|
|
________________________________________________________
! State population: 7,642,000 (1998 CB est.) !
! Foreign-born population: 223,000 (1998 CPS) !
! Percent foreign born: 2.9% (1998) !
! Foreign-born stock: 441,000 (1997 CB est.) !
! Illegal alien population: 32,000 (1996 INS est.) !
! New legal immigrants: 103,101 (1991 to 1998) !
! 2025 pop. projection: 9,869,000 (1996 CB proj.) !
!________________________________________________________!
1990 CENSUS DATA ON THE FOREIGN BORN
Between the 1980 and 1990 Censuses, the population of Georgia grew by 18.2%. The
state's foreign-born population (173,000) grew by 89.3% during that same period and accounted
for 8.2% of the state's overall population growth. The rate of growth of the immigrant
population in Georgia is the 2nd fastest in the country (after Nevada). The foreign-born
share of the Atlanta MSA's population is 4.4%, less than the national average of 7.9%. The
foreign-born share for the rest of the state averaged about 1%.
All of the national groups making up Georgia's top ten foreign-born list in 1990 registered an increase from 1980, except for the German-born, which registered a slight decline. At the top of the list were the Mexican born. The nearly 19,000 they gained from 1980 represented a gain of about 1300%, and constituted 23% of the total gain among all foreign-born groups. Other national groups registering large gains were among those born in Korea (+128%), India (+208%), Vietnam (+196%), Japan (+84%) and Philippines (+108%).
1980 Census 1990 Census 1 Germany 13,589 Mexico 20,309 2 U.K. 6,935 Germany 13,268 3 Canada 5,319 Korea 11,678 4 Korea 5,117 U.K. 10,000 5 Cuba 3,431 India 7,511 6 Japan 2,926 Canada 7,251 7 India 2,438 Vietnam 6,284 8 Vietnam 2,126 Japan 5,372 9 Philip. 1,997 Cuba 4,406 10 Sov.Un. 1,848 Philip. 4,160 All Others 45,754 All Others 82,887 Total 91,480 Total 173,126
DeKalb County has the states largest Vietnamese population (2,210) followed by Gwinnett
(2,443), Fulton (2,245), and Clayton (2,210 -- up from 574 in 1990).
(Atlanta Constitution, January 8, 1998)
THE IMMIGRANT STOCK
There are about 441 thousand people in Georgia who may be considered "immgrant stock."
The immigrant stock is a term that refers to first generation immigrants, the "1.5 generation"
(children of immigrants who are born abroad), and the second generation (the native-born Americans whose parents immigrated).
1998 CPS DATA ON THE FOREIGN BORN
In the most recent Census Bureau estimate, Georgia's overall population increased by about
160,000 (2.1%). The 1998 CPS data, analyzed by the Center for Immigration Studies, showed
the immigrant population dropped slightly. As a result of these two trends, the share of the
state's population comprised of immigrants dropped marginally to 2.9 percent.
[FAIR Comment: We think it unlikely -- given the high number of new legal and illegal
immigrants settling in Georgia -- that the immigrant population actually dropped, but it is
possible if a still larger number moved elsewhere in the United States, returned abroad, and died.
However, we are more inclined to attribute this apparent aberration to sampling error].
The Census Bureau calculates that since the 1990 Census the state's population has increased by over 90,000 because of immigration, while over the same period the state's population has increased by about 598,000 due to the arrival of migrants from other states.
1997 CPS DATA ON THE FOREIGN BORN
The segment of the foreign-born population that had become U.S. citizens as of 1997 was 36.9
percent --slightly higher than the 35 percent national average.
NET INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION
The Census Bureau estimates that Georgia's population increased by 151,968 over the last
year (ending in July 1997). Compared to that overall increase, net international migration
accounted for an estimated increase of 10,831. Thus immigration accounted for about seven
percent of the state's population increase (that is about a quarter of the national median share of
population increase due to immigration).
