Congressional Budget Office
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Today CBO released an update to its February 2006 paper Immigration Policy in the United States. The publication is a collection of tables and figures with descriptive text (shown below). The update presents data through 2009 and makes comparisons with 2004, the most recent year for which most data were reported in the earlier paper. The first and largest group of exhibits—exhibits 1 through 13—provides statistics on admissions of foreign nationals as legal permanent residents of the United States. The second group—exhibits 14 through 18—presents data on temporary residents and visitors. The third set—exhibits 19 and 20—provides information on naturalization of residents, and the final set—exhibits 21 and 22—shows data on enforcement of immigration laws.

A national of a foreign country granted permanent admission to the United States is formally classified as a legal permanent resident (LPR) and receives a document, commonly known as a green card. (Generally, such foreign nationals must initially obtain a visa to enter the country.) In 2009, the United States granted legal permanent resident status to more than 1.1 million people. About two-thirds of those people were admitted to the United States on the basis of family connections to current U.S. citizens or residents. LPRs are eligible to live and work in the United States, and eventually, they may apply to become naturalized citizens. Today’s report notes that:

• Of the 1.1 million people granted LPR status in 2009, about 463,000 (or 41 percent) were first-time entrants to the United States, and about 668,000 (or 59 percent) were already inside the United States when they were granted LPR status. 
• The total number of permanent admissions was about the average for the previous four years but 18 percent more than were granted such status in 2004.
• In 2009, foreign nationals who were born in Asia accounted for 37 percent of the people granted LPR status, and people who were born in North America (including Central America) accounted for 33 percent. 
• The number of individuals admitted on the basis of employment preferences decreased slightly between 2004 and 2009 and accounted for 13 percent of admissions. The category of people admitted for humanitarian reasons, which constituted 17 percent of the permanent admissions in 2009, grew by almost 60 percent from its level five years earlier.

Visas for temporary admission to the United States are granted to foreign nationals who seek entry for a limited time and for a specific purpose, such as tourism, diplomacy, or study. In addition, foreign nationals who meet certain criteria may be permitted to work in the United States for a limited time that depends on the type of visa they receive. Foreign nationals with temporary visas are not eligible for citizenship, and to remain in the United States on a permanent basis they would be required to apply for permanent admission. CBO’s publication reports that: 

• About 5.8 million visas for temporary admission were issued in 2009, of which 24 percent were for temporary residents and 76 percent were for visitors. 
• Although the number of visas issued was 15 percent higher than the number in 2004, it was down by almost 800,000 (or 12 percent) from the 6.6 million visas issued in 2008. The decrease was most likely a result of the global recession: Fewer visas were issued for business, for tourism, and for employment.
• The number of legal temporary admissions is much greater than the number of visas because many people do not need visas or had multiple admissions. In 2009, there were about 163 million legal temporary admissions, the lowest number since the Department of Homeland Security began reporting those data in 2003. About 135 million of those admissions were people from North America (including Central America).

Legal permanent residents may become citizens of the United States through a process known as naturalization. To become a naturalized citizen, an applicant must fulfill certain requirements set forth in the Immigration and Nationality Act. The report shows:

• About 744,000 people became naturalized U.S. citizens last year, which is well below the number naturalized in 2008 but close to the average for the past five years. Of the 2009 total, the largest percentages of people were born in Mexico (15 percent) and India (7 percent).

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for enforcing immigration law and arrests, detains, returns, and removes foreign nationals who violate U.S. laws. CBO’s report indicates that:

• In 2009, about 580,000 people who were arrested or detained returned voluntarily under the supervision of a DHS official to their home country or to another country, a figure that is well below the number in recent years. 
• About 393,000 people were ordered removed in 2009, which is 63 percent more than were ordered removed in 2004. In 2009, about two-thirds of total removals were for noncriminal violations, such as a lack of proper documentation, and the other one-third were for criminal violations of U.S. laws.

