(IntegrityPress.org) – After several years of experiencing a shrinking population, the number of California residents has had its first increase since 2020, climbing to approximately 39 million people as of January 2024. The new figure represents an increase of approximately 67,000, or 0.17%, for the most heavily populated state in the U.S.
The current reversal in the population’s downward trend does not come as part of a baby boom for the Golden State, however. Californian officials confirmed that the slight growth comes as a result of a slowing of the exodus of Californians to other states, a decrease in mortality rates, and an increase in foreign national immigration rates, although officials were keen to emphasize that they were only taking legal immigration into account.
Despite the number of foreign citizens happy to flock to California, figures show that more American citizens continue to leave California than enter it from elsewhere in the country, with the traditionally red state of Texas being the most popular destination for the state’s emigrants. Critics of Gov. Newsom and his leftist policies have blamed them for the state’s issues with homelessness, drug addiction, unreliable power supply, high cost of living, and the stringency of Newsom’s lockdown policies from 2020 onwards.
During the lockdowns, the rate of Californians leaving their expensive west-coast homes to seek opportunities in other states increased massively, resulting in a net loss across nearly every socioeconomic and demographic group in the state, including young college graduates, a group that had previously favored California, although the loss of graduates and higher-income earners that had previously threatened the high-tech sectors of the economy seems to have slowed as of 2022.
California remains an appealing destination for foreign immigrants, including illegal aliens. While officials only spoke about legal migration from overseas, the reality is that as with all southern border states, Border Patrol agents face an increasingly difficult job. Unofficial figures released by Border Patrol show an incredible 25,000 encounters with illegal immigrants in the San Diego sector just in the first three weeks of April 2024.
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