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! State population: 3,936,000 (1998 CB est.) !
! Foreign-born population: 65,000 (1998 CPS) !
! Percent foreign born: 1.7% (1998) !
! Foreign-born stock: 117,000 (1997 CB est.) !
! Illegal alien population: 6,000 (1996 INS est.) !
! New legal immigrants: 13,905 (1991 to 1997) !
! 2025 pop. projection: 4,314,000 (1996 CB proj.) !
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1990 CENSUS DATA ON FOREIGN-BORN SETTLEMENT
Between 1980 and 1990, Kentucky experienced very little overall population growth, and the
foreign-born population actually declined slightly (from 34,568 to 34,119). The state's
immigrants are concentrated most in the Lexington-Fayette area, accounting for about one-fifth
of the state total.
The nationalities of Kentucky's immigrant population changed little between 1980 and 1990, with immigrants from Germany and the United Kingdom at the top of the list, accounting for over one-fifth of the total.
1980 Census 1990 Census 1 Germany 6,221 Germany 5,118 2 U.K. 2,310 U.K. 2,281 3 Canada 2,189 Korea 2,082 4 Korea 1,879 Canada 2,043 5 India 1,205 Japan 1,787 6 Vietnam 1,192 India 1,554 7 Philip. 1,083 Philip. 1,271 8 Sov.Un. 998 Vietnam 1,215 9 Japan 963 China 1,210 10 Iran 812 Mexico 893 All Others 15,710 All Others 14,665 Total 34,562 Total 34,119
1998 CPS DATA ON THE FOREIGN BORN
In the most recent Census Bureau estimate, Kentucky's overall population increased by about
24,000 (0.6%). The 1998 CPS data, analyzed by the Center for Immigration Studies, showed
the immigrant population jumped by 18,000. As a result of these two trends, the share of the
state's population comprised of immigrants increased to 1.7 percent.
The Census Bureau calculates that since the 1990 Census the state's population has increased by nearly 14,000 because of immigration, while over the same period the state's population has increased by 90,000 due to the arrival of migrants from other states in excess of established residents leaving for other states.
1997 CURRENT POPULATION SURVEY (CPS) DATA
Over half of the new immigrant settlement occurred in just two counties: Jefferson (+3,474) and
Fayette (+1,949). Jefferson County lost many more residents to domestic migration than it
gained from immigration.
The share of Kentucky's immigrant population that had become naturalized U.S. citzens by 1997 was less than one third and less than the national average of 35 percent.
METROPOLITAN AREA DATA - LEXINGTON
NET INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION
The Census Bureau estimates that Kentucky's population increased by 26,053 over the last
year (ending in July 1997). Compared to that overall increase, net international migration
accounted for an estimated increase of 1,518. Thus immigration accounted for about six
percent of the state's population increase (that is about one-quarter of the national median share
of population increase due to immigration).
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 Kentucky's current and future population change.
Over the past 50 years, the population of the state has increased by about one million persons,
or about one-third. Nearly as much of recent population growth has come from inter-state
migration and net international migration as from birth rates, to which immigrants also
contribute.
POPULATION PROJECTION
The 1997 Census Bureau population projection has Kentucky's population growing by 12%
between 1995 and 2025 (to 4,314,000). That is a lower rate of increase than the national
median.
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 Kentucky, the high projection could mean a population in 2050 of 6,400,000 to 6,500,000. 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 DATA ON IMMIGRANT SETTLEMENT
Legal immigrant settlement in Kentucky since 1990 has averaged about 2,000 per
year. The data for FY'95 and FY'97 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 two years, new immigration could have registered as much as 30 percent higher, if the
INS had issued more visas.
ILLEGAL RESIDENT ALIENS
One measure of the illegal resident alien population may be seen in the applications for the amnesty for illegal aliens enacted in 1986.
Just among the long-term resident amnesty applicants (excluding the amnestied agricultural workers), the number of applicants from Kentucky was 381.
Foreign-born workers are reportedly seeking jobs in construction, on tobacco farms and in meat
and poultry plants in Kentucky. In October, 1996, the INS won its first conviction of a Kentucky
employer, the Valley Fresh chicken-processing plant in Glasgow, for knowingly hiring illegal
alien workers. Wages were $5 hourly.
In September, 1996, Kentucky police stopped a rented truck taking 31 illegal aliens to North
Carolina, but the short-staffed INS told the police to let the truck continue its journey.
