The Foreign-Born Communities of America

A spat of recent news stories have documented immigration in the United States. Life experiences as well have confirmed the presence of large immigrant communities (in certain parts of the D.C. metro English is the foreign language).

Immigrants tend to live in enclaves that offer social support and ease (and sometimes stop) the process of assimilation into the home country. According to the U.S. Census’ 2006 data the metro areas with the largest percentage of foreign born are

Los Angeles, California – 34.2
El Centro, California – 32.6
San Francisco, California - 29.6
New York, New York and New Jersey – 28.2
El Paso, Texas – 27.5
Laredo, Texas – 27.4
Merced, California – 26.4
Yuma, Arizona – 26.3
Washington, D.C. and Virginia – 20.1

While Los Angeles’ foreign-born population percentage may seem large it does not come close to what has been dubbed the most multinational city in the world: Toronto. For reference:

Toronto, Canada – 45
London, United Kingdom – 27.1
Paris – 17.6
Mexico City – 0.7