INS DATA ON IMMIGRANT SETTLEMENT
Immigrant settlement in Georgia has risen since
the adoption of the current immigration system in 1965. The average settlement recently is more than five times what it was in the late 1960s.
New legal immigrants continue to arrive in Georgia since 1990 at an average annual rate of about 13,000 according to INS data through FY'97. The average is inflated a bit by the impact of the 1986 amnesty for illegal aliens. The number of "new" immigrants in FY'91 -- over double the average -- included many former illegal aliens already living in Georgia, who benefitted from the amnesty. Just among the long-term resident amnesty applicants (excluding the amnestied agricultural workers), the number of applicants from Georgia was 6,675. Data for FY'95, FY'97 and FY'98 were artificially low because the INS was not able to issue green cards to all the applicants for adjustment of status who were already in the United States. In those three years, new immigration could have registered as much as 30 percent higher, if the INS had issued more visas.
Between FY'91 to FY'97 over 92,000 immigrants indicated that they intended to reside in Georgia. Over one-third (33.4%) of the newcomers were accounted for by immigrants from two countries: Mexico (20.3%) and Vietnam (13.1%). The annual totals of immigrants to Georgia are listed below, and connections are provided to access detailed tables that provide INS data by nationality of the new immigrants.
FY LEGAL IMMIGRATION 91 23,556 by nationality 92 11,243 by nationality 93 10,213 by nationality 94 10,032 by nationality 95 12,381 by nationality 96 12,608 by nationality 97 12,623 by nationality 98 10,445 Total 103,101 by nationalityCITY DATA -- ATLANTA
METROPOLITAN AREA DATA -- ATLANTA
POPULATION CHANGE 1900-2000
It helps to have a clear perspective of the past population change that the state has experienced
when considering the role of immigration in Georgia's current and future population change.
Over the past 50 years, the population of the state has more than doubled. More of
recent population growth has come from net inter-state and international migration than from
natural population change, e.g., birth rates, to which immigrants also contribute.
POPULATION PROJECTION
The 1997 Census Bureau population projection has Georgia's population growing by 37%
between 1995 and 2025 (to 9,869,000). That is the 15th fastest projected rate of growth in the
country. The rate of increase in the foreign-born population between 1980 and 1990 was
even higher than the projected overall population rate of increase, and it is clear that the
projection contemplates continued high-volume immigrant settlement in the state.
The Census Bureau population projection noted above is the "middle" projection, and it assumes immigration at a net annual increase of 820,000. There are other projections based on different assumptions. In the Census Bureau's "high" immigration projection, assuming annual net immigration of 1,370,000, the population in 2025 is more than six percent higher than in the middle projection, and it is over 11 percent higher by 2050. For Georgia, the high projection could mean a population in 2050 of 13,000,000 to 15,500,000. If immigration were significantly scaled back, the population increase attributable to immigration and the population spill-over effects from other states could be significantly reduced over time. See Immigration and Population Growth
INS ESTIMATE OF ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR CITIZENSHIP
The INS estimates that as of April 1996 there were about 102,000 legal resident aliens in
Georgia -- legal immigrants who had not yet become U.S. citizens -- of whom
51,000 had met the residency requirement to apply for citizenship. Included in this number
could be aliens who had already applied for naturalization and were in the processing waiting
list. The INS offices that handle naturalization cases and fingerprinting are located
at:
Local Office: INS BIRMINGHAM
TERMINAL A
5900 AIRPORT HWY, TERMINAL A-17
BIRMINGHAM, AL 35232
SOCIAL AND OTHER ISSUES
Residents of Doraville protested plans to allow the International Village, a shopping center aimed
at immigrants, to be zoned in a way that would allow residences to be built over street-level
shops. The zoning, which could cause increased congestion in the small town, was also intended
to attract low-rent housing, thereby decreasing property values.
( Atlanta Constitution, December 13, 1993)
Georgia will have to build almost one new school each month for the next 25 years just to keep
up with growing enrollments in part because of immigration.
