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Saturday, July 9, 2005
Immigrant birth rate rising across state, study shows
Rising growth rate shows the need for immigration reform, integration, some say

By Dan Galindo
JOURNAL REPORTER


A new study shows that births to immigrant mothers made up 16.7 percent of all births in North Carolina in 2002, up from about 4 percent in 1990.

The study estimates that 8 percent of all births in the state are to illegal immigrants.

In Forsyth County, the study shows that immigrant births have increased from about 3 percent of all births in 1990 to about 25 percent of all births in 2002. The study estimates that 14.5 percent of all births in the county are to illegal immigrants.

The Center for Immigration Studies, a nonprofit group that favors curbs on immigration, released the study, "Births to Immigrants in America, 1970 to 2002," this week.

"The findings of this report show that America is headed to uncharted territory," wrote Steven Camarota, the author of the study.

The rate of births to immigrants may "overwhelm the assimilation process, making it difficult to integrate these new second-generation Americans," Camarota wrote.

In a telephone interview, Camarota said that one way to test the estimate of babies born to illegal immigrants is to check with local hospitals.

Mike Horn, a spokesman for Forsyth Medical Center, said that through the first quarter of this year, 23 percent of babies delivered at Forsyth Medical Center have been Hispanic. But it's impossible to tell how many of those mothers are here illegally since the hospital does not ask about a mother's citizenship status, Horn said.

North Carolina has seen a sharp growth in its immigrant population in the last 15 years, with most people coming from Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America.

In Forsyth County, the Hispanic population has grown from about 2,000 in 1990 to about 20,000 in 2000, according to census data.

The rate of growth threatens to leave schools, nonprofit agencies and governments struggling to handle the needs of the Hispanic population.

Fernando Garzon, the director of Accion Hispana, a local Hispanic advocacy group, said that his group is advocating for reform of the immigration system. Immigrants affect the economy and need to be better integrated, Garzon said.

If Hispanic immigrants can stay in the United States legally, then "they can buy houses, invest in cars, new businesses," rather than send their earnings to their home countries, he said.

One challenge, both Camarota and Garzon said, is to improve education levels among the immigrant population.

In North Carolina, the study shows that about 51 percent of immigrant mothers giving birth in 2002 did not have a high-school diploma, compared with about 17 percent of mothers born in the United States.

In 1990, about 25 percent of immigrant mothers did not have high-school diplomas - about 2 percent higher than the rate among the rest of mothers giving birth that year.

Another change in the Hispanic population has been the rate of infant mortality, said J.Nelson-Weaver, the director of the Forsyth County Infant Mortality Reduction Coalition.

Hispanics have always had the lowest rates of infant mortality in North Carolina compared with whites or blacks, Nelson-Weaver said. However, in 2003, the rate among Hispanics increased higher than that of whites.

"No one knows exactly why that is," but research suggests that Hispanic mothers may be picking up the exercise and dietary habits - and stress - of American society, Nelson-Weaver said.

• Dan Galindo can be reached at 727-7377 or at dgalindo@wsjournal.com