Nov. 23, 2004
By D'Vera Cohn
Washington Post Staff Writer
More than 34 million immigrants now live in the United States, 10 million of them illegally, according to recent census numbers that show big gains in local and national foreign-born populations
The Washington-Baltimore area, which has the strongest metropolitan economy in the nation, now has nearly 1.3 million immigrants, an increase of 379,000 since 2000, according to a report to be released today by the Center for Immigration Studies.
The flow of people into the country has continued at a significant pace despite an economic slowdown, which traditionally discourages migration, and despite restrictions on immigration and more stringent security in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001.
"This data seems to suggest you have an ongoing level of new entries which is pretty substantial," said Roberto Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center, which studies Latino demographics. "It seems to be impervious to the federal government's efforts to control the border."
The continuously booming immigrant population is reviving some urban areas and producing record demand for English classes. It is also increasing the ranks of the uninsured, fueling the debate over granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and provoking complaints when residents notice day laborers congregating in their neighborhoods.
How to manage the growing population of illegal immigrants also is a political dilemma. Over the weekend, President Bush promised to revive a controversial proposal to let some undocumented workers get jobs but not citizenship -- an idea that draws fire from liberals and conservatives.
Immigrants now make up 12 percent of the U.S. household population, up from 11 percent in 2000, according to the new report, which is based on a Census Bureau survey taken in March. The number of illegal immigrants has grown by about 2 million since 2000, said the report by the center, which favors restrictions on new arrivals.
The center's estimates of the illegal immigrant population are close to those of Jeffrey S. Passel, an Urban Institute demographer who is an expert on unauthorized migration. The census survey indicates there were 9.1 million illegal immigrants in March, but it undercounted by 10 percent, according to the center's demographer, Steven A. Camarota.
Passel said yesterday that he believes there were 9.8 million unauthorized immigrants in 2003, and the number has grown to 10 million since then.
A spokesman for the federal Department of Homeland Security said the government estimates that more than 8 million immigrants are in the United States illegally, with increases of 300,000 to 350,000 people a year.
Passel co-authored an Urban Institute report on undocumented immigrants this year that said more than two-thirds live in six states -- California, Texas, Florida, Illinois, New York and New Jersey. It estimated that 175,000 to 200,000 live in Virginia, 120,000 to 150,000 in Maryland, and 25,000 to 50,000 live in the District.
Those numbers include people who cross the border illegally, people who overstay legal visas and a small number of people who are awaiting permanent visas, such as Central Americans eligible for a special legalization program and people who have applied for asylum.
In southern Fairfax County, where a booming immigrant population lives in the Mount Vernon Route 1 corridor, the newest arrivals include middle-class people from Argentina, Bolivia and other South American countries with poor economies. Many were professional people in their home countries who came here on tourist visas and compete for low-paying jobs such as babysitters, construction workers, house cleaners and landscapers.
At Good Shepherd Catholic Church, these middle-class urbanites are a contrast to rural immigrants from Central America already in the congregation. Although the new arrivals have hard lives, "there are more parallels from their society to ours, so it's probably a little easier to assimilate," said Leah Tenorio, director of Hispanic ministry for Good Shepherd.
Southern Fairfax County has had such dramatic growth in its immigrant populations that a new organization called Progreso Hispano was formed three years ago to offer English classes, legal help and advocacy for legal and illegal immigrants who otherwise had to travel to Arlington County.
"There's a lot of fraud going on, and they [undocumented immigrants] are being taken advantage of," said Progreso Hispano's executive director, Lupe Hittle-Durante. "There are companies that say they will help with people applying for residency, and they take these people's money and nothing happens as a result."
Nationally, immigration growth may have dropped slightly since 2002, according to Passel and University of Michigan demographer William H. Frey. Passel said his numbers indicate that immigration peaked in the late 1990s through 2002, then receded to the sizable levels of the mid-1990s, when "a bit over a million" people a year arrived. Those who come on temporary visas, such as short-term work permits, account for a disproportionate share of the decline, he said. "Overall, I'd say there is a downward pull for immigrants since 2002, due to both post-9/11 enforcement and fewer available jobs, a double-barreled effect," said Frey, who did his own analysis of census figures.
Camarota, who argues that immigration once was linked to the business cycle but no longer appears to be, said what is "still striking is you did not see the big fall-off that you might have expected given September 11 and immigrant unemployment," which rose since then. "It's still been a heck of a lot of people who came just since 2000," he said.
Analysts say that because most legal immigrants come to the United States on family visas, they are not likely to stay home because of economic troubles here. "I don't think the increases are surprising given family and social networks across borders," said Audrey Singer, immigration fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Tighter border controls also might be keeping some immigrants in the United States who do not want to risk going home and trying to return later, analysts say.
The Washington-Baltimore area remains a strong center of immigration, attracting both new immigrants and foreign-born residents who relocate from other urban areas. The region draws many well-off immigrants, but controversies have erupted in several communities -- lately, Prince William County -- over groups of day laborers waiting for work.
Enrollment in English classes is brimming at the Chinatown Service Center in the District, where Juanita Chan's Sunday afternoon class practiced pronunciation drills in an upstairs classroom at Mount Vernon United Methodist Church. Most are here legally, sponsored by relatives or employers.
One student, Cui Bao Zhen, 28, came from Guangdong Province in southern China last year with her 5-year-old daughter and her husband, a chef. Speaking through a translator, she said that among the reasons she likes living here is that she does not have to pay school fees for her daughter, as she would in China.
Hong Jun Xu, 28, moved to Chinatown in April from the same province, with his wife and 7-year-old son. He arrived on a permanent work visa as a chef and hopes to save enough money to move his family to the suburbs. What he appreciates most about living in the United States, he said through a translator, is "more freedom."
He does not have much time to practice English, but he said he knows that it is his ticket to success. "If I know English," he said, "I can do a lot of things."
Staff writer Mary Beth Sheridan contributed to this report.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5743-2004Nov22.html