Wednesday, August 31, 2011 MEETING AGENDA The Future of Los Angeles: Demographic Change, Economic Transformation and Immigrant Integration 1. Welcome Gary Toebben, President & CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Guest Speakers Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Manuel Pastor, Professor of American Studies & Ethnicity, University of Southern California 2. Next Meeting: September 2, 2011 10:00-11:30 a.m. Featuring David J. Johns, Senior Education Advisor for U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
Manuel Pastor Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity University of Southern California Dr. Manuel Pastor is Professor of American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. Founding director of the Center for Justice, Tolerance, and Community at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Pastor currently directs the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity at USC and is Director of USC s Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration. He holds an economics Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has received fellowships from the Danforth, Guggenheim, and Kellogg foundations and grants from the Irvine Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the W.T. Grant Foundation, The California Endowment, the California Air Resources Board, and many others. Pastor s research has generally focused on issues of environmental justice, regional inclusion, and the economic and social conditions facing low-income urban communities. His most recent book, Uncommon Common Ground: Race and America s Future (W.W. Norton 2010; co-authored with Angela Glover Blackwell and Stewart Kwoh), documents the gap between progress in racial attitudes and racial realities, and offers a new set of strategies for both talking about race and achieving racial equity. Previous volumes include This Could Be the Start of Something Big: How Social Movements for Regional Equity are Transforming Metropolitan America (Cornell University Press 2009; coauthored with Chris Benner and Martha Matsuoka), Staircases or Treadmills: Labor Market Intermediaries and Economic Opportunity in a Changing Economy (Russell Sage 2007, co-authored with Chris Benner and Laura Leete), Searching for the Uncommon Common Ground: New Dimensions on Race in America (W.W. Norton 2002; coauthored with Angela Glover Blackwell and Stewart Kwoh) and Regions That Work: How Cities and Suburbs Can Grow Together (University of Minnesota Press 2000; coauthored with Peter Dreier, Eugene Grigsby, and Marta Lopez-Garza), a book that has become a standard reference for those looking to link neighborhoods and regions. Dr. Pastor speaks frequently on issues of demographic change, economic inequality, and community empowerment and has contributed opinion pieces to such outlets as the Los Angeles Times, the San Jose Mercury News, and the San Francisco Chronicle. He served as a member of the Commission on Regions appointed by California s Speaker of the State Assembly, and in January 2002 was awarded a Civic Entrepreneur of the Year award from the California Center for Regional Leadership.
Looking Forward immigrant Contributions to the golden state
The following information about immigrants in California was drawn from recent research and presents a summary of key facts about our state s newcomer population. California s newcomers a snapshot: According to the 2005-2007 American Community Survey, more than one quarter (27%) of California residents are immigrants, a rate higher than any other state in the nation. This amounts to 9.9 million immigrant residents in California. 1 43% of California s immigrants are citizens. The number of immigrants choosing California as their destination is leveling and those who decide to stay are staying longer. 2 As immigrants remain in CA, homeownership rises and poverty rates decrease. Over time, immigrants become more invested in their schools, communities and neighborhoods. 3 Immigrants and their children make up 41% of California s population. Of all children in California, 48% have at least one immigrant parent. 4 Most non-citizens (70%) live in households that also have citizens. About 75% of non-citizen Latinos live in households with citizens and about 60% of Asian non-citizens live in mixed-status households. 