Thursday, April 6, 2017

Migration

Starting in the year 2010, for the first time since the California Gold Rush, California-born residents make up the majority of the state's population.[110] Along with the rest of the United States, California's immigration pattern has also shifted over the course of the late 2000s-early 2010s.[111] Immigration from Latin American countries has dropped significantly with most immigrants now coming from Asia.[112] In total for 2011, there were 277,304 immigrants. 57% came from Asian countries vs. 22% from Latin American countries.[112] Net immigration from Mexico, previously the most common country of origin for new immigrants has dropped to zero/less than zero, since more Mexican nationals are departing for their home country than immigrating.[111] As a result it is estimated that Hispanic citizens will constitute 49% of the population by 2060, instead of the previously projected 2050, due primarily to domestic births.[111][113]
The state's population of undocumented immigrants has been shrinking in recent years, due to increased enforcement and decreased job opportunities for lower-skilled workers.[114] The number of migrants arrested attempting to cross the Mexican border in the Southwest plunged from a high of 1.1 million in 2005 to just 367,000 in 2011.[115] Despite these recent trends, illegal aliens constituted an estimated 7.3 percent of the state's population, the third highest percentage of any state in the country,[116][note 2] totaling nearly 2.6 million.[117] In particular, illegal immigrants tended to be concentrated in Los Angeles, Monterey, San Benito, Imperial, and Napa Counties – the latter four of which have significant agricultural industries that depend on manual labor.[118] More than half of illegal immigrants originate from Mexico.[117]

LGBT

Pro- and anti-Proposition 8 protesters clash at a rally in front of San Francisco City Hall.
California is considered generally liberal in its policies regarding the LGBT community, and the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people have received greater recognition since 1960 at both the state and municipal level. California is home to a number of gay villages such as the Castro District in San Francisco, Hillcrest in San Diego, and West Hollywood. Through the Domestic Partnership Act of 1999, California became the first state in the United States to recognize same-sex relationships in any legal capacity. In 2000, voters passed Proposition 22, which restricted state recognition of marriage to opposite-sex couples. This was struck down by the California Supreme Court in May 2008, effectively legalizing same-sex marriage; however, this was overruled later that same year when California voters passed Proposition 8. After further judicial cases, in 2013 the U.S. Supreme Court rendered the law void, allowing same-sex marriages in California to resume.

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