Immigration to the Sunflower State
Chicago Immigration Protest, May 1, 2006 (Source: Jvoves, flickr.com)
The Immigration Policy Center put out a report today, highlighting some of the economic benefits of immigration to our sunflower state: Kansas. The most surprising thing I learned is that nearly 1 in 9 Kansans are Asian or Latino, and their purchasing power and contributions to the state’s tax base are tremendous! Here are some more highlights:
• The 2009 purchasing power of Latinos totaled $5.2 billion — an increase of 488% since 1990. Asian buying power in Kansas totaled $2.1 billion — an increase of 419% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia.
• In Kansas, 30% of foreign-born persons who were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2007 had a bachelor’s or higher degree, compared to 21% of noncitizens. At the same time, only 25% of naturalized citizens lacked a high-school diploma, compared to 45% of non-citizens.
• Kansas’ 3,547 Asian-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $895.6 million and employed 8,535 people in 2002, the last year for which data is available. The state’s 4,176 Latino-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $659.6 million and employed 7,493 people in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.
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Feb 26, 2010 - 10:02:00I find it hard to use figures about Asians and Latinos in Kansas for a discussion of immigration because we cannot tell how long they have been here. Some of the Latinos have been in Kansas for 100 years or more. The Southeast Asians came about 30 years ago. Having a non-white ethnicity does not mean they are immigrants. Good topic for discussion, however!
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