RESEARCH STARTER

Dallas's immigrant population

Dallas boasts a significant immigrant population, with a diverse array of backgrounds contributing to the city's cultural and economic landscape. As of 2019, approximately 1.3 million immigrants resided in Dallas, representing 18 percent of the overall population. The Hispanic community, particularly those of Mexican descent, forms the largest group, making up about 42 percent of the city's population in 2021. Many Hispanics in Dallas have longstanding family ties to the region, while a notable concentration can be found in the Oak Cliff neighborhood, which serves as an ethnic enclave. Additionally, individuals of Asian descent, primarily from countries like India, Pakistan, China, Korea, and Vietnam, comprise around 3.5 percent of the population.

The vitality of these immigrant communities is reflected in the thriving service businesses and cultural enterprises they support. Organizations such as the Greater Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce play crucial roles in promoting economic opportunities and addressing community needs. Despite facing challenges, such as a notable percentage of non-citizens at risk of deportation, many immigrants have lived in Dallas for over a decade, significantly contributing to the city's labor force. The ongoing discussions surrounding immigration in Dallas highlight the city's complex relationship with its immigrant population, making it a focal point in broader national debates on immigration policy.

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  • IDENTIFICATION: Third-largest city in Texas, with an estimated population of slightly over 1.33 million people in 2024

SIGNIFICANCE: Although usually perceived as a hub of Texas’s staple industries of oil and cattle, Dallas has long had a wide diversity of flourishing enterprises, including those in the computer and telecommunication industries. Indeed, the very diversity of the city’s thriving economy has attracted so many immigrants—especially from Mexico and Asia—that slightly less than one quarter of the city’s residents were immigrants in 2022.

Dallas is home to a large number of Hispanic Americans, especially people of Mexican ancestry, because Texas shares a border with Mexico and was once part of that country. Dallasites of Mexican descent, therefore, include both recently arrived immigrants and members of families that have lived in Texas for hundreds of years. In 2024, approximately 42 percent of the population of Dallas was Hispanic, according to the US Census Bureau. Although Hispanics live throughout the city, Oak Cliff, a large neighborhood in the southwestern sector of the city, comes close to being an ethnic enclave, as the vast majority of its residents are of Hispanic background. People of Asian descent constituted roughly 3.7 percent of the city’s population. Most of them stem from India, Pakistan, China, Korea, and Vietnam.

The vitality of both the Hispanic and Asian communities of Dallas is exemplified by the city’s large number of service businesses and cultural enterprises supported by the two groups. For example, the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce integrates the activities of the large Hispanic business community in the Dallas area, where, in 2025, roughly 14 percent of all businesses were owned and operated by Hispanic people. The city's Community Resources Welcoming Hub offers new and long-term Dallas residents access to a range of services, including adult literacy, school and life skills, job search, and immigration, legal, and family services. The Concilio in Dallas is prominent in efforts pertaining to literacy and education, healthcare, and race relations. Likewise, there is an equally active Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce, which coordinates the efforts of businesses in the city owned by Asian Americans. Many Asian Dallasites are active in various arts. For example, Dallas is home to an annual Asian American Film Festival and to the much-admired Dallas Asian American Youth Orchestra.

Dallas serves to illustrate how issues having little to do with immigration can place a city at center stage when issues pertaining to immigrants are raised. In addition to being known as a large, populous, and active city, Dallas is infamous as the city in which President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963, and famous as the setting for one of the most popular television series in history, the prime-time soap opera, Dallas (1978-1991). In popular thought, Dallas has become a crystallization of all things Texan, both exciting and unpleasant. Although Dallas has a large immigrant population, so do other large cities in Texas. Nevertheless, news reports often draw on Dallas when providing specific details for stories concerning immigration from Mexico, such as anti-immigration measures and debates on amnesty for undocumented immigrants.

