________________________________________________________
               ! State population:           3,282,000 (1998 CB est.)   !
               ! Foreign-born population:      307,000 (1998 CPS)       !
               ! Foreign-born share:              9.4% (1998)           !
               ! Foeign-born stock:            594,000 (1997 CB est.)   !
               ! Illegal alien population:      33,000 (1996 INS est.)  !
               ! New legal immigrants:          65,060 (1991 to 1997)   !
               ! 2025 pop. projection:       4,349,000 (1996 CB proj.)  !
               !________________________________________________________!

1990 CENSUS DATA ON THE FOREIGN BORN
Oregon's 1990 foreign-born population numbered about 139,000. This was an increase of 29 percent over the 1980 number and accounted for over 15 percent of the state's overall population growth. The rate of increase was the 15th fastest in the country.

The share of the overall immigrant population in 1990 was about five percent, less than the national average of 7.9 percent, but still exceeded by only 17 other states.

The nationality of the greatest number of immigrants was Mexico -- comprising over one-fifth of the state's foreign-born total. This was very different from 1980, when Mexican immigrants numbered less than 9,000, and the largest foreign-born group was Canadian.

      1980 Census          1990 Census
1  Canada      18,971   Mexico       28,913
2  Mexico       8,796   Canada       16,962
3  Germany      8,699   Germany       8,139
4  U.K.         8,155   U.K.          7,063
5  Vietnam      5,306   Vietnam       6,993
6  Korea        4,235   Korea         5,467
7  Philip.      2,753   China         4,783
8  China        2,718   Japan         4,442
9  Japan        2,645   Philip.       3,860
10 Sov.Un.      2,507   Sov.Un.       3,561
   All Others  43,020   All Others   49,124
   Total      107,805   Total       139,307

According to the 1990 Census, about 7.3 percent of Oregonians say they speak some language other than English at home.

THE IMMIGRANT STOCK
There were about 594 thousand people in Oregon in 1997 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 CURRENT POPULATION SURVEY (CPS) DATA
The estimate of Oregon's population by the Census Bureau, based on 1998 CPS data, shows an increase of about 38,000 over the past year. An analysis of the CPS data by the Center for Immigration Studies reflects a rise of 8,000 in the foreign-born population over the same period. As a result the state's foreign-born share increased slightly to 9.4 percent, just under the national average, but exceeded by only 13 other states and the District of Columbia. The Census Bureau estimates that since the 1990 Census the state's population has increased by 58,000 from net immigration (NIM) and by nearly 260,000 from net domestic migration (NDM, i.e.,more persons from other states settling in Oregon than Oregonians leaving.)

1997 CURRENT POPULATION SURVEY (CPS) DATA
According to the 1997 CPS, Oregon's population has increased by over 401,500 (14.1%) since 1990. That rate of increase is exceeded by only nine other states. About 48,700 of that increase was due to immigrant settlement (NIM). This rate of 12.1 percent of population increase attributable to immigration is about the national median rate. However, it is more than double the 4.9 percent share of the state's population that was foreign born in the 1990 Census, indicating a rising immigrant share.

Among Oregon's immigrants, the share who had become naturalized U.S. citizens was less than one-quarter (22.7%). This is lower than the national average of 35 percent, in part because more recent immigrants are not yet eligible to apply for citizenship.

About half of the new immigrant settlement was in the Portland metropolitan area (Multnomah County +15,362 and Washington County +9,211) and an additional 5,848 additional immigrants located in Marion County (Salem).

CITY DATA - PORTLAND

METROPOLITAN AREA DATA - PORTLAND- VANCOUVER

POPULATION CHANGE 1900-2000
When considering the role of immigration in Oregon's current and future population change, it is helpful to have a clear perspective of the past population change that the state has experienced.

Over the past 50 years, the population of the state has more than doubled. Most of recent population growth has come not from natural birth rates, but from persons moving to the state from other states. This is not surprising when compared to a neighboring state like California that has had about two million residents moving out since 1990 -- at the same time that California's immigrant population has increased by nearly as many persons.

POPULATION PROJECTION 2000-2025
The 1997 Census Bureau population projection has Oregon's population growing by 28 percent between 2000 and 2025 (to 4,349,000). That is the 12th fastest projected rate of growth in the country. The rate of increase in the foreign-born population between 1980 and 1990 (29%) was even higher than the projected rate, and it is clear that the projection contemplates continued major 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 Oregon, the high immigration projection could mean a population in 2050 of 5,800,000 people. If today's mass 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
Immigrant settlement in Oregon has risen since the adoption of the current immigration system in 1965. The recent rate of new immigrants is four to five times the rate of the late 1960s.

