Immigrant Integration in Los Angeles: Strategic Directions for Funders
By Manuel Pastor and Rhonda Ortiz
January 2009
Immigrant Integration in Los Angeles: Strategic Directions for Funders stressed how foreign-born and native-born Angelenos can work together for a stronger region. In Los Angeles County, one third of residents are immigrants, nearly half of the workforce is foreign-born, and two-thirds of those under 18 are the children of immigrants, 90 percent of which are U.S. born.
"Southern California's social stability and economic prosperity is directly tied to what happens to our immigrant workers, families and children," said Antonia Hernández, president and CEO of the California Community Foundation. "We're in this together. So it is in our mutual interest and obligations to help our immigrant neighbors integrate into society...We are investing not just in their future, but in Southern California's as well."
The report outlined specific strategies to:
- Increase opportunities for economic mobility for immigrants, their families and their communities,
- Enhance opportunities for civic participation by immigrants, and
- Foster openness in society towards immigrants and their families.
PERE created the report using both demographic data and collective input from immigrants rights advocates, business and workforce development leaders, planners and government agencies, funders, labor unions, and community builders. The California Community Foundation funded the project.
