USIMMIGRATION & DEMOGRAPHICS

Derek Hommel

Daniel Cho

Introduction

The United States is the third most populous country after China and India

US population more than tripled from 1900 to 2000, from 76 million to 281 million

California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey are responsible for half of this century’s population gain

Since 1900, there has been a steady shift in population westward and southward

The west has expanded in population the most of any sector of the US

Introduction

Immigration in the US:– 8.7% of the population is foreign-born compared to 16% in

Canada and 3.9% in Great Britain– The “melting pot” is a myth: Hispanics and Asians especially

congregate in ‘gateway cities’ after entering the country Los Angeles is home to 1/5 of the US Hispanic population

– Asian Indian population has doubled in the last ten years, most likely due to technology job positions

– The Horatio Alger ideal of entrepreneurial endeavors is embraced by immigrants: they are more likely to be self-employed than natives

Recent Immigration Policy

Recent Immigration Policy

IMMIGRATION REFORM AND CONTROL ACT OF 1986

– Passed to control unauthorized immigration to the US– Also to help preserve jobs for those entitled to them; US

citizens and authorized workers– Contained provisions for employee sanctions, better

enforcement, and amnesty– Penalties for employers who hire aliens not authorized to

work in the United States– The IRCA gave farmers of ‘perishable crops’ two years to

adjust to the changes by finding a legal source of labor

Recent Immigration Policy

IRCA cont’d– H2-A program was created to allow agricultural

employers to hire seasonal workers legally– Amnesty allowed illegal aliens who had lived in

US continuously since before1982 to apply to the Immigration and Naturalization Service for legal resident status by 1988

Recent Immigration Policy

IMMIGRATION ACT of 1990– Increased total immigration under a flexible total

cap of 675,000 immigrants beginning in fiscal year 1995.

480,000 family-sponsored visas; 140,000 employment-based, and 55,000 diversity visas

– Revised the grounds for exclusion and deportation, especially on political and ideological grounds

Repealed excluding communists and limited the exclusion of aliens on foreign policy grounds

Recent Immigration Policy

Post- 9/11– The INS has officially become the Bureau of

Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS) within the Department of Homeland Security

– Special Registration asked men over 16 with citizenship in certain countries and without green cards to report to certain INS centers to be photographed, fingerprinted and interrogated

– USA PATRIOT Act had more provisions for deporting families of suspected terrorists

Immigration and the Economy

Immigration & Economy

POINT: immigration is not detrimental to the economy Although immigrants span the entire spectrum of the

workforce, they tend to fall into either the lower working class or the educated professionals:

– The proportion of immigrants with bachelor’s degrees or higher is greater than native born

– Many first- and second- generation children of immigrants do disproportionately well in academic pursuits

The number of immigrants today is actually lower than at the beginning of the century, when the total US population was lower – so effects of immigration are much less drastic

Immigration & Economy

The argument that immigrants take away native jobs was not supported by a 1990 study. In fact, the study found that immigration makes jobs through the immigrants’ purchasing power, since immigrant workers are more concentrated in the ‘youthful labor force’ than natives

Many highly-educated immigrants enter the scientific and engineering forces, both which further help bolster the economy through industrial advances

Immigrants may be adding up to $10 billion to the economy, based on a recent report

Families of foreign-born immigrants make, on average, make more than all-native families

– (gross adj. incomes: $40,502 v. $35,249) Immigrants tend to be very mobile in society, due to their youth

Immigration & Economy

Counterpoint: immigration is a drain to the economy Some researchers argue that the boost to the

economy by immigrants is outweighed by the drain on native taxpayers: from $15 to $20 billion each year

“One of every five poor people is an immigrant” – CIS, Importing Poverty

Hispanics are twice as likely to become unemployed than natives

In 1999, 22.8% of Hispanics were living in poverty, compared with 7.7% of non-Hispanic Whites

Immigration & Economy

Clarification:– The US does not give public assistance to immigrants for

their first 3 years and it does have the power to deport those who do, although the practice has waned greatly

– However, refugees are allowed welfare immediately; non-refugee immigrants actually receive less welfare on average than natives

– A poll of many respected economists found that it is agreed that both legal and illegal immigrants benefit the economy. New findings suggests the ‘undocumented’ pay about 46% as much in taxes as natives pay, but use only about 45% as much in services (welfare)

Asian Immigration

Asian Immigration

Reasons for immigration– Many Asians come to the United States to reunite

with their family, economic opportunity, and education.

