Demographics
Immigrants are a vital, dynamic part of the U.S. population—especially when it comes to the workforce. 77.1% of immigrants are of working age (16–64), compared to just 62.0% of U.S.-born residents, making them key contributors to the economy as both taxpayers and consumers.
- 22.9 million immigrants are active in the U.S. workforce
- 74% of foreign-born residents are proficient in English
- 89.4% of all undocumented immigrants are of working age
- 5.2 million U.S. citizen children living with at least one undocumented family member
- Only 4.9% of immigrants are under 15, compared to 20.3% of U.S.-born residents
- 18% of immigrants are 65+, nearly identical to the 17.7% of U.S.-born seniors
Pollsters Believe a Majority of Voters Support an Immigration Overhaul
Despite anti-immigrant groups repeated attempts to sway public opinion by scapegoating immigrants for the recession, new polling data suggests that the majority of likely voters actually support an overhaul of our broken immigration system—an overhaul that includes a path to citizenship for the roughly 12 million undocumented immigrants living in America. A recent survey by Benson Strategy Group—a group who conducts polling for President Obama and Fortune 100 Companies—found that 71% of likely voters think undocumented immigrants should take steps to become legal taxpayers. Similarly, Celinda Lake of Lake Research Partners said recent polling data suggests that voters want undocumented immigrants out of the shadows and on the books: If anything, the economic climate has actually improved the environment for immigration reform, at least as far as the public is concerned. A salient issue is that reform would make immigrants all taxpayers. [Voters] want a level playing field and they don't have one today. There's a huge pool of workers that are playing by a different set of rules than they are. Read More
African American Jobs and Immigration Myth Unplugged
A long-standing and contentious issue which anti-immigrant groups are currently trying to exploit is whether or not the presence of immigrants in the U.S. labor force—especially undocumented immigrants—has a major adverse impact on the employment prospects of African Americans. The anti groups argue that undocumented immigrants, who tend to have low levels of formal education and work in less skilled occupations, are “taking” large numbers of jobs that might otherwise be filled by African American workers. However the evidence just isn’t there. It is important to acknowledge that African Americans do face daunting economic and employment problems, and that the legacy of discrimination continues to be felt in communities large and small across the country. Anti-immigrant organizations have coldly seized on these troubles, however, to leverage a particularly nasty kind of argument against immigration. Some of these self-professed advocates for African-Americans have long-standing ties to “nativists” and “hate groups.” Read More
A New Study Reinforces Growing Influence of Second Generation Latinos
A new study by the Pew Hispanic Center estimates that only 7% of all Latino children are undocumented immigrants. Pew also found that a growing share of the children with unauthorized immigrant parents—4 million or 73%—were born in this country and are U.S. Read More
President Obama Honors the American Dream with Supreme Court Nomination
President Obama made history by nominating the first Hispanic, federal judge Sonia Sotomayor, for appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. If confirmed, Judge Sotomayor will replace retiring Justice David Souter and become the first person of Puerto Rican heritage—and the third woman—to serve on the high court. In a heartwarming speech, President Obama highlighted Judge Sotomayor’s rigorous intellect, mastery of the law and depth of experience on the bench, which he characterized as “more varied than anyone currently serving on the United States Supreme Court when they were appointed”—a measured response to conservative jabs at her credibility and jurisprudence. The President also made a point of honoring the American dream when he praised the hard work of Judge Sotomayor’s Puerto Rican parents, who moved to New York and worked several jobs to support their family. Sotomayor’s father was a factory worker with a third-grade education who died when Sotomayor was nine. Read More
New Reports Reveal Immigration Does Not Increase Unemployment
Two new reports prepared for the IPC by the consulting firm Rob Paral & Associates debunk the simplistic myth propagated by anti-immigration activists that immigrants fill U.S. jobs only at the expense of unemployed native-born workers. The reports use data from the Census Bureau to demonstrate that there is no discernible relationship whatsoever between the number of recent immigrants in a particular locale and the unemployment rate among native-born whites, blacks, Latinos, or Asians. This holds true even now, at a time of economic recession and high unemployment. These reports are the first two installments of a three-part series, Untying the Knot vinyan download , which seeks to unravel the complex and frequently misrepresented relationship between immigration and unemployment. The first report, "The Unemployment and Immigration Disconnect," analyzes the relationship (or lack thereof) between recent immigration and the general unemployment rate in different regions, states, and counties. The report finds that areas with high unemployment rates do not necessarily have large numbers of recent immigrants. For instance, recent immigrants are 7.3% of the population in New Jersey and only 0.8% of the population in Maine, yet unemployment rates are nearly identical in both states. On average, counties with lower unemployment rates have larger populations of recent immigrants. Read More
