KPBS Midday Edition

Report: 36,000 Essential Health Care Workers In San Diego Are Immigrants

By Maureen Cavanaugh / KPBS Midday Edition Co-Host, Marissa Cabrera / News Producer, KPBS Midday Edition

Published June 30, 2020 at 12:53 PM PDT

This story was published more than 4 years ago.

People take the oath of allegiance to become U.S. citizens during a naturalization ceremony at the Los Angeles Convention Center in 2017.

A new report from the U.S. Immigration Policy Center at UC San Diego says one-third of the city of San Diego's essential health, food and agricultural workers in the city of San Diego are foreign-born.

San Diego's immigrant community is playing a pivotal role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

A new report from the U.S. Immigration Policy Center at UC San Diego says one-third of the city's essential health, food and agricultural workers are foreign-born.

Some of the report's other findings include:

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• Approximately 36,000 essential health workers in the city of San Diego are foreign-born

• By 2030, the plurality of the foreign-born population in the city of San Diego will likely be from Asia

• One in four San Diegans is an immigrant

Tom Wong, director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Center at UC San Diego who authored the study, joined Midday Edition on Tuesday with more on what he learned from the data.

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KPBS Midday Edition Immigration

Maureen Cavanaugh

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Maureen Cavanaugh has been a familiar voice for KPBS listeners for more than 15 years, serving in a variety of capacities including announcer, host, and producer. As host of KPBS Midday Edition, Maureen has interviewed a wide range of notables, such as comedienne Sandra Bernhardt, actor John Lequizamo, author Chuck Palahniuk, composer Marvin Hamlisch, artist Robert Irwin, and designer Zandra Rhodes. But of all the interviews Maureen has conducted, her most special was with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Before joining KPBS in 1997, she worked as a news anchor for KSDO and KOGO News Radio in San Diego. While working for commercial radio stations in San Diego and in Salt Lake City, Utah, Maureen reported on both hard news and lifestyle features. Maureen has received three "Golden Mike" awards from the Radio and TV News Association of Southern California for economic reporting and breaking news. She has also received a "Best of Show" and “Best Radio Newscast” awards from the San Diego Press Club and the "Flo" Award from Public Radio Program Directors Association for Best Public Radio Announcer in a large market. Maureen is a native of Queens, New York, but after more than 20 years in San Diego she feels she qualifies as a real Southern Californian.

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Marissa Cabrera

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Marissa Cabrera worked as a producer for KPBS Midday Edition and had previously served as a Newscast Producer for KPBS' Morning Edition. Before joining KPBS she reported on Vatican affairs, social, and cultural issues in Rome, Italy. She also contributed to a documentary on sex abuse in the Catholic Church. Marissa has worked as a multimedia journalist at various news stations in San Diego and Monterey as well as Columbia, Missouri. Marissa graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism.

See stories by Marissa Cabrera