(Center for Immigration Studies Report: Shaping Georgia, 1995)
Health clinics in DeKalb County alone spend more than $120,000 per year testing 1500 refugees
for hepatitis, tuberculosis, parasites, malnutrition and anemia.
(Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1/22/95)
FAIR estimates that the net cost of Georgia's foreign-born population was over $907 million in 1995 due to the public services they consume and their displacement of American workers throughout the state.
Along with the growing illegal immigrant population in the state, there is a growing problem with illegal employment of juveniles. The fake ID that gets an illegal alien a job is also used to pass off an underage alien as old enough to work. The illegal employment of children has become a problem not just in agricultural work, where federal law allows children as young as 12 to work outside of school hours, but also in poultry processing, where 16 year-olds may work outside of work hours. (AP story by Joan Kirchner in The Latino Voice, Jan.-Feb. 1998)
ILLEGAL RESIDENT ALIENS
The INS estimates the resident illegal alien population of Georgia to be 32,000 as of October
1996. This estimate represents an increase of 6,000 over the number of illegal aliens in October
1992.
**************************************** * INS - Investigations - Georgia: * * Atlanta (404) 730-2841 (x.346) * ****************************************
Stirred by the agriculture industry, the state is a popular destination for illegal aliens who work
the farms. The record fine levied by the Immigration and Naturalization Service for knowingly
employing illegal aliens, $1.1 million, was against Lane Packing Co., Fort Valley, Ga., a peach
harvester. A smuggling ring was bringing in about 500 aliens a month over two years of
harvesting seasons.
( New York Times, February 8, 1992)
There are an estimated 80,000 illegal aliens residing in the Atlanta area [note the great difference
in this estimate and the official one of the INS stated above]. They often squeeze six
to eight people into run-down trailers or apartments. These illegal immigrants usually make
about $200 a week, but most of their wages go to pay off the "coyote" who smuggled them to the
United States, leaving them with little left over for basic living expenses. Agriculture is not the
only industry that attracts illegal aliens into Georgia. The state's carpet mills and poultry
processing factories are notorious for hiring illegal aliens. From March 1991 through February
1992, the INS issued $1.35 million in fines against 25 employers.
( Atlanta Journal/Constitution, April 12, 1992)
Georgia is not typically known for being a state with high levels of immigrants, but the Atlanta,
Chamblee and Doraville areas have seen an influx of both legal and illegal immigrants in the past
decade.
( Atlanta Constitution, December 13, 1993)
In Cobb County, Smyrna's Mayor A. Max Bacon said the police department has compiled records showing that 83% of illicit activities by immigrants in that jurisdiction are committed by illegal immigrants. (Center for Immigration Studies Report: Shaping Georgia, 1995)
In 1996, the INS fined a Dalton carpet mill over $138,000 after it uncovered about 100 illegal
aliens working for the company.
( Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 3/26/96)
On May 14, 1997 the INS identified and deported 28 Mexican illegal alien workers who were
employed by the Gondolier pizza restaurant chain in North Georgia.
(Migration News, June, 1997)
The owner of Atlantic Finishing Inc. in Trenton, Georgia has been charged in a major federal
investigation in Albuquerque, N.M. with recruiting illegal aliens in Mexico to work in his
Trenton plant and a second plant in Henagar, Ala. According to federal immigration officials
this indictments are the first time that a Southwestern border smuggling ring was linked to a
U.S.-based company.
