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California Immigration Shift Shows Asians Overtaking Latin Americans

SACRAMENTO (CBS/AP) -- There's a California population shift with Asian immigrants replacing Latin America as the primary source of the state's immigrants.

Census figures show the flow of Asians coming to California is more than two times greater than the flow from Latin America.

Public Policy Institute co-director Hans Johnson said the shift is astounding and could represent the end of an era.

Forty-two percent of immigrants coming to the state in 2001 were from Latin America, primarily Mexico, while 37 percent were from Asia. A decade later, 57 percent were from Asia and 22 percent were from Latin America.

New immigrants from Latin America plummeted from about 147,000 in 2001 to 60,000 in 2011.

California's faltering economy is apparently a major factor.

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