Tidbits From Ruben Navarrette, Jr.
On December 8, 2009, Ruben Navarrette, Jr., a Syndicated Columnist and Editorial Board Member for the San Diego Union-Tribune was in Dallas, Texas to talk about “Business Immigration Reform." He provided some interesting immigration facts. The following are a few excerpts.
- Immigrants make up 12% of our nation’s population, and 40% of the DFW metroplex are either immigrants or children of immigrants. www.dfwinternational.org/demographics;
- Current estimates of the unauthorized foreign born population is almost 12 million. www.dfwinternational.org/demographics;
- Six in ten Hispanic adults in the U.S. who are neither citizens nor legal permanent residents lack health insurance. This rate is twice as high as the rate among Hispanic adults who are citizens or legal permanent residents. Pew Hispanic Center Survey, pewhispanic.org, 2009 surveys.
- The flow of immigrants from Mexico to the U.S. has declined sharply since mid-decade, but there is no evidence of an increase of Mexican-born migrants returning home from the U.S. Pew Hispanic Center Survey, pewhispanic.org, 2009 surveys.
- The number of Hispanic children has nearly tripled since 1980 and their demographic profile has changed. More than half of the nation’s Hispanic children are now “second generation.” Pew Hispanic Center Survey, pewhispanic.org, 2009 surveys.
- During the housing boom of 1993-2005, the nation’s minority groups experienced greater gains than whites in homeownership rates. Pew Hispanic Center Survey, pewhispanic.org, 2009 surveys.
- The levels of participation in last year’s presidential election was the most racially and ethnically diverse in U.S. history. The Hispanic vote was 7.4% of the total electorate up 1.4% from 2004. Pew Hispanic Center Survey, pewhispanic.org, 2009 surveys.
- The nation’s approximately 12 million unauthorized immigrants are more geographically dispersed than in the past. Unauthorized immigrants are more likely than either U.S. born residents or legal immigrants to live in a household with children, a growing share of whom — 73% — are U.S. born citizens. Pew Hispanic Center Survey, pewhispanic.org, 2009 surveys.
