cast by non-whites. That trend is expected to continue this year, but barriers still exist for some populations.

Candace Kelley of Comcast Newsmakers interviews Terry Ao Minnis, director of Census and Voting Programs at Asian Americans Advancing Justice.

One of the problems Minnis points out is the lack of assistance for limited-English speaking voters. In San Diego, when this assistance was provided by order of a Consent Decree, voter registration among Filipinos increased by 20% and among Vietnamese voters, the increase was 40%.

When Asian immigrants swear their allegiance to the U.S. and the Constitution to become full-fledge American citizens, you would think one of the first things they do is to register to vote. In fact, representatives of the political parties are usually at the swearing-in site to register new voters.

Apparently, the route from raising your right hand to become an American citizen to becoming a registered voter is not a straight path because one of the rights of becoming an American is the freedom to choose. Too many choose ... not to become voters.

VIEW the entire Comcast Newsmakers interview, click here.

A report from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) released last week shows that political participation has failed to keep pace with California’s population growth or its changing demographics. Since 2000, California’s total population has increased by about 16 percent and the percentage of adults of voting age has increased by 22 percent. Yet voter registration has increased by just 10 percent. Today, 82 percent—24.6 million—of California’s adults are eligible to vote, but just 57 percent are registered to do so. In 2000, 63 percent were registered. 

California has been a "majority minority” state—one in which no ethnic or racial group constitutes the majority—for more than 15 years, according to the PPIC report titled California’s Exclusive Electorate: Who Votes and Why it Matters. But the state’s elections have yet to make this demographic transition. Today, California’s adult population is 42 percent white and 36 percent Latino, while the remaining 23 percent are Asian (14%), black (6%), and other (3%). Yet 60 percent of California likely voters are white, only 18 percent are Latino, and the balance are Asian, black, and other. While 34 percent of adults are foreign born, 83 percent of Californians who frequently vote are U.S. born.

That can be interpreted to mean that Euro/American voters have almost three-times the voting clout than minority voters. Put another way, each vote cast by a white voter is equal to three voters of color.

PPIC graphic

Only half of California adults can be expected to vote in this year’s presidential election, and they are likely to be very different from those who do not vote—in their demographic and economic backgrounds and in their political attitudes.

Likely voters in California tend to be older, white, college-educated, affluent, and homeowners, according to the report, based on analysis of state data and results from the 2015 PPIC Statewide Survey. Likely voters also tend to identify themselves as "haves”—rather than "have nots”—when asked to choose between these two economic categories. Nonvoters tend to be younger, Latino and Asian, renters, less affluent, less likely to be college-educated than likely voters—and they generally identify with the have-nots.

The economic differences between voters and nonvoters reflect the growing economic divide that has surfaced as one of the most important policy issues this election year. Voters and nonvoters vary noticeably in their attitudes toward the role of government and government spending, as well as their views of elected officials—all of which come into play in an election year.

The disparity between Californians who participate in elections and those who don’t is particularly important in a state that calls on its voters not only to elect representatives but also to make major policy decisions through ballot initiatives. That disproportionate influence  of white voters is how California passed Prop. 209, the anti-affirmative action measure, and Prop. 187, which prohibited undocumented immigrants from receiving public assistance.

"The divide between voters and nonvoters appears to be deep, persistent, and difficult to bridge,” said the report’s author, Mark Baldassare, PPIC president and CEO. "It will have far-reaching consequences this fall, when issues as important as the minimum wage, school bonds, and the death penalty are likely to be on the ballot.” 

For any AAPI who is tired of being passed over, ignored or unheard, it is time we stop letting other people make our decisions for us. Forget that old Asian adage about the nail getting hammered, that's so passe; standing up to be counted is one way get noticed.

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For more news about Asian/Americans & Pacific Islanders, read AsAm News.