New Americans in the Constitution State

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

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

• The foreign-born share of Connecticut’s population rose from 8.5% in 1990 [1], to 10.9% in 2000 [1], to 13.0% in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  Connecticut was home to 454,002 immigrants in 2008 [2], which is nearly the total population of Sacramento, California [3].

• 45.2% of immigrants (or 205,305 people) in Connecticut were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [2]—meaning that they are eligible to vote.

• 10.6% (or 174,856) of registered voters in Connecticut 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 one-in-six Connecticuters are Latino or Asian.

• The Latino share of Connecticut’s population grew from 6.5% in 1990 [5], to 9.4% in 2000 [5], to 12.0% (or 420,150 people) in 2008 [2].  The Asian share of the population grew from 1.5% in 1990 [6], to 2.4% in 2000 [6], to 3.5% (or 122,544 people) in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Latinos accounted for 5.5% (or 89,000) of Connecticut voters in the 2008 elections, and Asians 1.3% (21,000), according to the U.S. Census Bureau [7].  

• In Connecticut, 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 tens of thousands of jobs to Connecticut’s economy.

• The 2009 purchasing power of Latinos in Connecticut totaled $9.9 billion—an increase of 324.6% since 1990.  Asian buying power totaled $6.0 billion—an increase of 459.6% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth [9] at the University of Georgia.

• Connecticut’s 9,408 Latino-owned [10] businesses had sales and receipts of $1.3 billion and employed 8,762 people in 2002, the last year for which data is available.  The state’s 7,170 Asian-owned [11] businesses had sales and receipts of $1.9 billion and employed 13,139 people in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.

Immigrants are essential to Connecticut’s economy as workers.

• Immigrants comprised 16.1% of the state’s workforce in 2008 [2] (or 309,552 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Unauthorized immigrants are integral to Connecticut’s economy as workers.

• Unauthorized immigrants comprised roughly 4.2% of the state’s workforce (or 80,000 workers) in 2008 [12], according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.

• If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Connecticut, the state would lose $5.6 billion in economic activity, $2.5 billion in gross state product, and approximately 24,119 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group [13].

Immigrants are integral to Connecticut’s economy as students.

• Connecticut’s 9,153 foreign students contributed $297.8 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 [14].

Immigrants excel educationally.

• The number of immigrants in Connecticut with a college degree increased by 52.2% between 2000 and 2008, according to data [15] from the Migration Policy Institute.

• In Connecticut, 85.0% 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 [15].

UPDATED: JULY 2010

Published On: Wed, Jun 09, 2010 | Download File [16]