Foreign-born U.S. residents hit record

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- The U.S. Census Bureau says at least one in five residents in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas spoke Spanish while at home in 2007.

They were part of the estimated 35 million, or 12.3 percent of the U.S. population, who spoke Spanish at home last year.

The statistics were part of the annual release of American Community Survey Data.

In the same vein, for geographic areas of more than 65,000 population, the foreign-born U.S. population reached a historic high in 2007 -- 38.1 million, or 12.6 percent of the population. Of those, almost a third, or 12 million, were born in Mexico, at least among those identified by the census.

The highest percentage of foreign born among the states: California (27.4 percent), New York (21.8), New Jersey (19.9), Nevada(19.4) and Florida (18.9). Miami and Los Angeles had the highest percentage of foreign-born (37.0 percent and 34.9 percent, respectively) among the 20 largest cities. St. Louis had the lowest (4.0 percent).