(Washington Times, December 26, 1997)
In mid-May 1998, during the harvest of the $90 million Vidalia onion crop in southeastern
Georgia, the INS launched operation "Southern Denial" and apprehended 21 illegal alien workers
in Glennville. The INS action led to a political firestorm reportedly involving House Speaker
Gingrich and negotiations between the INS and the Georgia onion growers that led to a halt to
INS enforcement actions. The growers for their part were asked to agree to avoid hiring illegal
alien workers next year and participation in a document verification program. Sen. Coverdell (R-
GA) complained that the INS used "indiscriminate and inappropriate ...tactics against... honest
farmers..." The INS action may have been triggered by a dispute between several of the 215
growers and the Department of Labor in 1997 over their interest in hiring temporary foreign
agricultural workers in the H-2A program. The growers withdrew their applications when the
DOL refused to approve them unless the growers agreed to pay the prevailing wage of 80 cents
per 50-pound bag harvested. The growers insisted that the prevailing wage was 75 cents for a
60-pound bag. Another issue of contention was that the growers would have to provide free
housing for the 1,200 H-2A temporary workers they were requesting as well as for their
American workers.
(Washington Post, July 5, 1998, Chicago Tribune, May 28,
1998, )
After an agreement was reached between Vidalia onion growers and the INS, further raids
during the harvest season were halted. The growers promised to cooperate in the 1999 harvest
with an INS program to verify the legal status of newly hired workers. However, with the
prospect that Congress would adopt a new AgJobs program for temporary foreign workers,
several Georgia onion growers pulled out of the agreement. With the legislative defeat in
October of the proposed new program, several growers have begun constructing farm worker
housing in anticipation of requesting H-2A workers in 1999.
(Source: Rural Migration News, October, 1998)
On November 29, police stopped a rental van near Rio Puerco, New Mexico and found it crammed with 34 illegal Mexican immigrants including three small children. They had crossed the border at Nogales on Thanksgiving day, spent two days in a safe house in Phoenix and were being transported through New Mexico on their way to cities like Amarillo, Dallas, and Atlanta - - the final destination. The Mexicans were paying $1,500 to $2,000 to the smuggler. The vehicle driver was a Mexican, from the village as all of the smuggled aliens, who had a U.S. green card and lives in North Carolina. Authorities decided not to try to prosecute him when none of the passengers would testify against him. (Source: KOB-TV Albuquerque, November 30, 1998)
"Since 1990, the state's Hispanic population has at least doubled, hitting 207,000 in 1997, according to the Census Bureau. Researchers and immigration officials say the real number is probably closer to 750,000 with illegal immigrants thrown in. Estimates call for the numbers to exceed 1.5 million by 2005, or about 12 percent of the states's population." (Source: AP in Washington Times, August 1, 1999)
A multi-state shoplifting ring run by illegal immigrants from Pakistan was busted October 26 in Atlanta.
The 29 defendants had been in operation since 1994 out of a storefront office on MLK Boulevard in south Atlanta.
The shoplifting was generating as much as $50,000 in stolen merchandise a day.
(Source: Atlanta-Journal Constitution, October 27, 1999)
A Lawrenceville firm (northwest of Atlanta in Gwinnett County) has pleaded guilty to bringing in at least 43 Indians on visas to work in the high-tech sector even though the jobs were non-existent, and the Indians ended up taking illegal work.
The firm, Deep Sai Consulting, is expected to pay about a $20,000 fine and the owner has been put on probation for the misdemeanor charge of recruiting aliens not eligible to work here.
The INS began to investigate after approving about 60 of 200 visa requests.
[Comment: This is another example of the fraud involved in operation of the H-1B visa program that Congress has been expanding.]
(Source: Atlanta-Journal Constitution, November 24, 1999)
LOCAL ORGANIZATION
STATE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION VOTING RECORD
FAIR, 12/99.
Georgians for a Responsible Immigration Policy (GRIP) is a broad-based, non-partisan coalition
of Georgians concerned about their children's future. The organization may be contacted at:
GRIP
2103 North Decatur Rd., Suite 189
Decatur, GA 30033
Tel. (770) 578-5034
E-mail: ga_grip@mindspring.com
You may access the GRIP web site here: GRIP
You can now access the voting record of your representatives in Congress regarding immigration
issues with our scorecard page or go to
numbersusa.com for their
legislative scorecards. Just hit the back button to return to the FAIR Georgia Page.
