incidence of type 2 diabetes by place of birth in the multiethnic study of atherosclerosis mesa incidence of diabetes among us foreignborn individuals is not well studied data were from the multi ethnic study of atherosclerosis cox proportional hazards regression was used to examine diabetes risk by raceethnicity place of birth and duration of residence among foreignborn foreignborn latinos had a higher risk of incident diabetes compared to usborn latinos hazard ratio hr 179 95 confidence interval ci 100321 latinos born in mexico hr 226 95 ci 118433 had higher risk of incident diabetes compared to usborn latinos foreignborn living in the us 20 years had a higher adjusted risk of incident diabetes compared to those in the us for 20 years hr 160 95 ci 105255 incident diabetes may be higher among foreignborn compared to native born incident diabetes may also be higher among those immigrants who have lived in the us for longer periods of time future studies should characterize individuals by raceethnicity and place of birth to account for differences in biology and time spent in the us