Latino economic power
Report: Legals, illegals a boon to economy; critic says they’re a drain
Peter Marcus, DDN Staff Writer
Thursday, August 6, 2009


A report released yesterday by the Immigration Policy Center states that Latinos, whether legal or illegal immigrants, act as an economic boom to the state.

But an immigration critic says supporting immigrants outweighs any benefit. Read more about that below.

The report released yesterday states that purchasing power of Latinos in Colorado last year totaled $21 billion. Latino-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $5.1 billion and employed more than 32,000 people in 2002 — the last year data is available — the report states.

Meanwhile, immigrants and their children are growing. Foreign-born Coloradans grew from 4.3 percent in 1990 to 10 percent in 2007, making Colorado home to 485,170 immigrants that year — about the population of Sacramento, Calif.

About one in 10 Coloradans is an immigrant, and one in five is Latino. Nearly one-third of all immigrants living in Colorado is a naturalized U.S. citizen, according to the report.

New Americans — defined as immigrants and their children — account for about 5.4 percent of all registered Colorado voters.

The Immigration Policy Center report also states that immigrants are “integral to Colorado’s economy.â€