The debate over immigration reform often centers on fairness—what a person should have to do to become a U.S. citizen and who, exactly, should go to the "back of the line." Lost in much of the discussion is the place that immigrants currently occupy in the U.S. economy.
Digging down into the data shows that this is a wildly diverse group; they are unevenly distributed geographically, and they boast a wide spectrum of educational attainment. And becoming a citizen can be very important to an immigrant's chances of providing for a family; citizenship often comes with a significant wage hike. Here are a few snapshots of immigrants in America: where they live, where they work, how educated they are, and how much they earn compared to native-born Americans.
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Geographic diversity
Immigrants are a larger economic force in some parts of the country than others. While only 13 percent of all Americans are foreign-born, that share is more than 1 in 4 in California. Meanwhile, only around 1 percent of West Virginians were born outside the U.S. Below, a look at the states with the largest shares of immigrants.
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
The share of unauthorized immigrants also roughly correlates to these totals. Of the nation's roughly 11.2 million illegal immigrants, 2.6 million live in California, and another 1.7 million live in Texas, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. If Congress should pass a reform package that gives these people a path to citizenship, it could mean many more legal workers in those states, potentially shifting the type of work that they do and the wages they receive.
Disparate Education Levels
Foreign-born Americans are less likely than the native-born population to have completed high school. Nearly 30 percent of foreign-born Americans have not completed high school, compared to less than 10 percent of the native-born population.
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Still, at higher levels of education, the picture evens out. Nearly 20 percent of both native- and foreign-born Americans have bachelor's degrees, and nearly 11 percent of both groups have master's, professional, or doctorate degrees.
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
Lots of Construction Workers, Few Bankers
Compared to native workers, foreign-born workers are well-represented in construction, leisure and hospitality, and manufacturing, according to Census data. Meanwhile, foreign-born workers are less likely than native-born Americans to work in finance.
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
Labor Department data show a clearer picture of what jobs immigrants have within these industries. Foreign-born workers are more likely than native-born Americans to work in food preparation, building and grounds maintenance, and computer and math-related jobs. Meanwhile, native-born Americans are far more likely to work in management, sales, and business and financial operations than their foreign-born counterparts.
Higher Pay Comes with Citizenship
Immigrants tend to earn less than native-born Americans; immigrant households had a median income of around $44,400 in 2011, compared to around $50,800 for other Americans. However, that generalization fails to uncover a key divide: naturalized immigrants make far more money than non-citizens and also tend to earn more than native-born Americans:
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
That divide in incomes also is reflected in poverty data. In 2011, around 14.4 percent of native-born Americans were below the poverty line. That's just higher than 12.5 percent for naturalized immigrants, but it's also well below the 24.3 percent poverty rate for non-citizens.
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This divide between naturalized and non-naturalized immigrants is due to a variety of factors. One is the direct tie between citizenship status and wages, says Walter Ewing, senior researcher at the Immigration Policy Center, the research arm of the American Immigration Council, which promotes immigration. He points out that citizens are less subject to exploitation and are eligible for far more jobs, like many in the public sector.
However, indirect factors also come into play, says Ewing.
"If you're applying for U.S. citizenship, chances are that you have superior English skills, you've been in the country longer," he says.
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Speaking better English and being more assimilated into American culture may simply be more attractive to employers, he adds. "It's not that all of that wage gain is caused by getting citizenship. Some of it is, but not all of it."
The Economy Needs More Well-Educated Immigrants
Another potential component of immigration reform is a change to the cap on worker visas. There is already a bill in the senate aimed at doubling the number of H-1B visas—the kind of visas that are given to high-skilled foreign workers—issued each year. Demand for these visas shifts from year to year, but since the cap has been set at 65,000, the number issued has regularly been exhausted well before the end of the year.
(Source: Government Accountability Office)
Some experts say that a change in this cap is a long time in coming.
"There's a very, very high demand for these H-1B visas," says Lauren Crawford, a partner at Hamilton Place Strategies, a policy and communications consulting firm in Washington, D.C. "How do we devise a system and allow caps to be flexible year to year, so we can meet the demand of our businesses for people that want to apply to come here and do it? Right now our situation is very static and has no correlation whatsoever to what is going on in the economy."
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