Posted on 06/20/2005 7:31:05 PM PDT by bayourod
BOSTON -- If not for the tens of thousands of immigrants who have settled in Massachusetts over the past 15 years, the state's labor force would have shrunk up to 100,000 people and wreaked havoc on the economy, a new study reports.
The immigrant population in Massachusetts rose by 35 percent from 1990 to 2000, according to Census data analyzed by the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth. In Greater Lowell, the growth rate was 38 percent, slightly higher than the state average, thanks in part to a surge in the number of foreign-born residents moving to the suburbs.
“People should be aware that we're in the midst of a major immigration boom in the state, and .... were it not for immigrants, our state's labor force would be shrinking quickly,” said Ian Bowles, president and CEO of MassINC, a public-policy think tank. “From an economic standpoint, statewide, we need this community.”
The data in the report come primarily from the 2000 Census of Population and Housing. While it includes both legal and undocumented immigrants, advocates argue immigrants are drastically undercounted in the government survey and play an even more significant role in keeping the state's economy moving.
“No matter what the study shows, how impressive the data in the study is, it doesn't even tell the whole story,” said Victoria Fahlberg, executive director of ONE Lowell, an immigrant advocacy organization.
Lowell's immigrant population was nearly on par with the state average. Communities surrounding the city saw a significantly higher-than-average increase in the foreign-born populations. Ayer, Dunstable, Groton, Littleton, Townsend, Tyngsboro, and Westford all saw growth of more than 47 percent.
Townsend's immigrant population dwarfed other communities in the area, growing by 158 percent during the decade. In 1990, there were 131 foreign-born residents in Townsend compared to 338 in 2000.
The share of immigrants in the state's workforce has nearly doubled from 9 percent in 1980 to 17 percent in 2004. But researchers said the lack of English-speaking skills -- statewide, 21 percent of the immigrant population has limited English -- is a major impediment to economic success.
“These new immigrants are important assets for the Commonwealth's economy,” said professor Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University and the report's lead author. “However, there is a clear and overwhelming need for increased education and training programs that can allow them to better participate in and contribute to the state's economy.”
Among all adult immigrants in Massachusetts, 71 percent are not prepared for the knowledge-based economy, the report found. The report's authors said there is a critical need to expand English and other education programs, and suggested the responsibility goes beyond that of government to include employers and private charitable foundations.
In Lowell, more than 22 percent of its population was born outside the United States, the ninth-highest rate in the state and up from 16 percent in 1990. Nearly a quarter of the immigrant population hails from Cambodia, followed by Portugal, representing 10 percent of the city's immigrant population. The city also has a high number of immigrants from Brazil, India and Vietnam.
According to the report, Lowell's Asian community appears to be spilling out into the suburbs, as Asians also account for most immigrants in many of the surrounding communities. For example, nearly 50 percent of the immigrant population in Westford and Chelmsford, hails from Asia.
However, Townsend, which had the largest growth in its immigrant population in the area, has very few Asian immigrants. According to the report, 52 percent of its immigrants were born in Europe or Russia; 38.5 percent in Canada; 6.8 percent in Mexico or Central America; and 2.7 percent in Asia.
Mass is an interesting case as it has more immigrants from South (as opposed to Central) America and Asia relative to other states. Much as is the case in my dad's old nabe in Newark, the Brazilians are settling in the same areas the Portuguese did 40-50 years ago. Not too many Cholos de Puebla in Massholechusetts, although there are a few in Brockton, Holyoke and Lawrence.
I'd probably call you the upstairs maid if you a were young cute female. Otherwise I might call you the babysitter, gardener, cook, chauffeur, handyman or stable boy.
The reason this is happening is because MA is so screwed up, we have "white flight" taking place daily. This state is the perfect example of socialist/ libs run amok.
No one is running against The Swimmah because the folks with brains have moved away, the Immigrants are everywhere and the Lunatic left cares not as long as they keep mowing lawns and reside "somewhere else". The inner city here is literally a third world country, mostly Brazilians and Dominicans.
And the Mongols were just "undocumented marauders."
geez, who would make the lattes at Dunkin Donuts if the Brazilians weren't here?
For Bayourod the answer to every problem is more illegal aliens. Abortion killing millions of your fellow man? Replace em with illegals! Worry about abortion later. <parody
Employ them....and you get them!
What I get out of this article is that we are lucky as hell to be awash in legal (and illegal) immigrants but we need more education and training funds to be able to do anything at all with them! Isn't that it?
I suppose that your manor needs servants, the country be damned.
But not "an equal" or "a friend"...?
I have enough friends, what I need are more upstair maids.
And of course, most of your best friends are Hispanic laborers, eh? Why do you need "more upstair maids"? How big is that upstairs? Or is cleaning up after yourself one of those "jobs Americans won't do"?
Bayourod's friends.
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