A Description of the Immigrant Population: An Update

After seven years, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has updated its last report on the immigrant population. Data from the Department of Homeland Security and the 2009 American Community Survey constitute this revealing portrait of the immigrant population in the U.S. with special attention to historical trends, state-by-state and ethnic comparisons, and occupational trends. The CBO-designed figures are of particular interest. Figure 7 shows that the percentage of foreign-born people in New Jersey increased from 15% in 1999 to more than 21% in 2009, the largest percentage increase in the nation. At the same time, Figure 13 shows that the unauthorized population in New York and New Jersey, as a percentage of the state population, showed no increase during this period, in contrast to states like Arizona, Georgia and Texas, which had substantial increases. (Summary by Nick Montalto)

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