Immigration Impact: Idaho

Immigration Impact:
Idaho

State Population (2004 CB estimate):1,393,262
Population Increase 1990-2000: 287,204
Foreign-Born Population: 80,600
Percent Foreign-Born: 5.9%
Illegal Resident Population: 19,0001
2025 Population Projection: 1,739,000

All numbers are from the U.S. Census Bureau unless otherwise noted. Additional Census Bureau, INS, and other immigration-related data are available for Idaho.

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Estimated Annual Fiscal Costs to Idaho Taxpayersfor Emergency Medical Care, Education and Incarceration Resulting from Illegal or "Guest" Workers andProjected Costs Based on an Amnesty in millions
Current 2010 2020
$84 $148 $264

Profile in Numbers

Population Growth

Idaho’s population increased by 29 percent, or 287,000 people, between 1990 and 2000, bringing its population to 1.3 million people. Idaho is the fifth fastest growing state in the country.

Between 1990 and 2000, the city of Boise was the seventh fastest growing city in the nation, increasing by 46 percent. Boise County increased by 90 percent.

Foreign Born Population

Idaho’s immigrant population more than doubled during the 1990s, increasing by 122 percent. Idaho gained 35,000 immigrants during the decade, bringing the total number of foreign-born residents in the state to 64,000.

The increase in the foreign-born population during the 1990s accounted for 12 percent of the state’s total population increase during the decade.

About 166,000 people in Idaho are immigrants or the children of immigrants, 13 percent of the state’s population.

Demonstrating the impact of recent policies of mass immigration, 47 percent of Idaho’s immigrant population has arrived in the state since 1990.

Trends for the Future

The Census Bureau projects that Idaho’s population will grow by 29 percent between 2000 and 2025, to 1.7 million.

NOTE: Naturalization: Fewer immigrants in Idaho are naturalized U.S. citizens.
In 2000, only 33 percent of Idaho’s foreign-born residents were naturalized
U.S. citizens, versus 41 percent in 1990.

Impact on Environment and Quality of Life

Water: Population growth is endangering Idaho’s water supply. United Water Idaho, the Boise area’s major water supplier, expects demand to almost triple by 2050. Unless new water supplies are tapped, United Water predicts that it will have trouble providing water to Southeast Boise within two years. 2

Traffic: As population growth put more traffic on the roads, the average commute for Idaho residents increased 16 percent during the 1990s, from 17 minutes in 1990 to 20 minutes in 2000.3,4

Disappearing open space: Each year, Idaho loses 18,400 acres of open space and farmland due to development.5 Urban development is expected to double along with suburban development, which will nearly quadruple by 2050, resulting in a total loss of 4.5 million acres to urban and suburban development.6

Crowded housing: 8,000 Idaho households are defined as severely crowded by housing authorities, a 83 percent increase since 1990.7,8 Studies show that a rise in crowded housing often correlates with an increase in the number of foreign-born.9,10

Affordable housing: As population increases, the affordable housing supply often drops. Idaho workers who earn minimum wage must work 77 hours per week in order to afford a two-bedroom unit at the area’s fair market rent. Idaho’s housing wage (the amount a full-time worker must earn per hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent) is $9.87, but its minimum wage is $5.15.11

Finding affordable housing is even more difficult for the working poor since little low-income housing is being built, despite rising demand. What little housing is built is filled almost immediately after opening. Forty-one percent of Idaho renters pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing (30 percent is the maximum recommended by housing experts).12

Sprawl: The city of Rexburg issued over $58 million in building permits in 2002, more than ten times the value of permits issued in an average year.13 Such unprecedented growth is not without its costs. After such developments are completed, new streets will be needed, along with other financial responsibilities, all of which must be paid by the city. Other cities face similar challenges as a result of rapid development challenges created by sprawl. Since 1998, Pocatello has spent close to $9 million (with another $2 million to be spent by 2004) in rehabilitating and expanding its sewer system in order to meet the demands of its growing population.14

Idaho's total energy use has increased by 57 percent since 1980 and 36 percent since 1990, making it the leading northwest state for energy consumption. This increase, according to Northwest Environment Watch, is directly attributable to rapid population growth in the state.24