Immigrants Could Soften Effects of Baby Boomer Retirement
On Tuesday, the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees released their annual reports on the dire financial condition of the nation's two largest social safety-net programs. Not surprisingly, the reports highlight the devastating impact that the current recession is having on both Social Security and Medicare, which are now expected to run out of money years earlier that previously forecast. The reports should also serve as a reminder of the severe demographic crisis the United States is confronting as the native-born population grows older: as the 78-million Baby Boomers retire over the next two decades, immigrants will play increasingly important roles in the U.S. economy as taxpayers, workers, consumers, and homebuyers. Read More
Pew Report Reveals Continuing Importance of Immigrants to Housing Market
A recent report from the Pew Hispanic Center sheds new light on the value of immigration to the U.S. economy—even in the midst of a recession. The report, which examines the impact of the housing market's boom-and-bust cycle on minorities and immigrants in the United States, found that the latest housing "bust" which began to unfold in 2005 has had less of an impact on immigrant homeowners than on native-born homeowners. Although immigrants are still less likely to own homes than the native-born (just as native-born blacks and Latinos are less likely to own homes than native-born whites), rates of homeownership have declined faster for the native-born than for immigrants since the onset of the current housing crisis. The findings of the Pew report are a far cry from the shrill claims of anti-immigrant commentators such as Rush Limbaugh, who not long ago helped propagate the fabricated claim that the crumbling of the housing market was precipitated in no small part by millions of undocumented immigrants defaulting on subprime mortgages. Read More
Immigration Inching Towards Reform One Year After Postville Raids
Today, May 12, 2008, marks the one-year anniversary of the immigration raid in Postville, Iowa, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted the largest workplace immigration raid in U.S. history, arresting 389 immigrants at the Iowa Agriprocessors meatpacking plant for the crime of working without proper authorization. Aside from the tragedy of separating families and decimating a local economy, the raid symbolizes the failed enforcement-only policies of the Bush administration and serves as yet another grim reminder of the desperate need for fair and comprehensive immigration reform. Last May, undocumented immigrants in Postville were rounded up, charged as serious criminals for using false Social Security numbers or residency papers, and some even sentenced to five months in prison without being informed of their rights. An interpreter, Dr. Erik Camayd-Freixas, who assisted as a translator during these below-the-belt trials described the event as a “twist in Dickensian cruelty:” Read More
Sheriff Joe Arpaio to Recruit and Arm Citizens, Neo-Nazis “Have His Back”
Rather than cleaning up his police department and addressing allegations of racial profiling and discrimination, Arpaio has decided to recruit and arm more Maricopa citizens in the absence of state funds. Back in April, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in Arizona voted to postpone the acceptance of $1.6 million from the state to help pay for County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's controversial immigration enforcement tactics. Observers said the decision could signal that the board is concerned by federal inquires into Arpaio's practices that stem from his hard-line immigration tactics which include the deputization of volunteer "posses" to perform immigration sweeps, armed workplace raids, and set up checkpoints. Read More
Obama Budget Not a Replacement for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
The Obama Administration appears increasingly poised to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform, as promised. Yesterday the White House announced budgetary initiatives that signal a change in priorities and pave the way for immigration reform. At the same time, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, testified before the Senate yesterday about her plans to protect our borders and enforce our immigration laws in smarter and more effective ways. While the changes are welcome, they're still just fiddling along the edges of a real solution. Comprehensive immigration reform is the only real way to fix the problem. Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
