New Americans in the Badger State

The Political and Economic Power of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in Wisconsin.

Immigrants and their children are growing shares of Wisconsin’s population and electorate.

• The foreign-born share of Wisconsin’s population rose from 2.5% in 1990 [1], to 3.6% in 2000 [1], to 4.4% in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  Wisconsin was home to 247,649 immigrants in 2008 [2], which is more than the total population of Jersey City, New Jersey [3].

• 41.4% of immigrants (or 102,607 people) in Wisconsin were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [2]—meaning that they are eligible to vote.

• 3.0% (or 88,438) of registered voters in Wisconsin were “New Americans”—naturalized citizens or the U.S.-born children of immigrants who were raised during the current era of immigration from Latin America and Asia which began in 1965—according to an analysis of 2006 Census Bureau data by Rob Paral & Associates [4].

Roughly 1 in 14 Wisconsinites are Latino or Asian—and they vote.

• The Latino share of Wisconsin’s population grew from 1.9% in 1990 [5], to 3.6% in 2000 [5], to 5.1% (or 287,026 people) in 2008 [2].  The Asian share of the population grew from 1.1%  in 1990 [6], to 1.7% in 2000 [6], to 2.0% (or 112,559 people) in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Latinos accounted for 2.3% (or 66,000) of Wisconsin voters in the 2008 elections, and Asians 1.1% (31,000), according to the U.S. Census Bureau [7].

• In Wisconsin, more than four-in-five (or 86% of) children in immigrant families were U.S. citizens in 2007 [8], according to the Center for Social and Demographic Analysis at the University of Albany.

Latino and Asian entrepreneurs and consumers add billions of dollars and ten of thousands of jobs to Wisconsin’s economy.

• The 2009 purchasing power of Latinos in Wisconsin totaled $5.7 billion—an increase of 627.4% since 1990. Asian buying power totaled $3.0 billion—an increase of 472.1% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth [9] at the University of Georgia.

• Wisconsin’s 4,957 Asian-owned [10] businesses had sales and receipts of $1.5 billion and employed 11,603 people in 2002, the last year for which data is available.  The state’s 3,750 Latino-owned [11] businesses had sales and receipts of $975.5 million and employed 9,011 people in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.

Migrant workers are integral to Wisconsin’s economy as laborers and taxpayers.

• Migrant workers constituted more than 40% of all hired dairy employees (totaling roughly 5,316 individuals) in 2008 [12], according to a study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

• More than 5,000 migrant workers, plus 1,000 dependents, arrive annually in Wisconsin to work in canning, food-processing, and agriculture, according to 2003 study [13] at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

• Migrant workers’ direct spending generated about $14.9 million per year in income to Wisconsin residents and business, roughly $8.7 million in tax revenue to state and local governments and the creation of 417 jobs for Wisconsinites annually, according to the same study [14].

Immigrants are important to Wisconsin’s economy as workers.

• Immigrants comprised 5.0% of the state’s workforce in 2008 [2] (or 156,440 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Unauthorized immigrants comprised 1.8% of the state’s workforce (or 55,000 workers) in 2008 [15], according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.

• If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Wisconsin, the state would lose $2.6 billion in economic activity, $1.2 billion in gross state product, and approximately 14,579 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group [16].

Immigrants are important to Wisconsin’s economy as students.

• Wisconsin’s 8,647 foreign students contributed $195.3 million to the state’s economy in tuition, fees, and living expenses for the 2008-2009 academic year, according to the NAFSA: Association of International Educators [17] (NAFSA).

Naturalized citizens advance educationally.

• In Wisconsin, 30.3% of foreign-born persons who were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [18] had a bachelor’s or higher degree, compared to 25.2 of noncitizens.  At the same time, only 24.1% of naturalized citizens lacked a high-school diploma, compared to 36.5% of noncitizens.

• The number of immigrants in Wisconsin with a college degree increased by 43.3% between 2000 and 2008, according to data [18] from the Migration Policy Institute.

• In Wisconsin, 75.4% of all children between the ages of 5 and 17 in families that spoke a language other than English at home also spoke English “very well” as of 2008 [18].

UPDATED: JULY 2010

Published On: Thu, Dec 10, 2009 | Download File [19]