INS data indicate that since 1990 the annual average number of new legal immigrants identifying Oregon as their intended residence has been about 9,300 (through FY'97). The data for fiscal year (FY) 1991 were artificially raised by the inclusion of some of the former illegal aliens who were amnestied in 1986. Between one-quarter and one-third of all immigrant settlement in Oregon during this period was accounted for by the legalization of about 17,000 Mexicans. Just among the long-term resident amnesty applicants (excluding the amnestied agricultural workers), the number applying from Oregon was 3,990.

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 been able to keep up with its workload.

The principal countries of immigration were Mexico, former Soviet Union, Vietnam, and China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan). Mexicans alone accounted for more than four out of every ten immigrants (40.8%). With the other three, these top four sources of immigrants account for nearly 70 percent of the total influx.

Below are the totals for each of the fiscal years since 1990 and connections for additional details of the new immigrants by nationality.

FY                     LEGAL IMMIGRATION
  91                   24,575 by nationality
  92                    6,275 by nationality
  93                    7,250 by nationality
  94                    6,784 by nationality
  95                    4,923 by nationality
  96                    7,554 by nationality
  97                    7,699 by nationality
  Total                65,060 by nationality

The federal government gives Multnomah County $207 a month for each refugee for primary dental and health care. However, this coverage only lasts eight months. The total dental and health care cost per refugee is $1,656 a year.
(Source: Oregonian, February 16, 1993)

Although Oregon ranks 29th in population, it was 11th in the number of refugees it settled.
(Source: Sunday Oregonian, June 25, 1995)

On average, more than 1,800 refugees were resettled in Oregon each year between 1990 and 1996.
(Source: Oregonian, Feb. 3, 1999)

Oregon received its first Kosovo refugees in June 1999. Although the family of three were Moslems, their settlement was coordinated by the Jewish Family and Child Service organization. The refugees will receive $503 a month from the state as well as coverage by the Oregon Health Plan and federal assistance in the form of food stamps.
(Source: Oregonian, June 4, 1999)

INS ESTIMATE OF ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR CITIZENSHIP
The INS estimates that as of April 1996 there were about 78,000 legal resident aliens in Oregon -- legal immigrants who had not yet become U.S. citizens -- of whom 47,000 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 office that handles naturalization cases and fingerprinting is located at:

SOCIAL AND OTHER ISSUES
Multnomah County spends $25,000 a year for library books in foreign languages, $1.5 million a year for language interpreters and $2.8 million annually for refugee health care. (Source: Oregonian, February 16, 1993)

Oregon's Latino enrollment rose over the past decade by 185 percent to 47,027 in 1999. The overall inrollment rise during the same period was 18 percent. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Latino children are far more likely "...to live in poverty, come from single-parent households, have parents who did not finish school, speak limited English and attend troubled schools." At Alder Elementary School in Gresham, about half of the 620 students are Latino (up 28% in the last year). Other schools have also registered large increases in Latino enrollment: Henry in Hillsboro (up 11%), Cornelius near Forest Grove (up 14%), and Barnes in Gresham (up 35%). About 30,000 Latino student from migrant backgrounds have a drop-out rate of about 16 percent, more than double the state average. (Source: Oregonian, Jan. 19, 1999)

The Oregon Health Plan is losing ground despite big increases in spending, at least in part because of the continuing flow of new poverty-level immigrant applicants. The immigration connection may be seen in information from the Clinica del Cario health center in Hood River in an area that serves the largely foreign-born migrant labor population. In this clinic, more than two-thirds of its 23,000 beneficiaries are below the poverty line. (Source: Oregonian, March 29, 1999)

According to Barry Edmonston, director of the Center for Population Research and Census at Portland State Univ., population growth and crowding in Portland area schools are related to immigration. "If it weren't for immigration, the school-age enrollment would level off and decline," he said. In the past decade, state enrollment has risen by about 15 percent to nearly 543,000 in 1998. Nationwide, one in five elementary and high school students have at least one parent who is foreign born, and one in 20 were themselves foreign born. The effects of this immigrant surge may be seen in special English instruction (ESL) programs. In Beaverton, the number of ESL classrooms jumped from seven in 1994 to 41 in 1999. Even in older communities, such as Beaver Acres, the ESL class has had to move twice because of overcrowding.
(Source: Oregonian, Oct. 7, 1999)

