![\"http:\/\/nontroppo.org\/blog\/images\/larally.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/nontroppo.org\/blog\/images\/larally.jpg\" "\\"http:\/\/nontroppo.org\/blog\/images\/larally.jpg\\"")
<\/img>After decades on the rise, California’s foreign-born population has peaked and in some large areas — including Los Angeles County — has even slightly declined, with that trend expected to continue, according to a new report.\n<\/p>\n<\/img>After decades on the rise, California’s foreign-born population has peaked and in some large areas — including Los Angeles County — has even slightly declined, with that trend expected to continue, according to a new report.\n<\/p>\n
This peaking of the foreign-born population has occurred earlier than previously forecast because of sharp declines in new immigrant arrivals, largely attributed to stepped-up border enforcement and the downturn in the economy, according to the report by USC demographer Dowell Myers<\/a>. In the report’s figures, California has a population of roughly 34 million.\n<\/p>\n "In the last decade, homegrown residents have surpassed migrants and immigrants to become a majority of the California population for the first time since before the Gold Rush," Myers said in his report.\n<\/p>\n From 2000 to 2008, the foreign-born population in Los Angeles County declined from 36.2% of the total population in 2000 to 35.2% in 2008; neighboring Orange County leveled off during the same time period from 29.9% to 30%, according to the report. Overall, the state’s foreign-born population went from 26.2% to 26.8% during this period. <\/p>\n In addition, the foreign-born population has not risen substantially since 2000 in any Southern California county except Riverside, which went from 19% at the beginning of this decade to 22.3% in 2008, according to the report. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, the California-born population in Los Angeles County increased from 45.2% of the total population to 48.8% during this same time period, while Orange County jumped from 46.5% to 50.1%. This mirrored a statewide trend, with the homegrown population increasing from 50.2% to 53.3%.\n<\/p>\n "The simplest way of describing the dramatic transition," Myers said in his report, "is that none of the Southern California counties had a homegrown majority in 1980."\n<\/p>\n In 1990, only San Bernardino County had a homegrown majority. By 2000, Riverside and Ventura counties had joined this category, followed by Orange County in 2008, according to the report. By 2010, it is projected that all counties \u2013 including Los Angeles and San Diego \u2013 will have acquired a homegrown majority.\n<\/p>\n What economic and political changes this demographic shift will have on a state that has been focused on migration-driven growth remains an open question, Myers concludes. But one thing is certain, Myers says, the state has transitioned into a new era that will increasingly be shaped by native Californians.\n<\/p>\n — Teresa Watanabe <\/p>\n Photo: Massive immigration rights rally in downtown Los Angeles in 2006. Los Angeles Times<\/em><\/p>\n More breaking news in L.A. Now:<\/strong><\/p>\n L.A. City Councilman Paul Krekorian to launch Woman who first spotted burning body in
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