JUST THE FACTS

SOME INFORMATION ABOUT IMMIGRANTS

Long Island demographics
• There are about 100,000 fewer U.S.-born working-age adults living on Long Island today than there were in 1990. The total working-age population has grown only because there are 140,000 more foreign-born 16-to 64-year olds. (Fiscal Policy Institute)
• More than 85% of immigrants who came to Long Island prior to 1989 are U.S. citizens today. (Strengthening Long Island, the Economic Contributions of Immigrants to Nassau/Suffolk Counties, Mariano Torres, Ph.D., Adelphi University, NY, 2008; a project of the Hagedorn Foundation)
• The Long Island immigrant population has doubled since 1980 to just over 465,000 residents, or approximately 16 % of the general population. (Ibid, Executive Summary)
• More than 50% of all immigrants arriving on Long Island since the year 2000 are Latin Americans. This compares to less than 17% of those who had arrived in 1980 or earlier. (Ibid, Executive Summary)
• On Long Island, immigrants make up 16% of the total population but 20% of the 16-64 year-old-population, and 21% of the labor force. (Fiscal Policy Institute)
• On Long Island, the total number of U.S.-born residents of prime working age shrank between 1990 and 2005/07, with a resulting decline of 110,000 U.S.-born workers in the workforce. This decline was offset by an increase of 123,000 immigrants in the labor force, leading to very modest net labor force growth of 13,000 out of total 2005/07 labor force of 1.4 million. (The Changing Profile of Long Island’s Economy, Fiscal Policy Institute, November, 2010, pg 2)
• From 1990 to 2007, the percentage of Long Island population that was white decreased from 84% to 72%. The Latino community share of the population increased from 6% in 1990 to 13% in 2007. The African-American and Asian population also grew during this period. (Ibid, pg 10)
• On Long Island, 13% of immigrants are from El Salvador, 7% from India, 5% from Italy, 2% from Mexico. (Fiscal Policy Institute)
• According to the best available estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2010 Statistical Abstract of the U.S., the total number of undocumented immigrants in New York State decreased from 640,000 in 2008 to 550,000 in 2009. (Government Data Show Fewer Illegal Immigrants, Danielle Kurtzleben, U.S. News, July 8, 2010)
• In an estimate made for the Fiscal Policy Institute’s Working for a Better Life, The Pew Hispanic Center concluded that as of the mid-2000s, roughly one in six immigrants in New York State’s major downstate suburbs (Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester) was undocumented. It is worth noting that the share of immigrants that are undocumented in New York is well below the national average of about one in three. (The Changing Profile of Long Island’s Economy, Fiscal Policy Institute, November, 2010, pg 12)
U.S. demographics
• In 2009, immigrants made up 13% of the U.S. population. In the early 20th century, immigrant share of the population ranged from 13 to 15 percent, reaching a high of 15% in the 1910 census. (http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0029/tab01.html)
• The Census Bureau estimates the U.S. population will grow from 281 million in 2000 to 397 million in 2050 with expected immigration, but only to 328 million with zero immigration. “If we have zero immigration with today’s low birthrates the American population would eventually begin to shrink.” (Joseph Chamie, Yale Global Online, February 4, 2008)
• Overall, the population of the U.S. is due to rise from 296 million in 2005 to 438 million by 2050 with 82% of the increase coming from immigrants. The Pew Research Center projects that by 2050, non-Hispanic Whites will account for 47% of the population, down from the 2005 figure of 67%. Non-Hispanic Whites made up 85% of the population in 1960. The Pew Research Center foresees the Hispanic population rising from 14% in 2005 to 29% by 2050. The Asian population is expected to more than triple by 2050. (Pew Research Center)
• Forty percent of Ph.D. scientists working in the U.S. were born abroad. (U.S. Census Bureau)
• America admitted more undocumented immigrants from 1991-2000 (between 10-11 million) than in previous decades. In the most recent decade, the 10 million legal immigrants who settled in the U.S. represent an annual growth of U.S. population of only about a third of 1% (as the U.S. population grew from 249 million to 281 million). By comparison, the highest previous decade was 1901-1910 when 8.8 million people arrived, increasing the total U.S. population by 1% per year as the U.S. population grew from 76 to 92 million during the decade. (Demographic Trends in the 20th Century, November 2002, U.S. Census Bureau; Charles Kincannon, Director)
• According to the Pentagon, about 8,000 permanent immigrants with Green Cards join the armed forces annually. About 29,000 foreign-born people currently serving in the armed forces are not American citizens.
