Immigration Stories: The World Comes to Lowell

The first significant wave of Cambodian refugees emigrated to the U.S. in 1975. Roughly 158,000 Cambodians gained entry through 1994, mainly as refugees of war and internal conflict. Cambodian communities sprang up, many in locations chosen by the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement. According to the 2010 federal census, Southeast Asians comprised about a fifth of Lowell's population. The city is home to the second largest population of Cambodians in the U.S. after Long Beach, California.