Thread: 32% of births in N.J. are to immigrant moms

http://www.nj.com/

32% of births in N.J. are to immigrant moms
Education and health care feel impact
Friday, July 08, 2005
BY BRIAN DONOHUE
Star-Ledger Staff

Nearly one-third of all births in New Jersey in 2002 were to immigrant mothers, the most ever, according to a new study that examines how the massive influx of immigrants is transforming communities and posing new challenges for the nation's education and health care systems.

"We've never been here before," said Steve Camarota, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank that conducted the study. "We're headed into uncharted territory in terms of the size of the second generation."

In New Jersey, immigrants make up 18 percent of the total population and accounted for 31.9 percent of all births in 2002, the study found. By comparison, just 9.6 percent of babies were born to foreign-born mothers in 1970.


According to the study, 55.6 percent of all children born in Hudson County in 2002 were to immigrant mothers, the highest level in the state. Middlesex County was second, with 50.8 percent.

Nationwide, the researchers found, 22.7 percent of all births in 2002 were to foreign-born women.

The study also found that the mothers were increasingly likely to be in the United States illegally and lack a high school education, two factors experts say make it more difficult for their children to succeed in the U.S.

In New Jersey, 11,608 children, or 10 percent of all births, were to illegal immigrant mothers, according to the study. Those women were twice as likely as native born mothers to lack a high school education, the study found.

Camarota, whose group lobbies for lower immigration levels and tougher enforcement of immigration laws, said the numbers were the inevitable product of U.S. immigration policies.

"We (the U.S.) don't put any more importance on education level and we don't enforce our immigration laws," he said, referring to the government's immigration policy. "The question is, is this good public policy? It's not a comet headed to Earth, it's not inevitable. It's a choice."

The study attributed the growth nationally in the number of births to immigrant women to several factors.

First, the number of immigrants has skyrocketed over the past 30 years, with the largest percentage of new arrivals coming from Mexico, where fertility rates are relatively high. Second, the average age of immigrants has dropped so that more are now arriving in their prime childbearing years.

Immigrant advocates in New Jersey said the numbers appeared to be an accurate reflection of the foreign-born population and the second generation. However, they drew a starkly different assessment of how the state and the nation must address the challenges the numbers pose.

Latino leaders said the numbers underscore the importance of making sure the children of immigrants receive a strong education, health care and other services. With an aging native-born work force, the nation's economy will rely on the second generation, advocates said.
Advertisement





"We can cut off our nose to spite our face by making life difficult for them or we can accept the fact that they are part of that youthful population we need to make our work force come back to balance," said Daniel Santo Pietro, executive director of the Hispanic Directors Association of New Jersey, a consortium of nonprofits serving Latino communities.

"Once you've arrived at this situation, you're clearly better off that they be in schools and get an education and join the work force and don't join gangs," he said.

Santo Pietro said the numbers are further evidence that a massive buildup of border patrols has backfired.

Studies show that stepped-up border patrols have disrupted what had been an annual pattern that Mexicans had followed for decades in which they would enter the United States, find work, then return home with their savings to start a business or build a home.

But since it has become more difficult to cross the border, many of those immigrants now stay here and wind up raising families here.

"The more we try to restrict the border, the more we create a situation where these people who used to go back and forth have figured out they'd better stay," said Santo Pietro. "We've created this tinderbox situation and it does have a downside."

The study compared the number of births in 2002 numbers with that from 1910, the peak year of the last great wave of migration. Current numbers show the percentage of babies born to immigrants is 1 percent higher than it was 95 years ago.

The report comes at a time when Congress is beginning debate on several immigration reform measures that could grant legal status to some or all of the estimated 11 million immigrants who are living the United States illegally.

Among those proposals -- including one idea embraced by President Bush -- is a new category of temporary worker visas. Camarota said the latest study shows that even temporary foreign workers become permanent immigrants.

"They are not simply workers; they are fully formed human beings who will have hundreds of thousands of children," he said. "If we think of them just as workers, we miss the most important impact on our society, which is all the children they are going to have."

Brian Donohue covers immigration issues. He may be reached at bdonohue@starledger.com or (973)392-1543.

I wish these reporters would make the distinction between immigrants and illegal-immigrants. I find it so annoying.