By the mid-2020s, the Dallas area and Texas in general became a focal point of immigration issues and public discourse amid the immigration crackdown of the second administration of President Donald Trump. Into the mid-2020s, immigrants accounted for 23.2 percent of Dallas's total population and comprised over a quarter of the city's labor force.


Bibliography

Armas, Marissa. "Latino-Owned Businesses See Rapid Growth in Dallas: 'An Untapped Community'." CBS News, 17 Sept. 2025, www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/latina-owned-sanctuary-of-culture-community-and-growth-in-north-texas-crecer-beauty-salon-and-plant-shop. Accessed 28 Dec. 2025.

Camarota, Steven A., et al. "County Map: Growth of Adult Immigrant Population, 1990 to 2014." Center for Immigration Studies, 7 Sept. 2016, cis.org/Immigration-Maps/Growth-Immigrant-Population-Counties-1990-2014. Accessed 28 Dec. 2025.

“Economic Impact Report: New Americans in Dallas, Texas.” American Immigration Council, 8 Apr. 2024, www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/economic-impact-report-new-americans-dallas. Accessed 29 Dec. 2025.

Fitzgerald, Ken. Dallas Then and Now. Thunder Bay Press, 2001.

Hill, Patricia Evridge. Dallas: The Making of a Modern City. U of Texas P, 1996.

Molestina, Ken, et al. “On the Southern Border, How Do Texas Residents Feel about the Incoming Trump Administration?” CBS News, 17 Jan. 2025, www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-border-trump-administration-immigration-economy. Accessed 29 Dec. 2025.

Molestina, Ken, et al. "What Impact Do Immigrants Have on the Dallas Economy?" CBS News, 8 Oct. 2024, www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/what-impact-do-immigrants-have-on-dallas-economy. Accessed 29 Dec. 2025.

“QuickFacts: Dallas City, Texas.” United States Census Bureau, www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/dallascitytexas/POP060210. Accessed 29 Dec. 2025.

Ramirez, Fernando. "This Is Where Immigrants in Texas Are Moving To." Houston Chronicle, 29 Aug. 2016, www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/Where-do-most-immigrants-move-to-in-Texas-9186961.php. Accessed 29 Dec. 2025.

Rozek, Barbara. Come to Texas. Texas A&M Press, 2003.

Ura, Alexa, and Julie McCullough. "Interactive: Demographics of Texas' Undocumented Population." Houston Chronicle, 28 Jan. 2015, www.houstonchronicle.com/local/gray-matters/article/Interactive-Demographics-of-Texas-undocumented-6045807.php. Accessed 29 Dec. 2025.

Full Article

  • IDENTIFICATION: Third-largest city in Texas, with an estimated population of slightly over 1.33 million people in 2024

SIGNIFICANCE: Although usually perceived as a hub of Texas’s staple industries of oil and cattle, Dallas has long had a wide diversity of flourishing enterprises, including those in the computer and telecommunication industries. Indeed, the very diversity of the city’s thriving economy has attracted so many immigrants—especially from Mexico and Asia—that slightly less than one quarter of the city’s residents were immigrants in 2022.

Dallas is home to a large number of Hispanic Americans, especially people of Mexican ancestry, because Texas shares a border with Mexico and was once part of that country. Dallasites of Mexican descent, therefore, include both recently arrived immigrants and members of families that have lived in Texas for hundreds of years. In 2024, approximately 42 percent of the population of Dallas was Hispanic, according to the US Census Bureau. Although Hispanics live throughout the city, Oak Cliff, a large neighborhood in the southwestern sector of the city, comes close to being an ethnic enclave, as the vast majority of its residents are of Hispanic background. People of Asian descent constituted roughly 3.7 percent of the city’s population. Most of them stem from India, Pakistan, China, Korea, and Vietnam.

