Voting and Demographics
The growth in the immigrant population has helped to strengthen and remake America over the last two decades. Today, as thousands of baby boomers retire each day, working-age immigrants are filling gaps in the labor market, paying billions of dollars in taxes that help our entitlement programs survive, and buying homes in communities that would otherwise be in decline. Millions of immigrants have also earned U.S. citizenship and the right to vote while millions more are estimated to be eligible to naturalize.
Obama’s plan offers hope for Triangle immigrants
RALEIGH — Mercedes Garcia’s phone started ringing Wednesday, a whole day before President Barack Obama’s prime-time speech on his immigration plan. The 36-year-old, a native of Mexico, came to this country as a child with her parents. She has gotten married here, given birth to four children here and held… Read More
Opinion: Immigration reform should come through legislation – not executive action
Immigration reform has been one of the most talked about issues for the past couple of years – and that has only increased since the election. Obviously this week is filled with headlines about the President’s executive action on the issue. I’ve been advocating for immigration… Read More
Advocates try to jump-start immigration reform
With President Barack Obama poised to reshape immigration laws through executive action, two N.C. lawmakers are joining an effort to urge congressional Republicans to pass their own immigration reform. The lawmakers, including Republican Reps. Charles Jeter of Huntersville and Nathan Ramsey of Buncombe County, plan to… Read More
Immigration News 2014: Immigrant Democrats Are More Conservative Than US-Born Counterparts, Says Partnership for a New American Economy Study
The Partnership for a New American Economy kicked off a new Hispanic Engagement Campaign Wednesday in order to highlight the idea that Hispanics are able to align with both the Republican and Democratic party, depending on the issues. In coordination with The Latino Coalition and the… Read More
Report Shows Foreign-Born Citizens Are More Socially Conservative Than Their Native-Born Counterparts and Are Less Likely to Identify with Either Political Party
CONTACTS Ryan Williams, New American Economy, [email protected] Yohana de la Torre, The Latino Coalition, [email protected], 239-896-4695 Kate Bryan, American Principles Project, 202-503-2010 Brian Faughnan, The LIBRE Initiative, [email protected], 703-678-4581 New American Economy Kicks off Hispanic Engagement Campaign with National Media Call Featuring… Read More
Business leader’s plea to GOP: You won, now fix immigration
In the wake of the last election, millions of decent immigrants remain hostages to partisanship. Last week, Republicans gained majorities in the U.S. House and Senate and at least three governorships, including Illinois. President Barack Obama reiterated his vow of an executive order on immigration reform before the end… Read More
How Immigration Reform Could Help The Housing Market
In Democratic circles, Julian Castro was a well-known name even before President Obama tapped him to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development last spring. The former San Antonio mayor – and identical twin of Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.) – catapulted into the national spotlight when he delivered the… Read More
How Arizona, Texas, and other solidly red states could soon turn purple
Some of the country’s most traditionally conservative states are at a greater risk of turning purple than the GOP might realize. More than 25 million new Hispanic and Asian voters could join the electorate by 2020, according to a new study by the Partnership for a New American Economy (PNAE), an… Read More
Research Shows U.S. Electorate Could Gain as Many as 25.6 Million New Hispanic and Asian Voters by 2020
CONTACT Ryan Williams, New American Economy, [email protected] U.S. has 13.2 million unregistered Hispanic and Asian eligible voters New York, NY — New American Economy today released new data showing how an increasing number of Hispanic and Asian voters could shift the electorate in 18 key states… Read More
The Changing Face of the Nation
New American Economy’s new research brief, “The Changing Face of the Nation: How Hispanic and Asian Voters Could Reshape the Electorate in Key States,” shows how an increasing number of Hispanic and Asian voters could shift the electorate in 18 key states across the country by 2020. Key findings include: There are currently more than… Read More
Immigrant Population Growth
Both the number and the share of immigrants in America are increasing, with the U.S. Census Bureau projecting that between 2027 and 2038 international migration will be the primary driver of U.S. population growth for the first time in two centuries.1 The trend is already underway. Between 1990 and 2014, the number of immigrants living in America more than doubled. By 2014, more than one in eight Americans were foreign-born. Immigrants play a particularly important role in California, where they make up more than one out of every four residents.