The INS conducted a raid in May at a Lexington tobacco warehouse with more than 80 illegal
aliens arrested. Lexington mayor Pam Miller announced on June 1 that she was creating a task
force on immigration.
The INS conducted a raid in Lexington on May 19 at the G.F. Vaughan Tobacco & Storage Co.
tobacco warehouse with more than 80 illegal aliens arrested. Lexington mayor Pam Miller
announced on June 1 that she was creating a task force on immigration. Subsequently, two of
the Mexican illegal workers, both females, who had left the United States voluntarily, reentered
illegally from Mexico and were re-arrested at the Department of Labor office in Lexington when
they sought to obtain back wages owed by the tobacco firm. This time the two face deportation
hearings, after which, if they again reenter the country illegally they can be sent to prison.
According to Lexington Hispanic Association, the May 19 arrests and removals left behind 50
families. [Comment: Many of the remaining family members are presumably also illegal aliens.
Their continued residence in Lexington indicates that the voluntarily departing family member
intends to sneak back into the country to rejoin them.]
Kentucky labor and agricultural officials are pursuing a strategy to determine how many of the
state's 25,000 agricultural workers are illegal aliens and how workers can be better channeled
into the legal temporary agricultural worker (H-2A) program. At present there are only about
2,300 participants in the H-2A program in the state, and some farmers estimate that as many as
90 percent of agricultural workers are illegal aliens.
Task Force on Immigrant Issues Lexington Mayor Pam Miller has constituted a task
force to study the issues related to the influx of aliens, many of whom are illegal workers.
Accoding to a Fayette County farmer, after hiring a new crew of workers, they all turn out to be
illegal aliens. "So what do you do?" he asked. The president of the Lexington Hispanic Assn.,
Ben Figueras, had proposed tha tLexington declare itself a "safe" city for illegal aliens.
STATE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION VOTING RECORD
FAIR, 12/99.
Immigrant settlement in Kentucky has risen since
the adoption of the current immigration system in 1965. Recent average settlement has been nearly three-fold the level of the late 1960s.
FY LEGAL IMMIGRATION
91 1,753 by nationality
92 2,119 by nationality
93 2,182 by nationality
94 2,036 by nationality
95 1,857 by nationality
96 2,019 by nationality
97 1,939 by nationality
Total 13,905 by nationality (below)
INS DATA BY NATIONALITY: FY'91-FY'97
The INS data below are the totals for the countries with the largest number of immigrants
admitted or adjusted to legal residence since 1990. The nationalities may change each year, so
the totals in some cases will not reflect all the immigrants of that nationality who have become
legal immigrants in Kentucky during the seven-year period. Data on German admissions includes only five of the
seven years and for Japan the admission data is available for only three years. The 26 nationalities (Hong Kong
and Taiwan included with mainland Chinese, and the former Soviet Union represented by Russia
and Ukraine since FY'96) represent over 76 percent of all immigrant settlement and
adjustment in Kentucky during this seven-year period.
Canada 798
China * 1,251
Colombia 86
Cuba 127
Dominican Rep. 27
Ecuador + 24
El Salvador 53
Germany + 516
Guatemala 75
Haiti 67
India 1,053
Iran 273
Ireland ++ 183
Jamaica 66
Japan +++ 120
Korea 501
Mexico 809
Nigeria +++ 55
Pakistan 194
Peru 89
Philippines 678
Poland 71
Soviet Union 882
United K. 498
Vietnam 1,692
Yugoslavia +++ 366
Other 3,351
Total 13,905
* Includes Hong Kong and Taiwan when available
+ 5 yrs. of data available
++ 4 yrs. of data available
+++ 3 yrs. of data available
The INS estimates that as of April 1996 there were about 21,000 legal resident aliens in
Kentucky -- legal immigrants who had not yet become U.S. citizens -- of whom
11,500 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:
ROOM 601
601 W. BROADWAY
LOUISVILLE, KY 40202
The INS issued a new estimate of the illegal alien population that identified Kentucky as having
about 6,000 illegal residents as of October 1996. This represented a 30% increase over its
estimate of the illegal alien population in October 1992. ****************************************
* INS - Investigations - Kentucky: *
* Louisville (502) 582-6953 *
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(Source: Rural Migration News, January 1997)
(Source: Lexington Herald-Leader, June 3, 1998)
(Source: Lexington Herald-Leader, June 5, 1998)
(Source: Lexington Herald-Leader, June 16, 1998)
(Source: Lexington Herald-Leader, July 31, 1998)
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issues with our scorecard page or go to
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