Air pollution: As population increases, pollution usually rises along with it. Many in Idaho are worried about the negative effects population growth will have on public health, since more people mean more cars, which increasing gas consumption and air pollution.15 Canyon County saw the worst levels of small particulate pollution in a decade during 2002, with up to a third of its pollution attributable to vehicle emissions.16

Poverty: Twenty-two percent of immigrants in Idaho have incomes below the poverty level. Among non-citizens, the rate climbs to 27 percent.17 Education: Between 1990 and 2000, Idaho’s elementary and high school enrollment increased 20 percent. Between 2002 and 2012, public school enrollment is expected to increase another 13 percent, to 287,000.18

School overcrowding is becoming a costly issue for Idaho, one that many communities cannot afford to bear. In July 2002, Idaho Falls School District 91 voted to spend $1.3 million to alleviate junior high schools crowding.19 The cost of the renovation is in part responsible for District 91’s current budget crisis, which has its leaders looking to cut expenses and raise supplemental levy in order to survive.20 With many Idaho communities facing similar financial hardships, schools may have difficulty expanding to meet growing enrollments in the near future.21

Labor Issues: The wave of immigrants flooding into Idaho leads to population increasing faster than job creation, leading to rising unemployment. As of December 2002, Kootenai County, Idaho’s third fastest growing county, faced an eight percent unemployment rate (versus a national average of six percent); the Idaho Department of Labor says that “population growth exceeding job growth” is a primary reason.22

Illegal Residents

19,000 illegal aliens resided in Idaho as of 2000, according to INS figures. This is 19 percent higher than the previous INS estimate in 1996 and 72 percent higher than the estimate for 1990. 23

Idaho authorities requested compensation of $3.3 million from the federal government in FY’99 for the incarceration of illegal aliens in state and local jails and prisons (under the federal State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, or SCAAP), but it received only $1.3 million in compensation, leaving $2 million in uncompensated costs to be borne by Idaho taxpayers.

Endnotes:

1. 
   “Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: 1990-2000,” Office of Policy Planning, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, January 2003.
   
2. Craig Quintana, “Growth in Idaho Takes Big Swig of Water,” Idaho Statesman, January 15, 2002.
   
3. “Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000,” Census 2000, U.S. Census Bureau.
   
4. “Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 1990,” 1990 Census, U.S. Census Bureau.
   
5. “State Rankings by Acreage and Rate of Non-Federal Land Developed,” Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
   
6. Editorial Board, “Planning for Growth Must be a Top Priority,” Idaho Press-Tribune, June 30, 2001.
   
7. “Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000,” Census 2000, U.S. Census Bureau.
8. 
   “Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 1990,” 1990 Census, U.S. Census Bureau.
9. 
   Haya El Nasser, “U.S. Neighborhoods Grow More Crowded,” USA Today,July 7, 2002.
   
10. Randy Capps, “Hardship Among Children of Immigrants: Findings from the 1999 National Survey of America’s Families,” Urban Institute, 2001.
11. 
    “Rental Housing for America’s Poor Families: Farther Out of Reach than Ever,” National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2002.
12. 
    Matthew Evans, “The Search for Affordable Housing,” Idaho Falls Post Register, March 21, 2002.
13. 
    Brian Davidson, “Rexburg Construction Sets New High- Number of Building Permits Up Tenfold,” Idaho Falls Post Register, January 9, 2003.
14. 
    John O’Connell, “City Sewer in Midst of Three-Part Overhaul,” Idaho State Journal, January 18, 2002.
15. 
    Sam Bass, Growth Threatens Air Quality,” Idaho Press-Tribune, June 12, 2002.
16. 
    Nathaniel Hoffman, “Here is a Sign of a Problem, Growth,” Idaho Press-Tribune, December 5, 2002.
17. 
    “Idaho State Factsheet,” Migration Information Source, Migration Policy Institute.
18. 
    “Table 4—Enrollment in Grades K-12 in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, by Region and State, With Projections: Fall 1993 to Fall 2012,” National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core Data, U.S. Department of Education.
19. 
    Matthew Evans, “Taylorview Expanding to Accommodate Population,” Idaho Falls Post Register, July 30, 2002.
20. 
    Matthew Evans, “District 91 Struggles to Find the Money to Pay the Bills,” Lewistown Morning Tribune, February 19,2003.
21. 
    Kathy Hedberg, “Idaho’s School Saga Resumes,” Lewiston Morning Tribune, November 10, 2002.
22. 
    Kathryn Tacke, “Kootenai County Profile,” Idaho Department of Labor, January 2003.
23. 
    “Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: 1990-2000,” Office of Policy Planning, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, January 2003.
    
