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.
Texas Tribune Opinion: Immigrant workers are why my health care business has grown
At Manchester Place Care Homes and Cambridge Caregivers, two senior care businesses that I co-own and operate in Dallas, we are aggressively hiring new employees. Business is up 75% year-over-year, which is fantastic, but our growth has created a big problem: There just aren’t enough job seekers to fill the 100-plus openings… Read More
New data shows Miami’s immigrants paid more than $16 billion in taxes in 2017
New York – Today New American Economy (NAE), a bipartisan research and advocacy organization focused on immigration, released new data highlighting the significant contributions immigrants make to the Miami community and economy. The data shows that immigrants in Miami are driving economic growth — the metro area’s… Read More
New data shows Grand Rapids’ immigrants earned close to $2 billion in household income in 2017, an increase of more than $100 million in just one year
New York – Today New American Economy (NAE), a bipartisan research and advocacy organization focused on immigration, released new data highlighting the significant contributions immigrants make to Grand Rapids’ community and economy. The data shows that immigrants in Grand Rapids, Michigan are driving economic growth — the… Read More
Omaha World Herald Midlands Voices: Chasing the dream, fulfilling the promise
On June 5, the House passed the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019. With it, our country took a step towards protecting 1.3 million DACA-eligible residents and more than 318,000 Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders who live in the U.S. Nebraska’s own Rep. Don Bacon chose to do the… Read More
The Salt Lake Tribune Commentary: American economy needs more skilled immigrants
When I came to the United States from Cape Town, South Africa, in 1983 at age 22, I was fortunate that an American accounting firm sponsored my visa. Within a couple of years, I was able to apply for a green card — permanent legal status that gave me confidence… Read More
Utica Observer Dispatch Guest View: Trump could learn from Utica’s refugees
When my family came to Utica as Jewish refugees from Ukraine, I never dreamed I’d become an entrepreneur. Back then, in 1997, I was a 12-year-old kid who assumed I’d become an engineer like my father and my grandfather. But after we arrived, I became inspired by the American culture… Read More
New data shows Atlanta’s immigrant household income grew by 13 percent in one year
New York – Today New American Economy (NAE), a bipartisan research and advocacy organization focused on immigration, released new data highlighting the significant contributions immigrants make to the Atlanta community… Read More
El Paso’s number of immigrant entrepreneurs grew by 25 percent in just one year
New York – Today New American Economy (NAE), a bipartisan research and immigration advocacy organization, released new data highlighting the significant contributions immigrants make to the El Paso community and economy. The data shows that immigrants in El Paso are crucial job creators — the metro area’s… Read More
The Salt Lake Tribune Commentary: I was 3 When I came here from Mexico. I’m 16 now and want a summer job. Tell Congress to pass the Dream and Promise Act.
When my older sister and brother turned 15, they got the chance of a lifetime: As undocumented immigrants who came to Utah from Mexico as young children, they were allowed to apply for work permits and protection from deportation through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Today my… Read More
New Report Shows Asheville’s Immigrants Contributed Close to $1 Billion in GDP in 2016
Asheville, NC – Asheville’s immigrant households earned $489 million and contributed more than $113 million in taxes in 2016, according to new research by New American Economy (NAE) in partnership with the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Coalition of Asheville – Buncombe County. The report will… 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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