Sources:
1 U.S. Census Bureau, “International Migration is Projected to Become Primary Driver of U.S. Population Growth for First Time in Nearly Two Centuries,” press release (2013), accessed July 30, 2014. Available online.
Share of Population, Foreign-Born
Mitigating Baby Boomer Retirement
The ratio of seniors to working-age adults in America has remained relatively constant since 1980, at about 240 seniors for every 1,000 workers. With the Baby Boomers’ retirement, however, the ratio is poised to jump a stunning 67 percent in the next two decades, to 411 seniors for every 1,000 workers.2 Already, less than half the U.S.-born population is working-age, or between the ages of 25 and 64. Meanwhile, almost three-quarters of the foreign-born population fall into that age bracket, allowing them to make important contributions to both the labor force and U.S. tax coffers.
Sources:
2 Dowell Myers, “Immigrants’ Contributions in an Aging America,” Community Banking, no. Sum (2008): 3–5.
Age Breakdown of Select Populations, 2014
States with the Largest Gap Between Share of Native-Born and Foreign-Born Populations that are Working-Aged, 2014
Housing and Entitlement Contributions
Because immigrants are far more likely to be working-age, they play an important role contributing to the entitlement programs that help seniors as they age. One NAE study found that between 1996 and 2011 immigrants contributed $182.4 billion more to Medicare’s Hospital Insurance Trust Fund—the core trust fund in the program—than was expended on their care. Immigrants also have made up roughly one in seven homebuyers in recent years, often purchasing the homes of Baby Boomers as they retire.
Amount Immigrants Contributed to Entitlement Programs, 2014
States where Immigrants Made up the Largest Share of Homebuyers, 2010-2014
Fueling Growth in New Destination States
Before 1990, nearly three-quarters of immigrants lived in one of six gateway states: California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and Texas.3 By 2010, those states’ share had started to drop significantly, to 65 percent, as immigrants increasingly began settling in new-destination states, such as Colorado, Nevada, North Carolina, and Washington. As immigrants move into new states, they help offset brain drain and population decline, often filling positions that would have remained vacant otherwise. The more than 10,000 immigrants that moved to North Dakota between 2010 and 2014, for instance, helped fill labor gaps created when locals took well-paid jobs during the shale oil boom.4
Sources:
3 The Pew Charitable Trusts, “U.S. Immigration: National and State Trends and Actions” (November 2013). Available online.
4 Jack Nicas, “North Dakota City Draws Foreign Workers,” Wall Street Journal, 2012, sec. Business. Available online.
States with Largest Percent Increase in Number of Immigrants, 2010-2014
Voting Power and Citizenship
As more immigrants naturalize and become eligible to vote, they will continue to gain power at the voting booth. Nationally, almost 20 million foreign-born citizens were eligible to vote in the 2016 election. By 2020, that figure is projected to rise to 21.2 million. In some states, foreign-born voters are already capable of deciding elections. In Nevada, for instance, almost 256,000 immigrants were eligible to vote in 2016, a number more than nine times higher than Hillary Clinton’s margin of victory in the state that year.
Eligible Immigrant Voters Versus Number of Votes that Decided Presidential Result in Key States, 2016
Immigrants Eligible to Naturalize in Selected States and the United States, 2017
Diversifying the Electorate
Although the white working class played a significant role in the 2016 election, demographic trends mean they will see their influence decline in future electoral contests. While only 11.2 percent of the current U.S. senior population identifies as Hispanic or Asian-American, 27.8 percent of those graduating from high school in the next decade do.5 This means that between 2015 and 2024, the share of the electorate that is white is projected to decline by 4.4 percent. The share that will be both white and working class will see even steeper declines, falling by 5.5 percent. Given this reality, politicians hoping to remain competitive in key states in the future will need to ensure that they do not ignore the needs of Hispanic and Asian voters, many of whom are immigrants.
Sources:
5 2013 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.
Projected Decline in the Share of Electorate that is White Working Class in Key States, 2015-2024
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