• Just as immigrants before them, today’s immigrants want to learn English. Within 10 years of arriving in the United States, more than 75% of immigrants speak English well. 91% of the second generation immigrants speak English fluently or nearly fluently. (Shirin Hakimzadeh and D’Vera Cohn, English Usage Among Hispanics in the U.S, Shirin Hakimzadeh and D’Vera Cohn, Pew Hispanics Forum, December 6, 2007) http://pewhispanics.org/report/report.php?report/ID=82
Immigrants and the law
• Unlawful presence in the United States is a civil violation of Federal Law, not a criminal offense. However, if an undocumented immigrant is deported and then returns to the U.S. illegally, this is a criminal offense. Approximately 75% of immigrants currently have permanent visas; almost one-half of the 25% who are undocumented overstayed their visa. (Department of Homeland Security) www.http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/statistics/index.htm
• A new study of crime rates in 459 American cities with populations of at least 50,000 shows that cities experiencing greater growth in immigrant or new immigrant populations between 1990-2000 also demonstrated sharper decreases in homicide and robbery. (Rise in Immigration May Help Explain Drop in Violent Crimes, Homeland Security News. www.http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/rise-immigration-may-help-explain-drop-violent.crimes?page=0,0>
• According to the FBI, the four large cities (with populations of at least 500,000) with the lowest violent crime rates – San Diego, Phoenix, and the Texas cities of El Paso, and Austin – are all in border states. (The ‘Dangerous’ Border: Actually One of America’s Safest Places, Tim Padgett, Time Magazine, July 20, 2010)
Taxes and social services
• Immigrants on Long Island in 2006 contributed an estimated $2.13 billion in taxes and other government revenues while costing Nassau/Suffolk local governments about $1.06 billion for K-12 education ($772 million), health care ($244 million) and corrections ($44 million). This yields a net benefit to Long Island of about $1.07 billion, or $2305 per immigrant resident. (Strengthening Long Island: The Economic Contributions of Immigrants to Nassau and Suffolk Counties, Mariano Torres, Ph.D., Adelphi University, 2008; a project of the Hagedorn Foundation)
• After subtracting income and payroll taxes, savings, remittances, and property taxes, Long Island immigrants had an estimated $7.5 billion in buying power in 2006. (Statement by Luis Valenzuela, Ph.D., Long Island Immigrant Alliance, and Nadia Marin-Molina, Workplace Project, to the Suffolk County Legislature.)
• In 2006, Hispanic tax revenue contributions in Suffolk County estimated at $314,000,000 including $145,255,000 in property taxes. (Strengthening Long Island: The Economic Contributions of Immigrants to Nassau and Suffolk Counties, The Hagedorn Foundation.)
• Between one-half and three-quarters of undocumented immigrants now work ‘on the books’ and pay federal and state income taxes, social security taxes, and Medicare taxes but are ineligible for almost all Federal public assistance programs and most Federal-State programs. (The Economic of Immigration Reform, Immigration Policy Center, April, 2005)
• Undocumented immigrant workers in the United States are now providing the Social Security System with a subsidy of as much as $7 billion a year. Immigrants pay into the social security trust fund but are ineligible for benefits. (Illegal Immigrants Are Bolstering Social Security With Billions, New York Times, Eduardo Porter, April 5, 2005)
• By 2007, the Social Security trust fund had received a net benefit of somewhere between $120 billion and $240 billion from unauthorized workers. (How Illegal Immigrants Are Helping Social Security, Edward Schumacher-Matos, Washington Post, September 3, 2010)
Economics
• In 2007, 68 percent of Long Island farms report difficulty in maintaining their manual labor workforce. 84% believe the situation will worsen. Suffolk County is the top NYS county in agricultural sales. If 88% of Suffolk County farmers were to lose even less than 15% of their workforce this could equate to $174 million in lost farm revenue. (Dowling College Study)
• On Long Island, foreign-born share of the population is 16%; foreign-born share of the economic output is 18%. (Fiscal Policy Institute)
• The immigrant share of Long Island’s gross product (total value of annual output) increased from 12 to 18 percent during the period 1990 – 2005/07, so that in 2005/07 immigrants accounted for an estimated $30 billion of the $171 billion economic output of Long Island in 2000 dollars. (The Changing Profile of Long Island’s Economy, Fiscal Policy Institute, November, 2010, pg 15)
