Posted on 11/29/2007 7:31:54 PM PST by Oshkalaboomboom
Washington — Most of the 953,000 immigrants living in Georgia are in the country illegally, according to an analysis for the Center for Immigration Studies released Thursday.
Basing its findings on U.S. Census Bureau data, the analysis said Georgia has one of the fastest-growing immigrant populations of any state. It calculated that 53 percent of the state's foreign-born population — 504,000 people — are illegal immigrants. Only the estimates for Arizona, at 65 percent, and North Carolina, at 58 percent, were higher.
Overall, one in eight people living in the United States is an immigrant, the analysis found, for a total of 37.9 million people — the highest level since the 1920s. The nation's immigrant population — legal and illegal — reached a record of 37.9 million in 2007, it said.
The analysis was conducted by Steven A. Camarota, director of research at the center, which advocates reduced immigration.
Camarota has been active in the national immigration debate. Independent demographers disputed some of the survey's conclusions, but not Camarota's methods of data analysis.
"The immigrant population in Georgia is there because of the state's severe labor needs, including the poultry, agricultural and carpet industries," said Lisa Navarette, a spokesman for the National Council of La Raza, an advocacy group for Hispanic-Americans.
The analysis said half of the immigrants from Mexico and Central America are in the country illegally and one-third of those from South America are illegal immigrants. It also documented the surge of new arrivals and described its impact.
"The last seven years have been the highest period of immigration in American history," it concluded. "Immigrants and their young children [under 18] now account for one-fifth of the school-age population, one-fourth of those in poverty and nearly one-third of those without health insurance."
Camarota was criticized by some immigration scholars for failing to examine the progress immigrant families make the longer they remain and work in the United States.
"This is a one-eyed portrait," said Dowell Myers, a demographer at the University of Southern California who has studied immigrants' use of public services. "It is a profile of immigrants' dependency without any profile of their contributions."
Myers said his research shows that within a decade, new immigrants in California moved up quickly to steadier jobs with more benefits, and the rates of uninsured immigrants dropped sharply.
And Wayne Cornelius, a political science professor at the University of California, San Diego, who has studied Mexican immigration for decades, called Camarota's conclusions about immigrants' use of public services "misleading."
The census data, Cornelius said, does not allow concise estimates of use of public services by illegal immigrants.
Cornelius said his field research in San Diego County had shown that illegal immigrants underused the health care system, given their health needs.
The New York Times contributed to this article.
The Center for Immigration Studies' analysis found that in Georgia:
• 7 percent of the state's total school-age population — were illegal immigrants or the offspring of illegal immigrants.
• 32.9 percent of immigrant households use at least one welfare program compared to 19.1 percent of native-born households.
• Immigrants and their U.S.-born children under the age of 18 make up 13.3 percent of the state's total population.
• The number of immigrants in the state has more than tripled in a little more than a decade — growing from 268,000 in 1995 to 378,000 in 2000 to 953,000 in 2007. Since 2000, the state's immigration population has increased 58.2 percent.
• 39.7 percent of the state's immigrants and their kids lived in or near poverty, compared to 28.9 percent of the native population and its children.
So while the poultry, agriculture and carpet industry executives yuk it up and spend their nice, fat Christmas bonus checks the taxpayers of Georgia foot most of the bill for their labor savings. It's a shame nobody in the state has the gonads to go after these well-connected scofflaws.
They're NOT immigrants if they came here illegally -- they're criminals who broke into our country...
Take a look around, America; You can find this story in Milan, Missouri, Sioux Fall, SD, etc...
Is this such a surprise that we actually have to do a study to know this?
As long as they get a free ride and Americans income are distributed, who do you think cares?
We have our share of illegals in the northeast, but we also get a huge share of LEGAL immigrants as well (I see more legal Indians than Mexicans/Central Americans of any immigration status in my area), so the ratio is not likely as skewed.
BUMP
I live in Norcross outside of Atlanta and I think this number is low. I think there are more immigrants and illegals living here than they think. I would say we have about 10,000 illegals living within 5 miles of me each way. I think there are other areas like this to and we dont not have chicken packing plants or carpet mills here either.
Need someone to mow your lawn in Atlanta? Go to the nearest mall and in the parking lot will be about 20 men just sort of standing around in one corner. Pick one up for 2$/hr. It’s great. Oh, wait a minute, this is not great. Well, it’s the way it has played out. Could this be why so many don’t complain? Where’s the shame?
Thanks.
So they need to soak up even more "free" services.
ping
And they don't believe in the "Rule of Law" either. It's a shame.
For the Atlanta Journal Constipation it is.
Well it “aint workin.” I paid almost 5 dollars for a gallon of milk and almost 10 dollars for a box of eggs last week. At Walmart! What’s up with that? The clerk told me everything went up.
"The nation's immigrant population — legal and illegal — reached a record of 37.9 million in 2007, it said."
Politicians readily admit that there are 15-20 million illegals here and if they are willing to admit that, there are probably 10 million more than that. They also admit that most live 'in the shadows', which means nobody knows how many there are.
The total of all immigrants has to be much higher than 38 million, because there are probably almost that many that are illegal.
I thought it was the Atlanta Urinal Constipation. ANyways, how’s your water situation down there? I hope you’ve been getting some rain ot fill up that lake the whole metro area gets water from.
While slight increases can be attributed to the upward trend of grains in the commodity market, the greatest part of the increase in the cost of food is transportation. Diesel fuel is over $3.50/gallon in most of the country, and higher than than in more remote areas as well as big cities. Everything in this country is moved via diesel engine at one time or another.
Yeah but I’m talking a large increase. Last year I paid about half that much.
We had a wonderful deluge on Thanksgiving, and there were a lot more rain days in the forecast, but they all disappeared.
I don’t understand why I live just a few miles from the Weather Channel, yet get the worst weather reports ever. :)
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