New Americans in the Centennial State

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

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

• The foreign-born share of Colorado’s population rose from 4.3% in 1990 [1], to 8.6% in 2000 [1], to 10.1% in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  Colorado was home to 499,179 immigrants in 2008 [2], which is more than the total population of Sacramento, California [3].

• 31.8% of immigrants (or 158,866 people) in Colorado were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [2]—meaning that they are eligible to vote.

• 5.4% (or 122,867) of all registered voters in Colorado 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].

1 in 5 Coloradans are Latino—and they vote.

• The Latino share of Colorado’s population grew from 12.9% in 1990 [5], to 17.1% in 2000 [5], to 20.2% (or 997,770 people) in 2008 [2].  The Asian share of the population grew from 1.7%  in 1990 [6], to 2.2% in 2000 [6], to 2.6% (or 128,426 people) in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Latinos comprised 8.4% (or 195,000) of Colorado voters in the 2008 elections, and Asians 2.1% (or 48,000), according to the U.S. Census Bureau [7].  The number of Latino and Asian voters exceeds the margin of victory (214,987 votes [8]) by which Barack Obama defeated John McCain.
• In Colorado, more than four-in-five (or 83% of) children in immigrant families were U.S. citizens in 2007 [9], according to the Center for Social and Demographic Analysis at the University of Albany.

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

• The 2009 purchasing power of Colorado’s Latinos totaled $21.4 billion—an increase of 437.3% since 1990.  Asian buying power totaled $4.8 billion—an increase of 517.9% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth [10] at the University of Georgia.

• Colorado’s 24,054 Latino-owned [11] businesses had sales and receipts of $5.1 billion and employed 32,465 people in 2002, the last year for which data is available.  The state’s 10,910 Asian-owned [12] businesses had sales and receipts of $2.5 billion and employed 21,343 people in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.

Immigrants are integral to Colorado’s economy as workers.

• Immigrants comprised 11.6% of the state’s workforce in 2008 [2] (or 319,617 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Immigrants accounted for 10% of total economic output in the Denver metropolitan area as of 2007, according to a study by the Fiscal Policy Institute [13].  In fact, “immigrants contribute to the economy in direct relation to their share of the population.  The economy of metro areas grows in tandem with the immigrant share of the labor force.

• Unauthorized immigrants comprised 5.4% of the state’s workforce (or 150,000 workers) in 2008 [14], according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.

• If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Colorado, the state would lose $8.0 billion in economic activity, $3.6 billion in gross state product, and approximately 39,738 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group [15].

Unauthorized immigrants pay taxes.

• Unauthorized immigrants in Colorado paid between $159 million and $194 million in state and local taxes in 2005 [16], according to a study by the Bell Policy Center, which includes:

• $24 million to $30 million in state income taxes.
• $10 million to $13 million in property taxes.
• $125 million to $151 million in sales taxes.

• In addition, Colorado employers paid between $12 million and $15 million in unemployment insurance taxes to the state on behalf of unauthorized workers in 2005, according to the same study [17]. Unauthorized workers are prohibited by state law from collecting unemployment insurance benefits.

Immigrants are integral to Colorado’s economy as students.

• Colorado’s 6,857 foreign students contributed $187.4 million to the state’s economy in tuition, fees, and living expenses for the 2008-2009 academic year, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators [18].

Naturalized citizens excel educationally.

• In Colorado, 36.3% of foreign-born persons who were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [19] had a bachelor’s or higher degree, compared to 17.7% of noncitizens.  At the same time, only 20.7% of naturalized citizens lacked a high-school diploma, compared to 49.3% of noncitizens.

• The number of immigrants in Colorado with a college degree increased by 48.6% between 2000 and 2008, according to data [19] from the Migration Policy Institute.

• In Colorado, 71.8% 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 [19].

UPDATED: JULY 2010

Published On: Wed, Aug 05, 2009 | Download File [20]