New Americans in the First State

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

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

• The foreign-born share of Delaware’s population rose from 3.3% in 1990 [1], to 5.7% in 2000 [1], to 7.7% in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  Delaware was home to 66,793 immigrants in 2008 [2].

• 38.4% of immigrants (or 25,678 people) in Delaware were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [2]—meaning that they are eligible to vote.

• 7.4% (or 30,192) of registered voters in Delaware 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 [3].

Roughly one-in-ten Delawareans are Latino or Asian.

• The Latino share of Delaware’s population grew from 2.4% in 1990 [4], to 4.8% in 2000 [4], to 6.8% (or 59,370 people) in 2008 [2].  The Asian share of the population grew from 1.3% in 1990 [5], to 2.1% in 2000 [5], to 2.9% (or 25,320 people) in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Latinos accounted for 1.7% (or 7,000) of Delaware voters in the 2008 elections according to the U.S. Census Bureau [6].  

• In Delaware, nearly nine-in-ten (or 89% of) children in immigrant families were U.S. citizens in 2007 [7], 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 thousands of jobs to Delaware’s economy.

• The 2009 purchasing power of Latinos in Delaware totaled $1.3 billion—an increase of 606.8% since 1990.  Asian buying power totaled $1.2 billion—an increase of 573.4% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth [8] at the University of Georgia.

• Delaware’s 879 Latino-owned [9] businesses had sales and receipts of $137.4 million and employed 960 people in 2002, the last year for which data is available.  The state’s 1,895 Asian-owned [10] businesses had sales and receipts of $617.9 million and employed 3,877 people in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.

Immigrants are essential to Delaware’s economy as workers.

• Immigrants comprised 9.4% of the state’s workforce in 2008 [2] (or 43,106 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Unauthorized immigrants are important to Delaware’s economy as workers and consumers.

• Unauthorized immigrants comprised roughly 4.7% of the state’s workforce (or 20,000 workers) in 2008 [11], according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.

• If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Delaware, the state would lose $949.0 million in economic activity, $421.5 million in gross state product, and approximately 6,300 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group [12].

Immigrants are important to Delaware’s economy as students.

• Delaware’s 1,672 foreign students contributed $37.4 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 [13].

Naturalized citizens excel educationally.

• In Delaware, 47.2% of foreign-born persons who were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [14] had a bachelor’s or higher degree, compared to 35.0% of noncitizens.  At the same time, only 17.0% of naturalized citizens lacked a high-school diploma, compared to 30.5% of noncitizens.

• The number of immigrants in Delaware with a college degree increased by 62.7% between 2000 and 2008, according to data [14] from the Migration Policy Institute.

• In Delaware, 72.0% 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 [14].

UPDATED: JULY 2010

Published On: Thu, Jul 08, 2010 | Download File [15]