Means of Hispanic Growth Concerns Chamber of Commerce

Updated: March 24, 2008 04:51 PM PDT

By Elizabeth Ries

Any longtime Green Bay resident can likely tell you that the city is becoming more diverse every year. A new report from the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute contains numbers backing up that observation and projects even more of a change.

In 1990, Hispanics made up 1.1 percent of Green Bay's population. Sixteen years later, it was 10.7 percent. And by 2032, the report estimates almost 30 percent of the population will be Hispanic.

Going one step further, the report looks at how that changing demographic is affecting Green Bay's economy.

Data from the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute show Brown County loses an average of about $9 million a year on immigrants.

"When you look at a report that says there may be a deficit in what immigrants are receiving in terms of service versus what they're paying, that obviously is cause for some concern," Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce president Paul Jadin said.

But the report also says immigrants contribute to economic growth through shopping and starting businesses.

There is no question the United States is a country of immigrants. Today it is Hispanic immigration on the rise. Jadin says what's unique about this stream of immigrants is some of them are here illegally.

The report says those workers generally pay even less into the system than legal immigrants but they cost the government the same as legal immigrants.

The report estimates five percent of Green Bay's workforce is illegal, and says that's not a significant problem for today's economy.

But Jadin worries that number will climb if the federal government doesn't step in.

"The final analysis, it suggests things that bode well for our particular situation here in Green Bay, but it still has that very strong red flag that we can't continue to allow this growth to occur through illegal immigration, it has to occur through legal immigration," Jadin said.

http://www.wbay.com/global/story.asp?s=8062921