California is called a majority-minority state because its population is made of different minority groups; thus, there is no one group that is the majority. It means that California is very diversified in terms of ethnic and racial groups population. The major minority groups in California are Latino, White, and Asian ethnic groups. The state’s Asian and Latino populations are growing in number whilst the Non-Hispanic whites population is declining.
The main reason for that is that white people saw disproportionate trends in fertility and mortality rates, which led to the decrees in the population number. In addition, the white ethnic group experienced a negative rate associated with the natural increase. On the contrary, Latino and Asian populations had higher fertility rates, which in addition were accompanied by an increase in the immigration rate of these racial groups to California.
History of Migration to California
California has long been the home of the largest immigrant population in the United States, and European explorers arrived at its port as early as the 17th century. When Spain sent soldiers and missionaries to an area called California, migration began before the United States ruled the area. It escalated after the United States occupied the state of Mexico and enjoyed the benefits of the discovery of gold in the hills of Sierra in 1848. The 1850 US Census counted 92,597 people and recorded origins from around the world but could not estimate the number of indigenous Californians still alive. Immigration policy favored white Western Europeans for most of the 20th century, making it difficult for people from other parts of the world to settle in the country and eventually become American citizens.
The 1965 Immigration Act replaced the traditional American racial-based immigration quota with a system of preference based on newcomer talent and family relationships with US citizens or permanent residents. These newcomers have begun to transform the country, especially Southern California. Since 1965, California has begun to transform into today’s multinational and multicultural crossroads. The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, introduced by the Immigration Act of 1990, is a new category of immigrants. The program has increased the number of immigrants and facilitated the diversity of the coming immigrants. This contributed to California becoming and maintaining the majority-minority state it is today.
Political Impact
Immigration affects California in many ways, including such spheres as economy, domestic policy, international relations, and crime level. It is important to mention that the characteristics of the immigrants moving to California are different in terms of their education and skills. Skilled immigrants are easily accepted and are believed to bring economic benefits to the local population. It can also drive job creation and growth. Unskilled migrants are fined and can compete with less-educated voters in the labor market, making integration difficult. According to Mayda et al. (2018), immigration also affects the vote for the US parties.
For instance, the increase in unskilled immigrants has had a number of implications for the behavior of US voters, all of which tend to shift voters to the Republican Party. In response to low-skilled worker immigrants, non-urban, low-skilled counties with high local government spending have significantly increased Republican votes. Voting behavior in urban high-skilled counties with limited local public spending, on the other hand, did not respond well to low-skilled migrants but shifted to the Democratic Party in response to high-skilled migrants.
Reference
Mayda, A. M., Peri, G., & Steingress, W. (2018). The political impact of immigration: Evidence from the United States (No. w24510). National Bureau of Economic Research. Web.