– In 1997, IMF (International Monetary Fund) struck the Asian nations. Asian nations had been spending an excessive amounts of dollars. This caused the value of their currencies to plummet, which limited immigration.

Asian Population in The United States

Asians live mostly in these five states– New York– California– Hawaii– Texas– Illinois

Demographic

Successfulness in immigration

Many Asian tend to form communities and help each other through economic struggles. For example, the Korean communities in Maryland developed the system called kye. This system gathers money from the community and give it to the specific individuals. These individuals will start small businesses and they are expected to pay back so the other individuals can start their own.

High attainment of education also leads to the success of the Asians. Nine out of ten Asian men and eight out of ten Asian women had at least a high school diploma. This enabled the Asian people to work in higher paying jobs.

As a result, the median family income of $44,460. Slightly higher than the non-Hispanic Americans.

Education Attainment

Economic Status

Poverty

Despite the high educational attainment and similar median income the poverty rates were 14 percent. Slightly higher than the 8 percent non-Hispanic whites.

African Immigration

African-Americans

In the 19th century and into the first half of the 20th century, African immigration to the US was practically non-existent - From 1820 to 1993 America only took in 418,000 African immigrants

– The African nations were too poor and racism was high in the US

Two-thirds of all African immigrants currently in the United States arrived after 1980. Much of this immigration was to escape poverty and political oppression

Status of African-Born US residents

Most African immigrants are well-educated – 88% of adult African immigrants have a high school diploma or better – higher than the national average of 77%

Africans often settle in urban areas where they can utilize their education. They have one of the highest per-capita incomes of any immigrant group

African women enjoy the protection the US offers against domestic violence and the freedom from the strong sexual segregation of many African nations

Causes of Immigration

Many Africans have settled in Maryland and the Washington suburbs in recent decades– 3 ‘waves’ of African immigration:– 1970s: Educated African students seeking

political and economic refuge from Africa– 1980s: Large numbers of political refugees from

the Horn of Africa– 1990s: the Diversity Visa* from the US

Immigration and Naturalization Programs* Diversity Visa allows for visas to be issued to nations who have low rates of immigration to US (<50,000 people)

Demographics

The states in which 6 out of 10 African Americans lived in 2000 were: New York, California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, Maryland, Michigan and Louisiana

New York was the state with the largest number of people reporting as Black in 2000 (3,014,385)

54 percent of the Black population lived in the South, 19 percent lived in the Midwest, 18 percent lived in the Northeast and 10 percent lived in the West

Hispanic & Latino Immigration

Hispanics

Reasons for immigration– Many Hispanics have immigrated to

the United States because it has opportunities that are unavailable in their homeland.

The growing population due to immigration

– The high rate of immigration and high birth rate of the Hispanic made them the fastest growing population in the United States. From 1990 to 2000, the Hispanic population increased by 60 percent and in the 2000 census reported the Hispanics become the largest minority group in the United States.

Controversial Issues

Some Americans fear that the rapidly growing numbers of Hispanics will not adopt to the English customs, and influence the Americans with foreign ways. On the other side, they worry that the non English speaking Hispanics will be entangled to the underclass of the economic status.

Hispanic Population in the United States

Economic status

Even though Hispanics come to the America trying to improve their economic status, their educational attainment lags them behind. Slightly over fifty percent of the Hispanic people have a high school degree or higher and nine percent has bachelor’s degree.

Immigration Tomorrow

Immigration Tomorrow

If immigration continues at current rates, by 2050:– 26% of Americans will be of Hispanic ancestry,

growing from 27 million to 85 million– 8% will be of Asian heritage, increasing from 9

million to 34 million– the U.S. population will grow to 387 million

people by 2050 -- 124 million more than today

Immigration Tomorrow

The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that future labor market constriction will allow many immigrants to enter the workforce, as it strives to employ a more diverse workforce

The percentage of blacks and whites in the workforce will most likely fall, as the numbers of Hispanics and Asians increase