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.
Report on New Americans in San José & Santa Clara County Highlights Economic Contributions of Immigrants
CONTACTS Sarah Doolin, New American Economy, [email protected] Zulma Maciel, Strategic Partnerships and Office of Immigrant Affairs, City of San José, [email protected]; (408) 535-8146 Silicon Valley Business Roundtable discusses local immigrant integration; new report shows foreign-born households… Read More
‘We Aren’t Protecting Ourselves When We Shun Talented, Hardworking People,’ Says Immigrant Entrepreneur
When he was 16, George Fernandez was forced to translate a devastating medical diagnosis to his mother, who didn’t speak English. “The doctor came in and told me she had cancer. I had to explain to her what this was and what was going to happen to her. I didn’t… Read More
California’s Primary: Immigrants in the Golden State
In the final round of state primaries, Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders battle it out today in California. Although Clinton has already clinched the necessary number of delegates to secure the Democratic nomination, there are still 550 delegates on the line. The Golden State has… Read More
Pastor Says Bible is Clear on Immigration: Treat Newcomers with Love, Kindness and Mercy
Pastor Jason Aguilar believes the Bible is clear on immigration policy. To him, even the example of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden can be interpreted through an immigration lens. After the couple tasted the forbidden fruit, God punished them, but also showed compassion. “They had… Read More
Weekend Reading: Highlights from this week’s immigration news (May 16-20)
This week Tom Nassif, president and CEO of the Western Growers Association, which represents farmers in California, Arizona, and Colorado, penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, proposing that governors take the lead on immigration reform. “As chief executives,” he writes, “governors know how to get things… Read More
Small Ohio Town Would be ‘a Dead City’ Without Immigrants, Says Former Council Member
“If it wasn’t for the Latino community,” says Nelson Cintron Jr., “Painesville, Ohio would be a dead city.” Cintron knows the Painesville Hispanic community well. He owns La Nueva Mia 88.3FM WHWN, a noncommercial radio station that broadcasts throughout Lake County and as far as East Cleveland. It’s a news… Read More
Immigration Policy Prevents Rural Louisiana Schools from Hiring Qualified Teachers, Says Attorney
As an immigration attorney, Kathleen Gasparian works with a variety of small businesses that are trying to secure visas for foreign-born workers. “I have many employers come into my office for all sorts of jobs,” she says. They tell her, “‘I need tree-cutters. I need a neurosurgeon.’” And all too… Read More
Report on New Americans in Salt Lake County Highlights Economic Contributions of Immigrants
CONTACT Sarah Doolin, New American Economy, [email protected] Salt Lake Region Launches Task Force to Highlight, Enhance Economic Contributions of Immigrants; New Report Shows Foreign-Born Households Brought Billions to Metro Area GDP in 2014 Salt Lake County, UT – Today, Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams,… Read More
New Americans in Salt Lake County
New American Economy has developed a series of research briefs that examine the demographic and economic contributions of immigrant communities in counties and cities across the United States. The latest report in the series focuses on Salt Lake County and provides information on how immigrants have strengthened the local tax… Read More
This Entrepreneur says Diversity Provides America with a Unique Economic Advantage
The American melting pot sets this country apart from almost every other nation, says Jie “Jay” Zheng, a Chinese-American chemist and restaurant owner in Denver. “That is something that’s unique to us that China and other countries cannot do,” Zheng says. But, he adds, to make the most of our… 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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