By every available measure, California’s population is growing again, albeit modestly. The dark years following the COVID-19 pandemic, and the steep population loss that accompanied them, appear to be in the rear view.
It’s what lies ahead, though, that worries researchers and those active in the vast migrant communities that help comprise the Golden State’s 39.4 million residents. Some of President Donald Trump’s more extreme immigration proposals could pump the brakes on California’s return to population normalcy — and have profound political and financial consequences for everyone who remains here, though it’s not clear if that is Trump’s goal.
