Thread: Advocacy group: immigrants help state

Advocacy group: immigrants help state
Email|Link|Comments (0) Posted June 30, 2009 10:30 AM

The Immigrant Learning Center has released a new study on the fiscal impact
of new arrivals.

By Travis Andersen
Town Correspondent

The Malden-based Immigrant Learning Center has released a study claiming that new arrivals help the state economy rather than hurt it, citing figures from the US Census Bureau.

"There is so much hysteria about immigrants," said Marcia Hohn, public education director at the center. "The idea that they don't pay taxes, suck our welfare coffers dry, and don't give anything back. We're trying to show that that's not true, in fact."

The center commissioned UMass-Boston professors Alan Clayton-Matthews and Paul Watanabe to conduct the study, entitled "Massachusetts Immigrants by the Numbers: Demographic Characteristics and Economic Footprint." They released their findings at a State House news conference last week.

The researchers found that in 2007, nearly half of an estimated 900,000 immigrants in Massachusetts were naturalized citizens. The immigrant population paid $1.2 billion in state income taxes in 2005, the study found, as well as $346 million in sales and excise taxes in 2006, and $1.06 billion in local property taxes in 2007.

In addition, the researchers found that Malden had the second-highest concentration of immigrants in the state, behind Chelsea.

They plugged Census figures into a tax analysis formula to get their numbers - which don't add up, according to Jim Rizoli of Concerned Citizens and Friends of Illegal Immigration Law Enforcement, a Framingham-based group seeking a crackdown on undocumented workers.

"They don't pay for anything," Rizoli said, claiming that Framingham spends millions on English language instruction for undocumented children. "The amount of tax paid on a candy bar or a bar of soap is minimal (compared to city expenditures)."

On Wednesday, Gov. Deval Patrick will receive the center's study as part of a report on immigrant life in Massachusetts, which he commissioned last summer.

Hohn said she hopes the report - and the study in particular - will help Patrick and state lawmakers reach common ground on such hot-button issues as driver's licenses for the undocumented and in-state college tuition for their children, among other concerns.

"It's about creating a welcoming environment as opposed to a hostile environment," Hohn said. "So immigrants can thrive, learn English, and pay taxes."


http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/mal ... _help.html

posted comments to site.

That's great MA, we have 5 million unneeded surplus "immigrants" here in CA, please send busses for them.

From the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)

Quote:

"Illegal Immigration to Massachusetts

As of 2007, FAIR estimates the state’s illegal alien population to be around 250,000 persons, or almost four percent of the state's overall population. The annual fiscal cost to Massachusetts taxpayers for emergency medical care, education and incarceration projected by FAIR is currently $580 million. This figure is estimated to rise to $992 million per year in 2010 and $1.7 billion per year in 2020."


Immigration to Massachusetts

MASSACHUSETTS IMMIGRATION STATISTICS

Total Population: 6,437,193 (2006 Census Bureau)
Foreign Born: 938,590 (2006 FAIR estimate)
Illegal Immigrants: FAIR Estimate: 250,000 (2007)
USCIS/DHS Estimate: 87,000 (2003)
Pew Hispanic Center Estimate: 200,000 (2005)

About Massachusetts

(Edit extraneous material) Massachusetts’s economy is primarily based in agriculture and industry. The main agricultural commodities produced include: seafood, nursery stock, dairy products, cranberries, and vegetables. The main industrial sectors include: machinery, electric equipment, scientific instruments, printing, publishing, and tourism.

Immigration to Massachusetts

As of 2006, FAIR estimates indicate that the immigrant population of Massachusetts is 938,590 which equates to approximately 14.5% of the state’s total population. The majority of immigrants are from China (10%), including Hong Kong and Taiwan, former Soviet Union (8%), Dominican Republic (8%), Haiti (6%), India (5%), and Vietnam (5%). 67.8% of all immigrant settlements in Massachusetts are comprised of an average of 31 different nationalities, ranking the state as the seventh most popular location for immigrants.

There has been an increase in the foreign-born population both through new immigrant residents in the state as well as through the children born to immigrants. It is estimated the immigrant population and immigrant births are adding nearly 49,400 persons to Massachusetts each year, equating to 29.2% of the state’s overall population increase.

The 2000 Census reports that 772,983 immigrants reside in Massachusetts, marking the state home to the 15th highest immigrant population in the US. This is an increase of 34.7% over the 1990 foreign-born population figure, recorded at 573,733 immigrants. This increase is significantly higher than the 2.5% increase in the native-born population for the state of Massachusetts. An indication of the change in the immigrant population in Massachusetts may be seen from the 2000 Census. Data indicate that the share of non-English speakers at home increased to 18.6% up from 15.2% recorded in 1990. Additionally, 41.2% of those who said they spoke a language other than English at home also said they spoke English less than very well.

Massachusetts’s naturalization rate of 45.7% is slightly higher than the national average of 40.1% based upon data recorded during the 2000 Census. The data collected in the 2000 Census shows a significant drop in the 43.7% naturalization rate recorded in 1990, indicating an influx of new immigrants including illegal immigrants.

A study was compiled by Professor Andrew Sum of Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies with the backing of the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth (MassINC), a local think-tank for economic issues. Data from this study indicate that the majority of the Massachusetts immigrant workforce only has attained a high school level of education. Immigrant family households were thirty-three percent headed by unmarried females, and approximately forty-one percent of the immigrant family householders did not hold a high school degree.

Illegal Immigration to Massachusetts

As of 2007, FAIR estimates the state’s illegal alien population to be around 250,000 persons, or almost four percent of the state's overall population. The annual fiscal cost to Massachusetts taxpayers for emergency medical care, education and incarceration projected by FAIR is currently $580 million. This figure is estimated to rise to $992 million per year in 2010 and $1.7 billion per year in 2020.

Massachusetts Immigration Statistics

Massachusetts receives an average of 1800 refugees per year

FAIR estimates indicate that Massachusetts' illegal alien population is around 83,000 persons

The Center for Immigrant Studies estimates that 12.7% of mothers of children ages 4 and below are immigrants and 32.4% of foreign-born children live near or below the poverty level

http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/massachusetts.html

"There is so much hysteria about immigrants," said Marcia Hohn, public education director at the center. "The idea that they don't pay taxes, suck our welfare coffers dry, and don't give anything back. We're trying to show that that's not true, in fact."

Hmmm..........they're talking about "immigrants" and we're talking about illegal aliens!