New Americans in Illinois

The Political and Economic Power of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in the Prairie State (Updated January 2012)

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1 in 10 registered voters in Illinois are immigrants or the children of immigrants.

• The foreign-born share of Illinois’ population rose from 8.3% in 1990, to 12.3% in 2000, to 13.7% in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Illinois was home to 1,759,859 immigrants in 2010, which is more than the total population of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

• 43.7% of immigrants in Illinois (or 768,664 people) were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2010—meaning that they are eligible to vote.

• 10% (or 615,144) of all registered voters in Illinois are “New Americans”—naturalized citizens or the U.S.-born children of immigrants who were raised during the current era of immigration from Latin America and Asia which began in 1965—according to an analysis of 2008 Census Bureau data by Rob Paral & Associates.

1 in 5 Illinoisans are Latino or Asian—and they vote.

• The Latino share of Illinois’ population grew from 7.9% in 1990, to 12.3% in 2000, to 15.9% (or 2,042,063 people) in 2010.  The Asian share of the population grew from 2.5% in 1990, to 3.4% in 2000, to 4.6% (or 590,786 people) in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Latinos accounted for 5.8% (or 314,000) of Illinois voters in the 2008 elections, and Asians 1.4% (78,000), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• In Illinois, 89.8% of children with immigrant parents were U.S. citizens in 2009, according to data from the Urban Institute.
• In 2009, 89.2% of children in Asian families in Illinois were U.S. citizens, as were 92.8% of children in Latino families.
  

Immigrants are essential to the Illinois economy as workers.

• Immigrants comprised 17.5% of the state’s workforce in 2010 (or 1,167,332 people), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Immigrants accounted for 18% of total economic output in the Chicago metropolitan area as of 2007, according to a study by the Fiscal Policy Institute.

• Immigrants are a large part of Illinois’ advancing job sectors, representing 27.7% of all net job creation in the “health diagnosing” sector from 2000 to 2005.

• In just the Chicago metro area, the consumer expenditures of unauthorized immigrants alone generated more than 31,000 jobs in the local economy and added $5.5 billion annually to the gross regional product, according to a 2002 survey by the University of Illinois at Chicago.

• If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Illinois, the state would lose $25.6 billion in economic activity, $11.4 billion in gross state product, and approximately 119,214 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group.

Latino and Asian entrepreneurs and consumers add tens of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs to Illinois’s economy.

• The 2009 purchasing power of Illinois’s Latinos totaled $43.6 billion—an increase of 393.4% since 1990. Asian buying power totaled $23.8 billion—an increase of 366% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia.

• Illinois’s 56,567 Latino-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $10.3 billion and employed 77,449 people in 2007, the last year for which data is available. The state’s 59,367 Asian-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $18.5 billion and employed 102,991 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2007 Survey of Business Owners.
  

Unauthorized immigrants pay taxes.

• Unauthorized immigrants in Illinois paid $499.2 million in state and local taxes in 2010, according to data from the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, which includes:

• $85.4 million in state income taxes.
• $45.8 million in property taxes.
• $368 million in sales taxes.
  

Immigrants are integral to Illinois’s economy as students.

• Illinois’ 31,093 foreign students contributed $869.2 million to the state’s economy in tuition, fees, and living expenses for the 2009-2010 academic year, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
  

Naturalized citizens excel educationally.

• In Illinois, 34.2% of foreign-born persons who were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2009 had a bachelor's or higher degree, compared to 22.2% of noncitizens. At the same time, only 21.5% of naturalized citizens lacked a high-school diploma, compared to 39.3% of noncitizens.
  

• The number of immigrants in Illinois with a college degree increased by 38.2% between 2000 and 2009, according to data from the Migration Policy Institute.

• 38% of all college graduates entering the Illinois labor force are foreign-born, according to a 2006 study by Rob Paral and Associates.
  

• In Illinois, 80.4% of children with immigrant parents were considered “English proficient” as of 2009, according to data from the Urban Institute.
  

• The English proficiency rate among Asian children in Illinois was 87.9%, while for Latino children it was 80.6%, as of 2009.

Published On: Wed, Jan 11, 2012 | Download File