The vitality of both the Hispanic and Asian communities of Dallas is exemplified by the city’s large number of service businesses and cultural enterprises supported by the two groups. For example, the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce integrates the activities of the large Hispanic business community in the Dallas area, where, in 2025, roughly 14 percent of all businesses were owned and operated by Hispanic people. The city's Community Resources Welcoming Hub offers new and long-term Dallas residents access to a range of services, including adult literacy, school and life skills, job search, and immigration, legal, and family services. The Concilio in Dallas is prominent in efforts pertaining to literacy and education, healthcare, and race relations. Likewise, there is an equally active Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce, which coordinates the efforts of businesses in the city owned by Asian Americans. Many Asian Dallasites are active in various arts. For example, Dallas is home to an annual Asian American Film Festival and to the much-admired Dallas Asian American Youth Orchestra.

Dallas serves to illustrate how issues having little to do with immigration can place a city at center stage when issues pertaining to immigrants are raised. In addition to being known as a large, populous, and active city, Dallas is infamous as the city in which President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963, and famous as the setting for one of the most popular television series in history, the prime-time soap opera, Dallas (1978-1991). In popular thought, Dallas has become a crystallization of all things Texan, both exciting and unpleasant. Although Dallas has a large immigrant population, so do other large cities in Texas. Nevertheless, news reports often draw on Dallas when providing specific details for stories concerning immigration from Mexico, such as anti-immigration measures and debates on amnesty for undocumented immigrants.

By the mid-2020s, the Dallas area and Texas in general became a focal point of immigration issues and public discourse amid the immigration crackdown of the second administration of President Donald Trump. Into the mid-2020s, immigrants accounted for 23.2 percent of Dallas's total population and comprised over a quarter of the city's labor force.


Bibliography

Armas, Marissa. "Latino-Owned Businesses See Rapid Growth in Dallas: 'An Untapped Community'." CBS News, 17 Sept. 2025, www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/latina-owned-sanctuary-of-culture-community-and-growth-in-north-texas-crecer-beauty-salon-and-plant-shop. Accessed 28 Dec. 2025.

Camarota, Steven A., et al. "County Map: Growth of Adult Immigrant Population, 1990 to 2014." Center for Immigration Studies, 7 Sept. 2016, cis.org/Immigration-Maps/Growth-Immigrant-Population-Counties-1990-2014. Accessed 28 Dec. 2025.

“Economic Impact Report: New Americans in Dallas, Texas.” American Immigration Council, 8 Apr. 2024, www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/economic-impact-report-new-americans-dallas. Accessed 29 Dec. 2025.

Fitzgerald, Ken. Dallas Then and Now. Thunder Bay Press, 2001.

Hill, Patricia Evridge. Dallas: The Making of a Modern City. U of Texas P, 1996.

Molestina, Ken, et al. “On the Southern Border, How Do Texas Residents Feel about the Incoming Trump Administration?” CBS News, 17 Jan. 2025, www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/texas-border-trump-administration-immigration-economy. Accessed 29 Dec. 2025.

Molestina, Ken, et al. "What Impact Do Immigrants Have on the Dallas Economy?" CBS News, 8 Oct. 2024, www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/what-impact-do-immigrants-have-on-dallas-economy. Accessed 29 Dec. 2025.

“QuickFacts: Dallas City, Texas.” United States Census Bureau, www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/dallascitytexas/POP060210. Accessed 29 Dec. 2025.

Ramirez, Fernando. "This Is Where Immigrants in Texas Are Moving To." Houston Chronicle, 29 Aug. 2016, www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/Where-do-most-immigrants-move-to-in-Texas-9186961.php. Accessed 29 Dec. 2025.

Rozek, Barbara. Come to Texas. Texas A&M Press, 2003.

Ura, Alexa, and Julie McCullough. "Interactive: Demographics of Texas' Undocumented Population." Houston Chronicle, 28 Jan. 2015, www.houstonchronicle.com/local/gray-matters/article/Interactive-Demographics-of-Texas-undocumented-6045807.php. Accessed 29 Dec. 2025.

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