Up until the past decade or so, Hispanics were only a very small part of the Bensonhurst community. In 2000, about half of Bensonhurst’s population was born in a foreign country, but only 8.1% were from Latin America. Most of these individuals were from either Mexico or Ecuador. In recent times, however, the Latino population has grown, and the number of immigrants from Guatemala has grown with it. In 2005, there were approximately 4,500 Guatemalan residents in Brooklyn. That number grew to 12,000 in 2008.
According to the New York City Department of City Planning report “The Newest New Yorkers”, 144,159 people lived in Bensonhurst between the years 2007-2011; 77,682 of those individuals being foreign-born. Out of the total foreign-born population, there were 3,787 Mexican immigrants, causing Mexicans to be worth 5% of the foreign-born population. From 2000 to 2011 there was an increase of 10,327 Mexican immigrants in the Brooklyn borough. In 2011, Mexicans were the 3rd largest immigrant group in the New York City area. Although Bensonhurst isn’t one of the top ten neighborhoods of settlements for Mexican immigrants, there are other areas of Brooklyn such as Bushwick and Flatbush that are, Sunset Park, being a very popular choice. You can see a visual of the numbers below: 