24. “How Idaho Measures Up,” Measuring What Matters, The New Indicators Project, Northwest Environment Watch.

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The following information I got at FAIR. If you are doing research for your state you can go here: Immigration in Your Background.

The Illegal Immigration Issue

I wrote this during college and before the injustice done to our border agents.

My thoughts on Illegal Immigration
by IDARNG Loki

This topic is a touchy one with many people, but though our attention is constantly being taken to international affairs such as the Middle East, I believe, we should keep our attention on our own domestic issues.

I should first give my definition when I use the word “illegals”, which I say is any citizen of another country who is residing within the US illegal, not just Hispanics like some have stereotyped the phrase. I am one who is against giving amnesty to illegal immigrants because I am not one to reward those who break the law. Why should any illegal immigrant get amnesty when others have waited to get into this country legally?

We need to amend Section 1 of the 14th Amendment so it rids the part that says anyone born on US is a citizen. This is a key battle in the immigration issue. Someone born in America should only become a citizen if their parents are citizens! Otherwise it allows illegal alien mothers to come over, run to the nearest hospital, and give birth to a new burden of the state.

14th Amendment, Section 1: All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law, which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

We need to send National Guard forces to the border, not just as a support unit, but also as an active unit who can arrest and deport the illegal. Engineer units could build a good border fence and build a trench that would stop illegals from even reaching the fence, plus make tunneling impossible without detection. Use Unmanned Ariel Vehicles (UAVs), sniper teams, radar units, and scouts as surveillance along the border. UAVs would be able to survey the parts of the border that are harder to traverse by foot or vehicle. Sniper teams, as a none combative role, have the ability to track illegals while radar units have the capacity to track even the slightest movements all along the Mexico border. The MPs can become the border patrollers who have training in law enforcement and procedures. Send our Tactical Human Intelligence Teams (THT) assets across the borders to collect intelligence and counter the illegals crossing by using GPS devices. We need to close down the border because you can’t heal a wound unless you stop the bleeding.

To combat the illegals already in the US the best strategy is to give power to the State and Local law enforcement because local authorities have a better understanding of their city and where the illegals are living. The feds should give the state some kind of grant depending on certain factors such as location and perceived number of illegals. The locals can easily round up the illegals since they deal with them every day. The State and Local enforcer’s grant should increase with their successes.

Once apprehended the illegals, whether on the border or in the country, biometrics should be taken. If the illegal has been living in the US and is caught then all of their financial assets should be frozen. The costs to send them back to their country should be taken thence from their accounts, plus any taxes they have not paid should also be paid. Their employers should be fined; the severity of the fine should depend of several factors such as knowledge of employee status and number of illegals working for him.

Medicaid/Medicare, school assistance, and welfare programs should be off-limits to anyone who cannot prove citizenship, to a point. I don’t like the welfare program, but I’d rather help an American than an illegal. Plus you take away the incentives you take away their reason to come across.

As I said earlier, “you can’t heal a wound if you don’t stop the bleeding.” Now I’m all for immigration into this country because my family came across the ocean too and I think that everyone should have a chance to have the freedoms we have here in America. What I am against though is illegal immigrants coming over leeching off the system while not contributing anything.

I am also irritated by the state of our prison systems. Illegals have increased crime, especially in larger metropolises. Now I’m not saying illegals are the only one’s who commit crimes, but if we were to deport them then it would ease up on our prisons. We also know that terrorists have partnered with the gang known as the MS13 to help bring terrorists cross the border.

I hope one day this issue will be fixed, but with partisan politics in play in our Congress I doubt it will happen anytime soon. Remember though immigration is great thing, but it is a double edged sword when we allow the illegals to throw away the law book then try and hide behind it. As I said in the first weeks of class during our political party assignment, “We're not closing the door, just locking the windows."

NOTE: 1 out of 10 of all illegal immigrants that cross the US-Mexican border are not Hispanic