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Ratio Of Immigrants Doubles Since 1970 Study Also Shows Arrivals Quick To Improve Economic Status

From Wire Reports

Nearly one in 11 U.S. residents was foreign-born last year, the highest percentage since World War II and nearly double the 1970 level of 4.8 percent, according to a new Census Bureau report.

The report says the largest group of the 22.6 million foreign-born people came from Mexico, more than 6.2 million, with the Philippines next at 1 million. Cuba, El Salvador, Canada, Germany, China, Dominican Republic, Korea, Vietnam and India range from 805,000 down to 494,000.

While the percentage of immigrants has been increasing in recent years, reaching 8.7 percent in 1994, the United States experienced a greater influx around the turn of the century. In 1910, foreign-born people made up 14.7 percent of the U.S. population, an all-time high.

In general, immigrants improve their economic standing the longer they live in the United States. Both in Monday’s report, based on a survey taken in 1994, and in the 1990 census about a quarter of the immigrants of the 1980s lived below the poverty level.

“Economic integration takes place faster than the current political debate seems to acknowledge,” said Michael Fix, an immigration expert at the Urban Institute.

Poverty was particularly acute among those who came from Mexico. Forty percent of the Mexicans who came north in the 1980s lived in poverty, according to the most recent report. By comparison 4 percent of the Filipino immigrants of the 1980s live in poverty. About 14 percent of the native-born live in poverty.

The report also found:

More than two-thirds of the foreign-born are white (including Mexicans), a fifth are Asian and Pacific Islanders and 7.1 percent black.

Foreign-born women 15 to 44 had borne 1.5 children each, compared with 1.2 each for native-born.

Unemployment among foreign-born when the surveys were taken was 9.1 percent compared with 6.8 percent for native Americans. Median income was $12,179 for foreign-born persons in 1993 compared with $15,876 for native-born. Foreign-born poverty rates were higher (22.9 percent) than for native Americans 14.4 percent.

Recent immigrants (since 1990) who are adults are better educated overall than natives or earlier immigrants. While 21 percent of recent immigrants have a college degree, only about 15 percent of natives and 14 percent of earlier immigrants have such degrees.

The census report shows the foreign-born remained concentrated in a few parts of the country, like California, where the 7.7 million foreign-born make up a quarter of the population. Other states with a large number of foreign-born include New York (2.9 million), Florida (2.1 million) and Texas, Illinois and New Jersey, with over 1 million each.

The sharp rise in foreign-born population since 1970 has become a major political issue because of allegations that immigrants are making excessive use of public benefits and are taking job opportunities from natives.

California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 187, a ballot initiative designed to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving various state services and benefits. However, federal and state courts halted implementation of the initiative pending trials on its constitutionality.

In March the House enacted and the Senate is now considering measures that would cut off major federal welfare benefits to legal immigrants who are not citizens. In addition Congress is set to consider and President Clinton has endorsed proposals to greatly reduce levels of legal immigration.

Reynolds Farley, a University of Michigan sociology professor, said that previous studies support the finding that the newest immigrants are worse off economically than comparable natives. But after about 15 years of living in the United States, they are about as well off as comparable natives, he said.

“There is no evidence from the 1990 census that immigrants will create a larger underclass,” Farley said.