5 immigrants provide leadership and labor for California s growing industries: In California, immigrants are entrepreneurial and are more likely to create their own jobs (or be selfemployed) than native born workers. For the working age population (age 25 to 64) Latino and Asian immigrants together have a self-employment rate of 12%, which is one and a half times the rate for non-immigrant Latinos and Asians. Immigrants stand out as some of California s most notable entrepreneurs technology giants Google, Sun Microsystems, ebay and Yahoo! are all companies founded or co-founded by immigrants. Immigrants comprise more than one-third of California s labor force (34%). They figure prominently in the agriculture, manufacturing, and repair and personal service industries. In terms of occupations, immigrants make up the majority of those involved in farming, fishing, and forestry (82%), grounds cleaning and maintenance (63%), and production jobs (54%). Within these jobs sectors, several positions are held primarily by immigrants: Farming, fishing, and forestry: Grounds cleaning and maintenance: Agricultural workers and animal breeders (86%) Graders and sorters of agricultural products (82%) Supervisors, managers, and contractors (66%) Maids and housekeeping cleaners (79%) Grounds maintenance workers (64%) Janitors and building cleaners (55%) Production: Sewing machine operators (92%) Textile cutting machine workers (88%) Pressers for textiles and related materials (86%) Shoe and leather workers and repairers (82%)
Immigrants participate in the labor force at slightly higher rates than non-immigrants, with 62% of immigrants and 60% of non-immigrants over the age of 16 employed in California. For Latino and Asian men, this difference is even greater. About 84% of all Latino and Asian immigrant men of working age (25-64) are employed, compared with 78% of U.S. born Latino and Asian men. Immigrant workers are important to the California economy. They contribute about 32% of California s GDP. 7 Immigrant households make up 27% of the total household income in California, and thus represent a substantial share of all spending power in the state. immigrants spending and tax Contributions help support California s economy Immigrant households make up 27% of the total household income in California, and thus represent a substantial share of all spending power in the state. Immigrants in California have a combined federal tax contribution of more than $30 billion annually. 8 In California, the average immigrant-headed household contributes a net $2,679 annually to Social Security, which is $539 more than the average US-born household. 9 Immigrants often require the most assistance immediately upon arrival to the United States. As immigrants reside in the state for a longer period of time, they are less likely to use services and more likely to contribute significant amounts. 10 Over the next 50 years, new lawful immigrants entering the U.S. will provide a net benefit of approximately $407 billion in present value to America s Social Security system, according to Social Security Administration data. 11 immigrants are a powerful force in shaping state policy In California, a full 19% of the voting-age population is non-citizen. Immigrant voters and their children could represent 29% of all future potential voters in California by 2012. 12 There were about 2.5 million immigrants eligible to naturalize in California over the 2005-2007 period and about 850,000 would be able to naturalize within the following 5 years. This will add to the base of voting-age population who are naturalized immigrants (19%). 13 Nearly 2 out of 3 foreign-born California residents (6.8 million) are either U.S. citizens or are eligible to naturalize and become voters. Regions of Origin for California s Immigrants (2005-2007): 1.4% Africa 33.3% Asia 7.7% Europe 55.6% Latin America 0.6% Oceania 1.4% Northern America In half (32) of California s 64 cities with more than 100,000 people, noncitizens make up more than 20% of the voting-age population. In ten of those cities, non-citizens make up more than 30% of the voting-age population, including: Santa Ana, East Los Angeles, South Gate, Salinas, El Monte, Pomona, Sunnyvale, Anaheim, Oxnard, and Los Angeles. Among these ten cities, the share non-citizen among the voting-age population is highest in Santa Ana (50%) and lowest in the city of Los Angeles (30%). 14 42% of Californians speak a language other than English at home. Throughout California, immigrants speak more than 99 languages. Immigrants want to learn English, and enroll in high numbers for English classes. Demand for English language instruction is on the rise. 15 (Endnotes) 1 Unless noted otherwise, all figures reported in this document are based on tabulations made by the Program for
The California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC) CIPC is a statewide partnership of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) and Services Immigrant Rights & Education Network (SIREN) of San Jose. www.caimmigrant.org Sacramento Office 1225 8th St. Suite 590 Sacramento CA 95814 (916) 448-6762 fax: 448-6774 CIPC would like to thank: The California Endowment, Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, Four Freedoms Fund, Rosenberg Foundation, Zellerbach Family Foundation Credits Editors: Reshma Shamasunder & Isabel Alegria Principal Researchers: Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) at the University of Southern California Design: Michelle Matthews, Vagrant Design Photographs: David Bacon Printing: Inkworks Press (bug) (Endnotes) 1 Unless noted otherwise, all figures reported in this document are based on tabulations made by the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE), at the University of Southern California, of 2005-2007 pooled American Communities Survey data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS). Steven Ruggles, Matthew Sobek, Trent Alexander, Catherine A. Fitch, Ronald Goeken, Patricia Kelly Hall, Miriam King, and Chad Ronnander. Integrated Public Use Microdata Series: Version 4.0 [Machine-readable database]. Minneapolis, MN: Minnesota Population Center [producer and distributor], 2009. 2 Estimates of the Legal Permanent Resident Population in 2008, Population Estimates, October 2009. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics. 3 Meyers, Dowell. (2008). Immigrants Contributions in an Aging America. Communities & Banking. 19(3): Retrieved from: http://www.usc.edu/schools/sppd/research/popdynamics/pdf/ Communities_&_Banking_summer_2008.pdf. 4 Hill, Laura E. and Josepgh M. Hayes. November 2003 California s Newest Immigrants. California Counts: Population Trends and Profiles. Vol..5 No.2. Public Policy Institute of California 5 These figures are based on immigrants and children of immigrants who live in the same household, thus they likely understate the share of the overall state population that is made up of first and second generation immigrants. 6 Use of the term Asian here and throughout refers to both Asians and Pacific Islanders. 7 Information on contributions to California s GDP was determined using averaged industry-specific GDP information over the same period (2005-2007) for California from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. These figures were applied to the percentages of immigrant workforce in each industry as found using ACS data. After the immigrant contributions per sector were found, the figures were aggregated to the state level. Bureau of Economic Analysis. (2009). Gross Domestic Product by State. Retrieved from: http://www.bea.gov/regional/gsp/. 8 2004 American Community Survey and Federal Tax Burdens and Expenditures by State, a publication of the Tax Foundation. March 2006 9 Auerhahn, Louise and Bob Brownstein. 2004. The Economic Effects of Immigration in Santa Clara County and California. Working Partnerships USA. 10 Myers, Dowell, John Pitkin and Julie Park. 2005 California Demographic Futures: Projections to 2030, by Immigrant Generations, Nativity and Time of Arrival in the U.S.: Summary Report. School of Policy Planning and Development. University of Southern California: Los Angeles. 11 Anderson, Stuart. March 2005. The Contributions of Legal Immigration to the Social Security System. National Foundation for American Policy: Arlington, Virginia. 12 Paral, Rob and Associates. April 2008. Integration Potential of California s Immigrants and Their Children. Grantmakers Concerned With Immigrants and Refugees. 13 Eligibility requirements used here are that a person has lived in the U.S. for at least 5 years and speaks English well or better. Those not meeting the language requirement were also coded as eligible if they had lived in the U.S. for at least 15 years and were least 55 years old at the time of the survey, or if they had lived in the U.S. for at least 20 years were at least 50 years old. These eligibility requirements are a simplified version of those under the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services guidelines. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. (2009). A Guide to Naturalization. Retrieved from http://www.uscis.gov/files/ article/m-476.pdf. 14 This information is from the 2005-2007 American Community Survey 3-year estimates, retrieved directly from American FactFinder online at http://factfinder.census.gov. In the list of cities reported, East Los Angeles is actually not a city but something referred to in the census as a Census Designated Place (CDP), which is an unincorporated area that is identifiable by name and has a concentration of housing and population 15 According to the Public Policy Institute of California, some 500,000 individuals were enrolled in adult ESL classes in California and past trends predict a statewide annual enrollment growth of 3.5 percent. (PPIC Research Brief. Learning English in California: Free of Charge But with a Catch. April 2007.)