Legal, Illegal Immigrant Numbers at Record Highs
New Report Looks at Poverty, Welfare, Health Insurance
WASHINGTON (November 29, 2007) A new report by the Center for Immigration Studies examines the size, growth, and characteristics of the nation's immigrant, or foreign-born, population as of March 2007. The reported provides a detailed picture of overall immigrant population, and of the illegal immigrant population specifically.
The report, “Immigrants in the United States, 2007: A Profile of America's Foreign-Born Population”, is online at http://www.cis.org/articles/2007/back1007.html
Among the report's findings:
# The immigrant population (legal and illegal) reached a record of 37.9 million in 2007.
# Immigrants account for one in eight U.S. residents, the highest level in 80 years.
# Overall, nearly one in three immigrants is an illegal alien. Half of Mexican and Central American immigrants and one-third of South American immigrants are illegal.
# Since 2000, 10.3 million immigrants have arrived, the highest seven-year period of immigration in U.S. history. More than half of post-2000 arrivals (5.6 million) are estimated to be illegal aliens.
# Of adult immigrants, 31 percent have not completed high school, compared to 8 percent of natives. The share of immigrants and natives with a college degree is about the same.
# 33 percent of immigrant-headed households use at least one welfare program, compared to 19 percent for native households. Among households headed by immigrants from Mexico, the largest single group, 51 percent use at least one welfare program.
# The poverty rate for immigrants and their U.S.-born children (under 18) is 17 percent, nearly 50 percent higher than the rate for natives and their children.
# 34 percent of immigrants lack health insurance, compared to 13 percent of natives. Immigrants and their U.S.-born children account for 71 percent of the increase in the uninsured since 1989.
# The primary reason for the high rates of immigrant poverty, lack of health insurance, and welfare use is their low education levels, not their legal status or an unwillingness to work.
# Of immigrant households, 82 percent have at least one worker, compared to 73 percent of native households.
# Immigrants make significant progress over time. But even those who have been here for 20 years are more likely to be in poverty, lack insurance, or use welfare than are natives.
# There is a worker present in 78 percent of immigrant households using at least one welfare program.
# Immigration accounts for virtually all of the national increase in public school enrollment over the last two decades. In 2007, there were 10.8 million school-age children from immigrant families in the United States.
# Immigrants and natives have similar rates of entrepreneurship: 13 percent of natives and 11 percent of immigrants are self-employed.
# Recent immigration has had no significant impact on the nation age structure. Without the 10.3 million post-2000 immigrants, the average age in America would be virtually unchanged at 36.5 years.
# Detailed information is provided for Texas, California, Arizona, Massachusetts, Colorado, Georgia, North Carolina, Washington, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland.
Data Source: The Current Population Survey provides the data for the study. It was collected by the Census Bureau in March 2007 and has not been fully analyzed until now. There is agreement among policy experts, including the Department of Homeland Security, that roughly 90 percent of illegal immigrants respond to Census Bureau surveys of this kind. This allows for separate estimates of the size and characteristics of the illegal immigrant population.
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For more information, contact the author of the report, Steven Camarota, the Director of Research at the Center for Immigration Studies, at (202) 466-8185 or sac@cis.org .
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The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent research institute which examines the impact of immigration on the United States.
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Center for Immigration Studies
1522 K St. NW, Suite 820
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 466-8185 fax: (202) 466-8076
center@cis.org www.cis.org
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