1994 Update of Needs Data from the San Mateo County United Way's Needs Assessment Report
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VIII.  IMMIGRANTS &     REFUGEES

SAN MATEO COUNTY

POPULATION CATEGORIES
POSSIBLE INDICATORS 1990 NEEDS ASSESSMENT REPORT UPDATE OTHER NEEDS STATEMENTS-DATA

Bay Area Foreign-Born Persons		 1980
509,352		 1990
778,725 - 52.9% increase
  • Immigrants and refugees are among the most statistically hidden groups. Detailed, current data are often piecemeal and difficult to obtain. (International Institute of San Francisco and East Bay, 1992)
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  • Regardless of the status with which they enter the US, immigrants bring some common strengths and often face common hardships. Many newcomers work long hours to attain better educational and employment opportunities for themselves and their children. While many cite "freedom" as a quality of this country that they value immeasurably, they did not expect learning English to be so difficult, nor did they anticipate employment discrimination of health and educational systems that are severely limited in their ability to address newcomer’s needs. They certainly did not expect hate crime violence based upon their ethnic origin or immigrant status.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

County Foreign-Born Persons
• Percent of total county population
• Percent growth 1980-90

105,832
18% OF Co. pop.

 164,767
24.4% of Co. pop.

55.7% growth

Language spoken at home (persons 5 yrs. and over)
• Speak only English at home

• Speak non-English at home

  

67.9% of total persons

194,482 - 32.1% of total persons

Linguistic Isolation (persons 5 years and over)
• Speak only English
• Speaking Spanish
• Speaking Asian/PI language
• Speaking other language

67.8% of total persons
80,679 - 13.6%

71,277 - 12.0%
39,139 - 6.6%

Percent of Foreign-Born Residents who Arrived in US during 1980’s

 1980 - 1990: 43.9%
1970 - 1979: 26.4%
Before 1970: 29.7%

Estimated Number of Documented Immigrants
Estimated Number of Refugees

Between 40,000 – 70,000 in San Mateo

Approximately 13.9% of Co. pop.

          

Estimated Number of Undocumented Immigrants

 40,017          
Under-Count of Immigrants & Refugees 40,848          
Countries from which largest number of Legal immigrants & Refugees come to the County

Mexico leading country in San Mateo’s immigration statistics

          
Impact on Education System/ESL services            
Sources:

United Way Report on Southeast Asian and Hispanic Immigrants and Refugees

International Institutes of San Francisco and East Bay, 1992

Immigrant and Naturalization Service (INS) 1985 Statistical Yearbook
 

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