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
GOP Senator Admits Immigration Debate Tarnished Republican Brand
This past Sunday, on Meet The Press, RNC Chair Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) acknowledged that the current climate of undeterred public immigrant-bashing along with an immigration policy of "attrition through enforcement" has put Republican candidates at a disadvantage when it comes to the Latino vote. Sen Martinez urged all of his fellow GOP colleagues to take a rational stance on immigration reform and to cease all anti-immigrant, anti-Latino rhetoric. MR. BROKAW: Senator Martinez, as you know, politics is about keeping score. I know this is tough for you to hear, probably, but you were 0-for-3 last Tuesday. You're a Republican; you are from Florida, that went to the Democrats; and you're Hispanic, or Latino in some parts of this country, and the Hispanics went overwhelmingly for the Democrats this time. Jill Lawrence wrote in USA TODAY: "`If the Republicans don't make their peace with Hispanic voters, they're not going to win presidential elections anymore. The math just isn't there.'" That's according to Simon Rosenberg, head of the NDN, a Democratic group that studies Hispanic voters." How do you get back to the Hispanics? SEN. MARTINEZ: Governor Jeb Bush--former Governor Jeb Bush last week made a comment that if Republicans don't figure it out and do the math that we're going to be relegated to minority status. I've been preaching this for a long time to my colleagues within my party. I think that the very divisive rhetoric of the immigration debate set a very bad tone for our brand as Republicans. The fact of the matter is I think in Florida there was not a great ideological shift, but I think there was plenty of room for improvement in how that state was looked upon. Read More
Reports Confirm: The Sleeping Giant is AWAKE
Video by America's Voice. Interviews conducted in Los Angeles and Miami between October 23 and November 4 by Bendixen & Associates [for America’s Voice] confirm what immigration experts were predicting all along: the "giant" is awake. Andy Hernandez, a Texas pollster commented, "Latinos are flipping red states to blue...in this election, Latinos contributed to Virginia flipping. They were responsible for Nevada flipping. They contributed to Colorado flipping. And New Mexico went overwhelmingly Democratic, and Latinos were responsible for that." The votes of Latinos, particularly those Latinos who are “New Americans,” tipped the scale for President-elect Barack Obama’s electoral victory on November 4. Of the record-breaking 10 million Latinos who voted, 66-67% voted for Obama. In fact, if not for the support of these voters, Obama would have lost the battleground states of Indiana, Colorado, and New Mexico. Read More
Latinos Help Tip Election
In the weeks leading up to the election, immigration experts were predicting that a "sleeping giant" was about to awake in the U.S. Yesterday, that giant opened its eyes, casted its vote, and changed the face of the American electorate forever. Immigrant voters--particularly Latinos--are said to have played a decisive role in last night's election outcomes. According to the Associated Press: Democrat Barack Obama gained lopsided support from Hispanics in Tuesday's election, winning solidly among voters with whom President Bush had made inroads in 2004... Read More
Powerful New American Vote Trumps Nativist Dogma
FBI reports don't get a lot of attention, especially in the final days of a Presidential election season, but this week's release reporting on a 40% increase in anti-Latino hate crimes should at least give us pause. The report's findings are consistent with the swelling nativist movement that has become larger and more vitriolic in recent years and its impact undeniable as anti-Latino hate crime incidents reach unprecedented levels. The nativists, ranging from skinhead extremists to your everyday politician or cable news anchor, and fueled by an administration myopic in its pursuit of deportation only proposals, are taking its toll on the immigrant and Latino community. A September survey by the Pew Hispanic Center shows half of all Latinos, immigrant and non-immigrant, say that their situation in this country is deteriorating and is worse now than it was a year ago. One in ten Hispanic adults -- native-born U.S. citizens and immigrants alike -- report that, in the past year, the police or other authorities have stopped them and asked them about their immigration status. Read More
Wash Post Reports: Latinas are Swaying the Vote
Immigration reform, along with education, taxes, health care, and "values" make up the list of priorities identified by one of the nation's new and powerful political blocs: Latinas. The Washington Post reports: Latina McCain supporters give the Republican candidate enduring credit for being a champion of immigration reform, even if lately he has somewhat backed away from his former position. Meanwhile, Latina Obama supporters question McCain's continued commitment to immigration reform and see Obama as representing the sort of change that would spearhead the comprehensive immigration reform that the country needs. Latinas were also said to view immigration as a moral issue: "Yes, we're not for abortion, but immigration is a deal-breaker," Roxana Cazares Olivas of Latinas por Obama tells the Washington Post. Read More
Immigration Stunts in Face of Faltering Economy
