Friday, November 26, 2004

RALEIGH, N.C. - North Carolina's foreign-born population has nearly doubled in the past four years, with immigrants undeterred by the struggling economy, according to a report based on a U.S. Census Bureau survey.

The report by the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors tougher restrictions on immigration, found that the state's foreign-born population jumped from 373,000 in 2000 to 641,000 in March [from 4.6% to 7.5% of total population].

"Immigration is a complex process that's driven by a lot of different things," said study author Steven A. Camarota, research director at the Washington-based center. "The argument that it's driven by the economy is weak."

The report was based on the census bureau's March Current Population Survey, which is taken every year to gauge the country's unemployment rate.

The census bureau does not use that survey to estimate annual changes in immigrant population. It relies on the much larger, annual American Community Survey, which showed that North Carolina's foreign-born population grew to 502,000 from 2000 to 2003, the most recent year for which figures are available.

Kevin Deardorff, chief of the bureau's immigration statistics staff, warned against viewing the numbers reported by the Center for Immigration Studies as proven.

"To take them as absolute estimates is probably something that one should do with caution," he said. "But it wouldn't surprise me if you saw continued growth."

The report doesn't show where immigrants came from, but the 2000 census found that 40 percent of North Carolina's immigrants came from Mexico. The next-largest groups were from India, Germany and Canada.

Mexico remained the top country of origin for North Carolina immigrants after 2000, according to experts who attributed the continued growth to word-of-mouth.

"Part of what's going on is the cumulative effect of immigration in the 1990s," said Roland Stephen, an associate professor of political science at N.C. State University. "Friends and relatives heard from others who came before them that life is pretty good here."

Signs of the immigrant boom can be seen across the state. The number of students taking English as a Second Language classes at the state's 58 community colleges rose from 29,000 in the 2002-03 academic year to 37,000 the following year. The ranks of Hispanic soccer leagues are swelling, and cricket _ once nearly unheard of in North Carolina _ is being played on recreational fields throughout the state by Indians and Pakistanis.

Veerapandian Kalimuthu, owner of Tower Indian Restaurant, said he has had to expand his staff of waiters and cooks from three to seven since opening in Morrisville in April 2002. Roughly two-thirds of his customers are, like Kalimuthu, from India.

"On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, we're packed," he said.

But more often, it appears that immigrants are struggling in North Carolina, Camarota said.

The center's study found that 42 percent of North Carolina's immigrant population lacks a high school diploma, compared with 17 percent of the native population. Also, 59 percent of immigrants and their children live in or near poverty, the study found.

[Associated Press story from: The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.]

NOTE:
The illiteracy rate for illegal immigrants is so high that it tends to push the overall illiteracy rate for all immigrants in N.C. to 2½ times that of the native-born population (42:17 percent). Also, the "59 percent of immigrants and their children who live in or near poverty," is four times higher than the 15 percent of native population. — AND, the President of Mexico, Vicente Fox, has made it a project to chase every criminal in Mexico toward the U.S. border.

growth rate -- 1.8% (2004 est.)

Net migration rate: -4.87 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)