The benefits of immigration are clear. All of American society and all across the country, immigrants are an essential part of this nation.
Immigrants are helping to grow the U.S. economy everywhere, not just in our biggest cities. They are helping to fill labor shortages on America’s farms, starting businesses that employ U.S. workers, and developing the cutting-edge products that make America the world’s preeminent innovation hub.
The Partnership for a New American Economy recently released a new interactive 50-state map combining both economic and demographic data with individual stories of immigrants who are helping the U.S. economy and creating American jobs.
For example, in California, immigrants founded more than one third of the state’s businesses. In Delaware, 64% of the engineering PhD graduates are foreign born. In Colorado, immigrant-owned businesses generate more than $1 billion per year for the state. In New York, foreign born seasonal workers supported 16,611 jobs that could not have existed otherwise. These are just a few examples of how immigrants are driving the U.S. economy.
“This map shows how the impact of immigration extends beyond any one industry or region,” said John Feinblatt, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Chief Policy Advisor in a statement. “From farming in Georgia to entrepreneurship in California to STEM research in Illinois, the data demonstrate that no matter where you live, immigrants’ contributions have a substantial positive impact on economies. As we work our way out of the Great Recession, we need Washington to pass immigration reform and ensure our economic future.”
This interactive map delves deeper into the statistics, breaking down the impact of immigration on each of the 50 states, from Alabama to Alaska.
New York’s immigrant population is 4.3 million, or about 22% of the state’s overall population. And as immigrants are twice as likely to start a business than their native-born counterparts, some 31% of the state’s businesses were founded by immigrants. They also make up a substantial portion of New York’s workforce – 27.3% in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The top countries of origin are China, Mexico and Jamaica.
A staggering 69% of our state’s engineering PhD recipients between 2006 and 2010 were temporary residents. This is a number that has to change, as we are continuing to educate the world’s best and brightest, just to send them back home once they attain their advanced degrees.
Immigration reform would change that, just as it would bring 11 million undocumented immigrants from out of the shadows and keep our families together.
So as the Senate is about to vote on immigration reform, let’s continue to call our elected officials in Congress and let them know that immigration reform would help us all.