Gov. Kitzhaber used his power of clemency for the first time to pardon an alien convicted in 1991 of sex abuse of a 10-year-old girl. He was deported in September 1999 after completing a 36-month probationary sentence. Antonio Porras, the lawyer for the deported alien, Hector Carillo-Landeros, commented "I know it is a tough call, but the governor did the right thing." As a result of the pardon, Carillo-Landeros becomes eligible to return to the United States. (Source: AP, November 2, 1999)

ILLEGAL RESIDENT ALIENS
The INS estimates the resident illegal alien population in Oregon to be 33,000 in October 1996. The last estimate of the INS was that there were 20,000 illegal aliens in October 1992. The INS now says that it's earlier estimate was too low, and should have been 27,000. If the revised 1992 estimate is used, what appears to be a 65 percent increase in the illegal alien population diminishes to 22 percent.

****************************************
*     INS - Investigations - Oregon:    *
*         Portland (503) 326-7475       *
****************************************

Following the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which allowed three million illegal aliens to apply for legal permanent residence (1.7 million of them seasonal agricultural workers), 31,000 immigrants applied for permanent residence in Oregon.
(Source: Sunday Oregonian, June 25, 1995)

Oregon Berry Packing in Hillsboro, which employs about 400 workers, said that the Social Security Administration reported that 70 percent of its berry pickers and 40 percent of the berry packers appeared to be using faulty Social Security numbers (SSN) in 1997. ("Faulty" SSNs in most cases would mean counterfeit cards used by illegal aliens.)
(Source: Rural Migration News, October, 1998)

The INS apprehended and removed 341 employees of Oregon's second largest nursery business (J. Frank Schmidt & Son. Co) in October 1998. Following this experience, the company applied for and received approval for hiring the first temporary agricultural workers in the state (the H- 2A visa program. The firm had received 45 Mexican workers in time for the Christmas tree season and expected another 90. The Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United union challenged this hiring action as discriminatory against U.S. workers. (Source: Oregonian, October 30, 1988)

Portland has developed a problem between casual laborers, mainly immigrants, who are seeking jobs on the street on East Burnside and Sixth Avenue, and the police who are protecting the interests of local businesses located in the area. A group calling itself the Day Laborers Committee of Portland has alleged police harassment on March 5 and 6, 1999. The police reportedly threatened to call the INS [suggesting that the laborers may be illegal aliens] if the laborers did not disperse. Yet, on March 11, at 9 a.m. there were some 35 men milling around there, and an assistant manager of Plaid Pantry complained "We don't want them congregating out there." (Source: Oregonian, March 12, 1993)

In March 1999, the Multnomah County jail (capacity 2,036 beds) was full and planning on releasing between 20-40 inmates to make room for more dangerous criminals. Among those likely to be released were immigration law violators, and part of the emergency plan included asking the INS to suspend sending prisoners. (Source: Oregonian, March 23, 1999)

The Mexican consulate in Portland estimates that 80,000 Mexicans have immigrated illegally to Oregon. The Extension Service of Oregon State Univ. estimates the number of migrant farm workers who work in Oregon each year at 150,000. According to a Hillsboro berry grower and contractor, "If the immigration service did an inspection during harvest, any farmer in this state would be out of business." (Source: Oregonian, April 30, 1999)

Prosecutions in Portland of aliens who have reentered the United States after being deported rose 36 percent between 1995 and 1998, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Through October, 1999, the office had filed 194 cases since the beginning of the year. These cases are only being filed for aliens with previous felony convictions. Defendants, most of whom plead guilty, are likely to face a sentence of two-and-a-half years, rather than the maximum felony conviction of 20 years in prison.
(Source: Oregonian, Sept. 9, 1993)

STATE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION VOTING RECORD
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 Oregon Page.

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS
Alternatives to Growth Oregon (AGO) is "dedicated to bring about an end to Oregan's population and consumption growth." Among other policies, AGO supports limits on immigration. The AGO President is Andy Kerr. Its website is at www.agoregon.org and mailing address is:
PO Box 80334
Portland, OR 97280
Tel. (503) 222-0282 / (FAX) 222-0180
E-mail: info@agoregon.org

FAIR 12/99