• Per Dr. Lee Koppelman, Executive Director, Long Island Regional Planning Board, minority-owned businesses now contribute more than $6 billion a year to the Long Island economy and $5.5 billion of that comes from 12,000 Hispanic-owned and 13,000 Asian-owned businesses. (Immigrant Entrepreneurs Are Saving Main Street, Phillip Lutz, New York Times, September 25, 2005)
• Although U.S.-born white men with less than high school degrees might be expected to have had a harder time finding a job as the immigrant share of the labor force increased, on Long Island the opposite is true: U.S.-born white men with less than a high school degree were the only group to see their unemployment rates actually decrease from the 1990 peak to the most recent economic peak. (The Changing Profile of Long Island’s Economy, Fiscal Policy Institute, November, 2010, pg 5)
• The removal of undocumented workers from the U.S. economy would represent a loss of $1.8 trillion in annual spending. (Perryman Group). The cost of deportation of all undocumented immigrants would cost $245 billion. (Harpers Index, Harpers Magazine, 2010)
• Inflows of undocumented immigrants tend to be highly sensitive to economic conditions, with the inflows rising during periods when the U.S. economy is expanding and Mexico’s is contracting. Examining month-to-month changes in apprehensions of undocumented immigrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border reveals that when Mexican wages fall by 10% relative to U.S. wages, attempts at illegal entry increase by 6%. (The Economic Logic of Illegal Immigration, Gordon Hansen, Council on Foreign Relations Press, April, 2007, pg. 13)
• For a twenty-five-year-old Mexican male with nine years of education (slightly above the national average), migrating to the U.S. would increase his wage from $2.30 to $8.50 an hour, adjusted for cost of living difference. (Ibid, pg 14)
• Sending all undocumented workers home would reduce the U.S. labor force by 5% and the low-skilled labor force (workers with less than a high school education) by 10% or more. In 2005, undocumented workers accounted for 24% of workers employed in farming, 17% in cleaning, 14% in construction and 12% in food preparation. (Ibid, pg 30)
• Since 2001, Congress has increased funding for border security by 145% and immigration enforcement by 118%. (Ibid, pg 25)
Immigrants and jobs
• It is possible that by serving as child-care providers and domestic workers, among other jobs, immigrants – and perhaps particularly undocumented workers – are helping U.S.-born women enter the labor market. (The Changing Profile of Long Island’s Economy, Fiscal Policy Institute, November, 2010, pg. 2)
• The conservative Alexis de Tocqueville Institution released a report that concluded that immigrants “create at least as many jobs as they take.” They do “take” jobs, but they also buy goods and services, thus creating more jobs and contributing to overall economic growth. (Immigration and Unemployment: New Evidence, Richard Vedder, Lowell Galloway, and Stephen Moore, Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, Arlington, VA, 1994. See also Richard Vedder, Immigration Doesn’t Displace Natives, Wall Street Journal, March 28, 1994, page A120)
• U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners: Hispanic-Owned Firms: 2002 indicated that the number of Hispanics-owned businesses in the U.S. grew to nearly 1.6 million in 2002. Those Hispanic-owned businesses, in addition to creating jobs, generated about $222 billion in revenue. (U.S. Census Bureau)
• According to a 2007 report by the President’s Council of Economic Advisors, “Immigrants not only help fuel the nation’s economic growth, but also have an overall positive effect on the income of native-workers.” (Immigration’s Economic Impact, President’s Council of Economic Advisors, 2007) www.http://georgewbush-whitehousearchives.gov/cea/cea.immigration_062007.html
• Chances that a publicly traded U.S. company started with venture capital funds was founded by an immigrant: 1 in 4. “The Kauffman Foundation’s index of entrepreneurial activity is nearly 40% higher for immigrants than for native-born Americans. Immigrants were involved in the founding of many prominent American high tech companies, such as Google, Yahoo, Sun Microsystems, and eBay.” (Harpers Index, Harpers Magazine. Source: National Foundation for American Policy)
• In 2009, a study by the libertarian Cato Institute found that legalization of low-skilled undocumented workers in the U.S. would result in a net increase in U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of over $180 billion in ten years. (Cato Institute)