foreign-born

“Construction makes outsized use of foreign-born workers,” Basu said, and “sometimes the data aren’t clear about whether these foreign-born workers are documented or undocumented.”

County’s 10 million residents either are foreign-born or have at least one immigrant parent, including about 800,000 people without legal status.

The L.A. metro area has more foreign-born residents than any city but New York, many of whom go back and forth to their ancestral countries with some regularity.

That sentiment underscores a broader truth in the Golden State: Immigrants are critical to the economy in California, where about 10.6 million people — or 27% of all residents — were foreign-born as of 2023.

Under President Trump, the door for many foreign-born newcomers has been slammed shut.