Several reports including the Pew Hispanic Research Center's new study have come out over the past few months showing that the undocumented population is shrinking. However, while some restrictionists continue to hold on to the notion that the decrease in immigration is primarily due to remarkably harsh stepped-up enforcement measures, Jeffrey Passel of Pew told the New York Times that "the trend was the result of a combination of factors, led primarily by a weakening economy and rising rates of unemployment in the construction and service industries, which rely heavily on immigrant labor." Most researchers agree: "The drop reflects the weakness of the economy, particularly the sectors that employ undocumented workers like construction," said Harley Shaiken, a professor at UC Berkeley specializing in labor issues. Shaiken also said that there are a number of powerful forces reducing the numbers of undocumented immigrants. "People are less likely to risk everything to get here if they can't get a job." "They don't migrate if they are not assured a job when they get to the United States," said Wayne Cornelius, Director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at the University of California at San Diego. "For unattached males with no economic base in the U.S. and no prospects for stable employment, it may make sense to go home and try their luck again when the U.S. economy improves," he added. USA Today reported: "William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a centrist think tank in Washington, warns against giving too much credit to enforcement. He believes fewer illegal immigrants are coming because jobs are disappearing in fields such as construction." Read More
Restrictionists Use Immigrants as Scapegoat for Economic Crisis
As the U.S. rumbles through a recession, some restrictionists are exploiting the current economic crisis to mislead Americans into thinking that immigrants -- not the utter lack of financial market government oversight or the irresponsible behavior of brokerage firms -- are to blame for the current state of our economy. The Center for American Progress recently published a report highlighting comments made by ultra-Conservative journalist Michele Malkin claiming that "The Mother of All Bailouts has many fathers...But there's one giant paternal elephant in the room that has slipped notice: how illegal immigration, crime-enabling banks, and open-borders Bush policies fueled the mortgage crisis." Yet Malkin's arguemnent is based on a loose and virtually non-existent connection. First she makes the claim that half of all mortgage loans to Latinos are subprime loans and then proceeds to draw her conclusion by tying in an unrelated and incorrect statistic that 25% of subprime loans are in default (the figure is actually about 19%). Read More
One in Ten Latinos Asked for Papers for LWL: Living While Latino
The current climate of undeterred public immigrant-bashing along with an immigration policy of "attrition through enforcement" has cultivated unfettered hatred and bigotry against an entire ethnic population. A recent survey by the Pew Hispanic Center shows its toll: half of all Latinos, immigrant and non-immigrant, say that their situation in this country is deteriorating and is worse now than it was a year ago. One in seven Latinos are reporting ethnic discrimination in finding or keeping a job and 10% said the same thing about housing. But the most stunning finding is that nearly one-in-ten Hispanic adults--native-born US citizens and immigrants alike--report that, in the past year, the police or other authorities have stopped them and asked them about their immigration status. One in ten Latinos were stopped and asked for "papers." What can that statistic represent other than a gross abuse of power by federal and local authorities? Vicious public denunciations of undocumented, brown-skinned immigrants -- once limited to hard-core white supremacists and a handful of border-state extremists -- are increasingly common among supposedly mainstream anti-immigration activists, media pundits, and politicians and are surely fueling the problems that Latinos are facing. While their dehumanizing rhetoric typically stops short of openly sanctioning bloodshed, much of it implicitly encourages or even endorses violence by characterizing immigrants from Mexico and Central America as 'invaders,' 'criminal aliens,' and 'cockroaches.' In Virginia, a Prince William County and ardently anti-immigrant community task force appointee has suggested spending tax dollars to look into whether "illegal aliens have a preferred breeding season." He has also referred to undocumented immigrants as "scourge that's plaguing neighborhoods" and an "invasion of this country." Read More
Voodoo Science Raises Specter of Immigration-Fueled “Overpopulation”
In a September 2 Washington Post op-ed, “How Many Americans?,” Steven Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies presents a nightmare scenario in which immigrant-fueled population growth in the U.S. degrades the environment and strains infrastructure and the economy over the next half century. The arguments upon which Camarota builds his case are commonplace among immigration restrictionists, but they rely upon flawed logic and a highly selective reading of available evidence that does not withstand close scrutiny. At first glance, the restrictionist argument is attractive in its simplicity: stringent immigration controls, less immigration, fewer people, more resources, a better environment. However, as with so many simple arguments about complex topics, it misses the point. Over-population is not the primary cause of U.S. environmental woes. Read More
DNC Live: National Hispanic Leadership Agenda
Yesterday the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA)--a nonpartisan association of Hispanic organizations and leaders--announced a bold new policy agenda at the DNC, calling upon elected officials, candidates, political parties, the media and the general public to consider and adopt the NHLA platform. The Hispanic Policy Agenda addresses prime policy issues facing Hispanics in six main issue areas: Education Civil rights Immigration Economic Empowerment Health Government Accountability NHLA Chair and President of the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (MALDEF), John Trasvina, began by introducing the purpose of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda as being the establishment of a set of principles and priorities that the candidates need to adopt if they want to gain the support of the Latinos. "We need to make sure that the truth is spoken about immigration and the needs of the Latino community and we don't let others define what we are," said Trasvina. Read More
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