Years back, Puerto Ricans were the largest minority community in the Big Apple, and this showed in the number of births among immigrants. After Puerto Ricans, the Caribbean, Dominican, Ecuadorian, and Asian immigrants followed.

Now is the time for Mexicans.

According to a new study from the Department of Planning, between 2000 and 2005, the number of births by Mexican mothers registered in New York City increased by 28 percent. There were 8,234 Mexican children born in New York in 2005, the most recent year with available statistics.

This means that for the first time, the births of children to Mexican mothers, mostly undocumented immigrants, surpassed those of Dominican mothers. At the same time, the high birth rate of Mexican women runs opposite to the rate of U.S.-born mothers, who accounted for less than seven percent of children born within the five-year period.

The report, first released by the New York Times , informs that Mexicans are the third largest immigrant group in the city, only outnumbered by Dominicans, who are in first place, followed by Chinese immigrants.

However, the city report seems to contradict with the recent data from the Pew Hispanic Center, located in Washington, DC, which indicates that Mexican migration to New York is decreasing.

Joel Magallan, director of the Tepeyac Association, one of the principal community organizations in the city, said, in reference to the report, “The extended family – uncles and aunts, siblings, parents, cousins – are all here in the tri-state area. That is why Mexican women feel just as confident having children here as women in Mexico, even if the majority of these immigrants are undocumented.”