New Americans in the Great Lakes State

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

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

• The foreign-born share of Michigan’s population rose from 3.8% in 1990 [1], to 5.3% in 2000 [1], to 5.8% in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  Michigan was home to 582,742 immigrants in 2008 [2], which is nearly the total population of Boston, Massachusetts [3].

• 49.3% of immigrants (or 287,481 people) in Michigan were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [2]—meaning that they are eligible to vote.

• 5.2% (or 273,323) of all registered voters in Michigan are “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].

6.4% of Michiganians are Latino or Asian—and they vote.

• The Latino share of Michigan’s population grew from 2.2% in 1990 [5], to 3.3% in 2000 [5], to 4.1% (or 410,140 people) in 2008 [2].  The Asian share of the population grew from 1.1%  in 1990 [6], to 1.8% in 2000 [6], to 2.3% (or 230,079 people) in 2008 [2], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Latinos comprised 1.4% (or 70,000) of Michigan voters in the 2008 elections, and Asians 1.1% (or 53,000), according to the U.S. Census Bureau [7].

• In Michigan, more than four in five (or 85% 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.

Michigan has the highest proportion of Arab Americans in the nation, and they contribute to the state’s economy.

• The share of Michigan’s population reporting Arab ancestry rose from 0.8% in 1990 [9], to 1.2% in 2000 [9], to 1.5% (or 151,966 people) in 2008 [10], according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Dearborn, Michigan, has the largest proportion of Arab Americans in the United States, representing nearly 30% of the city’s population in 2000 [11] (the last year for which data is available).  By way of comparison, Arab Americans represented 0.9% of the population in New York and 0.7% in Los Angeles as of 2000.

• Arab American employment accounted for $7.7 billion in total earnings in the four counties of the Detroit metropolitan area in southeast Michigan, generating an estimated $544 million in state tax revenue in 2005, according to the Center for Urban Studies [12] at Wayne State University.

• Arab American business and consumer spending supported an estimated 141,541 jobs in the four-county region in 2005, according to the same study [12].

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

• The 2009 purchasing power of Michigan’s Latinos totaled $8.9 billion—an increase of 310.3% since 1990.  Asian buying power totaled $8.6 billion—an increase of 361.6% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth [13] at the University of Georgia.

• Michigan’s 15,337 Asian-owned [14] businesses had sales and receipts of $5.1 billion and employed 44,587 people in 2002, the last year for which data is available.  The state’s 9,841 Latino-owned [15] businesses had sales and receipts of $3.2 billion and employed 15,930 people in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.

Immigrants are essential to Michigan’s economy as workers.

• Immigrants comprised 6.7% of the state’s workforce in 2008 [2] (or 338,621 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Immigrants accounted for 11% of total economic output in the Detroit metropolitan area as of 2007, according to a study by the Fiscal Policy Institute [16].  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 1.3% of the state’s workforce in 2008 [17] (or 65,000 workers), according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.

• If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Michigan, the state would lose $3.8 billion in economic activity, $1.7 billion in gross state product, and approximately 20,339 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group [18].

Immigrants are integral to Michigan’s economy as students.

• Michigan’s 23,617 foreign students contributed $592.4 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 [19].

Immigrants excel educationally.

• In Michigan, 38.3% of foreign-born persons who were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2008 [20] had a bachelor’s or higher degree, compared to 34.4% of noncitizens.  At the same time, only 19.3% of naturalized citizens lacked a high-school diploma, compared to 30.5% of noncitizens.

• The number of immigrants in Michigan with a college degree increased by 26.9% between 2000 and 2008, according to data [20] from the Migration Policy Institute.

• 36.5% of Michigan’s foreign-born population age 25 and older had a bachelor’s or higher degree in 2008 [20], compared to 23.8% of native-born persons age 25 and older.

• In Michigan, 77.2% 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 [20].

UPDATED: JULY 2010

Published On: Tue, Aug 04, 2009 | Download File [21]