The updated study is one of a series of updates of earlier CBO immigration studies. All of CBO’s immigration publications can be found here. This update was prepared by Paige Piper/Bach and Brian Prest of CBO’s Microeconomic Studies Division.

People born in other countries are a growing presence in the U.S. labor force. In 2009, more than 1 in 7 people in the U.S. labor force were born elsewhere; 15 years earlier, only 1 in 10 was foreign born. About 40 percent of the foreign-born labor force in 2009 was from Mexico and Central America, and more than 25 percent was from Asia.

Today CBO released an update to its November 2005 report on the role of immigrants in the U.S. labor market. That earlier report included data through 2004; this update, the first of several on various aspects of immigration, incorporates data through 2009 from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Surveys. The update includes various tables showing statistics on the number of foreign-born workers, the countries from which they have come, their educational attainment, the types of jobs they hold, and their earnings.

Some highlights include:

• People born in other countries represent a substantial and growing segment of the U.S. labor force—that is, people with a job or looking for one. In 2009, 24 million members of the labor force were foreign born, up from 21 million in 2004. However, the growth of the foreign-born labor force was much slower between 2004 and 2009 than between 1994 and 2004.
• In 2009, over half of the foreign-born workers from Mexico and Central America did not have a high school diploma or GED credential, as compared with just 6 percent of native-born workers. Yet nearly half of the foreign-born workers from places other than Mexico and Central America had at least a bachelor’s degree, as compared with 35 percent of native-born workers.
• Over time, participants in the U.S. labor force from Mexico and Central America have become more educated. In 2009, they had completed an average of 9.8 years of schooling—up from 9.5 years in 2004; 55 percent lacked a high school diploma or GED credential—down from 59 percent in 2004; and among 16- to 24-year-olds, 50 percent were not in school and were not high school graduates—down from 60 percent in 2004. Nevertheless, those born in Mexico and Central America constitute an increasingly large share of the least educated portions of the labor force.
• To a considerable extent, educational attainment determines the role of foreign-born workers in the labor market. In 2009, 70 percent of workers born in Mexico and Central America were employed in occupations that have minimal educational requirements, such as construction laborer and dishwasher; only 23 percent of native-born workers held such jobs.
• Foreign-born workers who came to the United States from places other than Mexico and Central America were employed in a much broader range of occupations. Nevertheless, they were more than twice as likely as native-born workers to be in fields such as computer and mathematical sciences, which generally require at least a college education. Their average weekly earnings were similar to those of native-born men and women.
• On average, the weekly earnings of men from Mexico and Central America who worked full time were just over half those of native-born men; women from Mexico and Central America earned about three-fifths of the average weekly earnings of native-born women.

This report was prepared by Nabeel Alsalam of CBO’s Health and Human Resources Division.

CBO released a new report this morning on the impact of unauthorized immigrants on state and local government budgets. Most analyses have found that the fiscal impact of immigrants as a whole (both legal and unauthorized, and including all levels of government) is slightly positive — the tax revenues generated by immigrants exceed the cost of the government services they use. This study examines the literature on a more narrow question: the fiscal impact of unauthorized (as opposed to all) immigrants at the state and local government level (excluding the federal government).

Many state and local governments incur costs for services associated with unauthorized immigrants, particularly in the areas of education, health care, and law enforcement. Some of those costs are incurred because of rules governing federal programs, court decisions, and state-level statutory or constitutional requirements. CBO’s review of the literature finds that the amount of spending involved is a small share of total state and local spending on these services, but the tax revenue collected from unauthorized immigrants at the state and local level does not offset the costs involved. The result is probably a modest negative net impact on state and local budgets.

The paper was written by Melissa Merrell in our Budget Analysis Division, which is the part of CBO responsible for preparing cost estimates of legislation. Melissa covers topics including immigration, administration of justice, emergency management, and regional planning in the State and Local Government Cost Estimates Unit. Prior to joining CBO, she worked for the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations and the League of Women Voters. She holds a master’s degree in public policy from George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in political science and sociology from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY.