• Overview
• National Data
• State and Local Data
• Public Opinion
• Immigration 101
• Suggested Reading
• Quotes Library
• Glossary

Page Tools

• Email to a Friend
• Print this Page

Connecticut

Summary Demographic State Data (and Source)
Population (2008 CB est.):	3,501,252
Population (2000 Census):	3,405,565
Foreign-Born Population (2008 FAIR est.):	464,110
Foreign-Born Population (2000 Census):	369,967
Share Foreign-Born (2008 FAIR est.):	13.3%
Share Foreign-Born (2000):	10.9%
Immigrant Stock (2000 CB est.):	806,000
Share Immigrant Stock (2000 est.):	23.7%
Naturalized U.S. Citizens (2006 CB est.):	211,832
Share Naturalized (2006):	46.8%
Legal Immigrant Admission (DHS 1997-2006):	65,690
Refugee Admission (DHS 1997-2006	6.660
Illegal Alien Population (2008 FAIR est.):	115, 000
Costs of Illegal Aliens (2005 FAIR)	$259,000,000
Projected 2050 Population (2006 FAIR)	5,154,414

Connecticut : Extended Immigration Data

STATE POPULATION

Using the Current Population Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that in July 2008 Connecticut’s population had increased to 3,501,252 residents. That was an annual average increase of about 11,530 residents since 2000. That is a rate of increase of about 0.3 percent per year.

NET INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION (NIM)

Based on the Current Population Survey, the Census Bureau estimated that between the 2000 Census and July 2008 the state’s population increased by about 102,955 residents from net international migration (more foreign-born arriving than leaving). That was an annual average increase of about 12,405 residents, i.e., more than the total (108%) increase (not including the children born to the immigrants after their arrival in the United States).

FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION

Based on the American Community Survey (ACS), the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the foreign-born population of Connecticut was 440,575 persons in 2006. The ACS is a large-scale, continuous sampling process designed to replace the need for a long-form in the 2010 Census. However, because the ACS does not have the same follow-up procedures as the Census to include non-respondents, it may underestimate the foreign-born population.

FAIR estimates that the foreign-born population of Connecticut was about 464,110 residents in July 2008. This meant a foreign-born population share of 13.3 percent. The amount of change since the 2000 Census indicates an average annual rate of increase in the foreign-born population of about 12,895 people, which is nearly all (98.4%) of the state’s annual average population increase. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 25.4 percent compared to no increase in the native-born population.

Immigration also contributes to population growth through the children born to immigrants in this country. Nationally the share of births to the foreign-born is about double their share of the population. A 26.6 percent share of the state’s current births is large enough to account for about 11,150 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may account for about 24,000 persons added to the state’s population annually, i.e., much more than the total (183.5%) of the state’s overall population increase.

A comparison of the increase in the immigrant population from 1990 with the change in the overall population during the same period shows that immigrant settlement directly accounted for 76.5 percent of the state's overall population increase over that decade. The share of the population increase due to immigration would be still higher if the children of the immigrants born here after their arrival were included with their immigrant parents in the calculation. The amount of the overall impact of immigration (immigrants plus their children) on population change is more likely to account for 96 percent of the state's population increase, based on the increase in the share of those in Connecticut who speak a language other than English at home.
 

The 2000 Census found that 39 percent of Connecticut's foreign-born population had arrived in the state since 1990. This demonstrates the effects of the current mass immigration, although it is a lower share than the national average (43.7%). In 1990, over one-third (34.4%) of Connecticut's foreign-born population had arrived since 1980.

An indicator of the increase in the immigrant population may be seen in data on the share of the population that speaks a language other than English at home. Between 1990 and 2000 the share of the population in Connecticut that were non-English speakers at home increased from 15.2 percent to 18.3 percent. Less than one-quarter (22.5%) of those who said they spoke a language other than English at home in 2000 also said they spoke English less than very well.

The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey found that in 2006, the state’s foreign born population was 452,358 residents, an increase of 22.3% percent since 2000. In comparison, the foreign-born population changed from 279,383 to 369,967 residents between 1990 and 2000, an increase of 32.4 percent.

 The ten countries below constituted 47.0% of the foreign-born population in Connecticut in 2006.

THE IMMIGRANT STOCK

The Census Bureau estimated that there were about 806 thousand people in Connecticut in 2000 who were "immigrant stock." That is a term that refers to immigrants and their children born here after their arrival. Based on that estimate, the immigrant stock share of the state's population was about 23.7 percent in 2000 -- the 10^th largest share in the country.

The graph below shows the amount of Connecticut’s population change due to the increase in the foreign stock is rising rapidly. Over the past 34 years the new immigrants and children born to them have added about 487,100 people to the population. Over this period, the increase in the foreign stock has accounted for all percent of the state’s population increase and then some (102.2%), because the state had a net loss of native-born residents.

NATURALIZATION

Data from the 2006 American Community Survey indicate that 211,832 residents, or 46.8 percent, of the foreign-born population in Connecticut were citizens, compared to 180,267 residents, or 48.7 percent, in 2000.  

Nationally, 40.3 percent of the foreign-born population was citizens in 2000, and 42.0 percent in 2006. 

Refugee Settlement
Connecticut has received 6,660 refugees over the most recent ten fiscal years (FY'97-'06) including 327 persons in FY’06

Under the Office of Refugee Resettlement's (HHS/ORR) assistance funding for FY'02 $787,808 is available for refugee employment training and other services programs in Connecticut based on a three-year refugee settlement program covering 3,139 refugees (an average of $251 per refugee). This allocation does not include a larger share (55%) of funding programs for communities heavily affected by recent Cuban and Haitian entrants, communities with refugees whose cultural differences make assimilation especially difficult, communities impacted by federal welfare reform changes, educational support to schools with significant refugee students, and discretionary grants. ORR grants for FY’05 and FY’06 respectively were $1,652,359 and $1,689,718.

LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY STUDENTS

Data are not available nationally on immigrant students (either legally or illegally resident in the United States) who are enrolled in primary and secondary schools (K-12). However, many of these students are enroled in Limited English Proficiency (LEP) instruction programs. Many may be U.S.-born, but the majority of these students may be assumed to be either immigrants or the children of immigrants.

In Connecticut, overall enrollment in 2004 (577,401) was .08 percent above enrollment in 1995.  By contrast, LEP enrollment was 36.6 percent higher a decade earlier.

Data on enrollment in LEP programs is collected by the federal government from school systems that receive Title VII funds for these special instruction programs. The data above on LEP enrollment are compiled by the National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education (NCBE), a body funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The data on LEP and Non-LEP enrollment are understated because data on enrollment in private schools that do not apply for Title VII assistance are sketchy.

FOREIGN STUDENTS

The 2006/07 annual report of the Institute of International Education (IIE) lists the number of foreign students attending post-secondary school in Connecticut as 7,403. Three schoola in Connecticut are listed as having a major concentration of these students:

Yale University had enrollment of 2,026 foreign students, 17.7% of total enrollment.

Univeristy of Connecticut had enrollment of 1,116 foreign students, 5.7% of total enrollment.

University of Bridgeport had enrollment of 1,423 foreign students, 35.4% of total enrollment.

Below, a chart illustrates the sharp increase of foreign students attending school in Connecticut from 1960-2000.

For information on foreign student issues see: Foreign Students in the United States.

ILLEGAL ALIENS

FAIR Estimate - FAIR estimates the state’s illegal alien population as of 2008 is as many as 115,000 persons. This is part of an overall estimate of the U.S. illegal alien population of about 13 million persons.

INS/DHS Estimate - The INS (now dissolved into the Dept. of Homeland Security) estimated in February 2003 that the resident illegal population in Connecticut was 39,000 as of January 2000. This number was 10,000 higher than the INS' 1996 estimate.

Other Estimates - The Pew Hispanic Center estimates the illegal alien population of the state at 70,000 to 100,000 as of 2005.

COST OF ILLEGAL ALIENS

Incarceration Costs Connecticut has received partial compensation under the federal State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) that was established in 1994 to compensate the states and local jurisdictions for incarceration of "undocumented," aliens who are serving time for a felony conviction or at least two misdemeanors.

The recent SCAAP amounts that Connecticut has received were:

The amount of SCAAP awards has been declining in both total distributions and even more as a share of the state’s expenses. In FY’99 the state received 38.6% of its costs. SCAAP data indicate that Connecticut's illegal alien inmate population had increased by 21 percent from the 309 inmate years in FY'99 to 375 inmate years in FY'02, while compensation decreased by 48 percent.

Medical Costs Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, hospitals with emergency rooms are required to treat and stabilize patients with emergency medical needs regardless whether or not they are in the country legally or whether they are able to pay for the treatment. Congress in 2003 enacted an appropriation of $250 million per year (for 4 years) to help offset some of the costs due to use of this service by illegal aliens. This amount has been allocated among the states based upon estimates of the illegal alien population and data on the apprehension of illegal aliens in each state. This amount compensates only a fraction of the medical outlays. For Connecticut, the proposed payment in fiscal year 2004 is $930,030.

Educational Costs In our study Breaking the Piggy Bank: How Illegal Immigration is Sending Schools into the Red, we estimated based on 2004 data that educational expenditures for illegal immigration were costing the Connecticut taxpayer $228.5 million dollars annually. This cost was partially for educating students who were themselves illegally in the country ($95.2 million) and in part for the education of their siblings born in the United States to illegal residents ($133.3 million).

Projected Fiscal Costs - In 2006 we estimated that the Connecticut taxpayer is currently burdened with annual costs of about $112 million because of illegal aliens residing in the state. That estimate was based on only expenditures for education, emergency medical care and incarceration. We projected that those costs will rise unless we gain control over our borders and our worksites. If a new amnesty and increases in immigrants and guest workers were enacted, as proposed by business and ethnic advocacy groups, we project that the cost to the state’s taxpayers for those same programs would rise to $441 million per year in 2010 and to $766 million per year in 2020.

OTHER

FAIR estimates that the net cost of Connecticut's foreign-born population was over $79 million in 1995 due to the public services they consume and their displacement of American workers throughout the state. This estimate is derived from the research of Dr. Donald Huddle, an economist associated with Rice University.

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

You can view a listing of local immigration reform groups here.

STATE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION VOTING RECORD

You can view the voting record of your representatives in Congress regarding immigration issues in our voting report section.

Back to Top

Connecticut : Poll Data

A Rasmussen Report poll conducted 500 Likely Voters in Connecticut on December 12, 2007 found:

• 69% oppose granting drivers’ licenses to illegal aliens.
• 61% say that when police officers pull someone over for a traffic violation, they should routinely check to see if that person is in the country legally.
• 48% believe that if an illegal immigrant is discovered in this manner, they should be deported

Back to Top

Connecticut : Immigrant Admissions

Recent immigrant admissions have jumped more than 149% since the level of admissions just after adoption of the current immigration system in 1965. During the 1965-'69 period, annual admissions averaged about 8,810 immigrants. During the most recent five years, admissions averaged about 13,140 persons.

The charts below show recent immigrant admissions and the cumulative immigrant admissions data since 1965. The number of annual admissions has ranged from 5,855 in FY'74 to 18,700 in FY'06. The cumulative total of admissions to Connecticut between fiscal years 1965 and 2005 was about 382,615 immigrants.

 

The data for fiscal years 1989-91 were artificially raised slightly by the inclusion of former illegal aliens who were amnestied in 1986. According to INS data (1991) the number of amnesty applicants from Connecticut was 6,229 (3,274 pre-1982 residents and 2,955 agricultural workers).

The data for FY'95 and FY'97-'99 and FY'03 were artificially low because the government did not issue green cards to all the eligible applicants for adjustment of status who were already in the United States. In those four years, new immigration could have registered as much as 30 percent higher, if the government had kept up with its workload.

Beginning with FY'01, the INS began to increase admissions as a result of reducing the size of the backlog of Section 245(i) adjustment of status cases, i.e., amnesty, for illegal aliens.

INS DATA BY NATIONALITY: FY'96 - FY'05

The table below furnishes INS data on the immigrants who have been admitted for residence in Connecticut since 1996 by nationality.

The INS data are for nationals of the countries with the largest number of immigrants admitted or adjusted to legal residence each year since 1996. The absence of data means that the total number of admissions to the United States by nationals of that country was not enough to merit detailed reporting in that year.

The nationalities may change each year, so the totals in some cases will not reflect all the immigrants of that nationality who have become legal immigrants in Louisiana during this period.

The Department of Homeland Security website is has detailed data on immigrant admissions since FY’03 by year and by country. That resource has data for all source countries. (See http://www.dhs.gov/ximgtn/statistics/data/dslpr.shtm).

A dash (-) indicates that the data for that year was not published for that country in the Immigration Statistical Yearbook.  * China includes Hong Kong and Taiwan. The Soviet Union includes Russia and former parts of the USSR. Yugoslavia includes Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro-Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.

The 31 nationalities above represent three-quarters (75.3%) of all immigrant settlement and adjustment in Connecticut during this ten-year period. Immigrants from Poland, Jamaica, former Soviet Union, India and China accounted for nearly one-third (32%) of all immigrant admissions and adjustments since 1996. 

Back to Top

Connecticut : Immigration Impact

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

Population Change 

Connecticut’s population increased by 3.6 percent between 1990 and 2000, and by 2.9 percent between 2000 and 2006, bringing Connecticut's total population to approximately 3.5 million. 

Approximately 76.8 percent of the total population increase between 2000 and 2006 in Connecticut was directly attributable to immigrants.

FAIR estimates the illegal alien population in 2005 at 55,000. This number is 41% above the U.S. government estimate of 39,000 in 2000, and 189% above the 1990 estimate of 19,000.

According to an estimate of the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2005 there were an estimated 70,000 to 100,000 illegal aliens living in Connecticut. 2/

FAIR estimates in 2004 that the taxpayers of Connecticut spent $228.5 million per year on illegal aliens and their children in public schools.3/

Environmental and Quality of Life Profile

Water: Between 2000 and 2006, Connecticut’s foreign-born population increased by 22.3 percent.^4/ That compares with a 0.6 percent increase in the native-born population and that includes the children born to immigrants. When the U.S-born children of immigrants are included, immigration accounts for all of the state’s growth during that time.^5/ By 2050 the state’s population is expected to rise from 3.5 million in 2006 to 4.9 million.⁶ Connecticut has a daily, per-capita water demand of 124.5 gallons.⁷ This means that by 2050 public water usage will have increased by 174.3 million gallons each day.

Schools: Between 1990 and 2000 Connecticut’s elementary and high school enrollment increased 20 percent, and increased almost four percent between 2000 and 2006.8/,9/ Suburban schools are becoming increasingly strained. Disputes over residency have become more common as urban families look for better education and suburban schools struggle to handle the influx of students.10/ In some areas, like Litchfield, classes are held in converted locker rooms, gyms double as cafeterias, and students start eating lunch as early as 10:30 a.m. because of lack of space.11/  

Disappearing Open Space: A study of urban sprawl between 1970 and 1990 that calculated the impact of population increase and per capita land use found that 11.9 square miles of additional land were consumed by urban sprawl in the Bridgeport-Milford area, and 1.6% percent of that sprawl was attributable to population increase. In the New Haven-Meriden area sprawl consumed an additional 80.4 square miles and population increase accounted for 46.4 percent of the increase.12/

Traffic: As population growth put more traffic on the roads the average commute for Connecticut residents increased 16 percent during the 1990s, from 21 minutes in 1990 to 24 minutes in 2000, and 24.8 minutes in 2005. 13/,14/,15/ 38 percent of Connecticut's major urban roads are congested and 53 percent of Connecticut's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition. Vehicle travel on Connecticut's highways increased 19% from 1990 to 2003.Congestion in the Hartford area costs commuters $309 per person per year, $566 in the Bridgeport-Stamford area per person per year, and $390 per person per year in the New Haven area in excess fuel and lost time.16/ Residents in New Haven experienced an annual delay of 20 hours, and in Hartford an annual delay of 16 hours.17/ In 2006 14 percent of Connecticut’s population had a commute of 45 minutes or more.18/

Crowded Housing: 23,128 Connecticut households were defined as crowded by housing authorities in 2005.19/ Studies show that a rise in crowded housing often correlates with an increase in the number of foreign-born.20/,121/

Sprawl: The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk-Danbury suburban area of Connecticut has the seventh worst sprawl in the country, according to a report by Smart Growth America. Each year, Connecticut loses 7,900 acres due to development.22/

Air Pollution: All eight of Connecticut’s counties received a grade of “F” in the American Lung Association’s State of the Air 2005 report.23/ As population increases, pollution usually rises along with it.

Solid Waste: Connecticut generates 1.4 tons of solid waste per capita. 24/

Poverty: Approximately ten percent of immigrants living in Connecticut had incomes below the poverty level in 2005, an increase of almost 14 percent since 2000. Among non-citizens the poverty rate climbs to twelve and half percent.25/

Schools: Connecticut’s K-12 enrollment increased by more than 21,000 students between 2000 and 2006, or 3.66 percent. 26/, 27/

 

Endnotes:

1. FAIR estimate based on the 2006 Current Population Survey.
2. "Estimates of the Unauthorized Migrant Population for states based on the March 2005 CPS", Pew Hispanic Center
3. Martin, Jack. “Breaking the Piggy Bank: How Illegal Immigration is Sending Schools into the Red,” A Report by the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
4. U.S. Census Bureau 2006
5. Jack Martin. “Issue Brief: Estimation of Foreign Born Birthrate.” FAIR. 2008.
6. Jack Martin and Stanley Fogel. “Projecting the U.S. Population to 2050.” FAIR. March 2006.
7. U.S. Geological Survey 2000.
8. "Overview of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools and Districts: School Year 1999-2000," National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education.
9. "Public Elementary and Secondary School Student Enrollment, High School Completions, and Staff From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2005-06', National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, June 2007
10. John Christoffersen and Kathryn Masterson, “You May Already be a Loser,” Associated Press, January 29, 2002.
11. Andy Thibault "Litchfield at the Crossroads: Quality of LIfe and Property Value Issues, " Voice News, February 29, 2002.
12. Beck, Roy and Leon Kolankiewicz, “Weighing Sprawl Factors in Large U.S. Cities,” NumbersUSA, March 2001
13. “Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000,” Census 2000, U.S. Census Bureau.
14. “Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 1990,” 1990 Census, U.S. Census Bureau.
15. "Data Set: 2005 American Community Survey: Connecticut 2005," American Factfinder, U.S. Census Bureau.
16. Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers.
17. "The 2005 Urban Mobility Report", Texas Transportation Institute.
18. “U.S. Population 2007 Data Sheet,” Population Reference Bureau.
19. "Data Set: 2005 American Community Survey: Connecticut 2005," American Factfinder, U.S. Census Bureau.
20. Haya El Nasser, “U.S. Neighborhoods Grow More Crowded,” USA Today, July 7, 2002.
21. Randy Capps, “Hardship Among Children of Immigrants: Findings from the 1999 National Survey of America’s Families,” Urban Institute, 2001.
22. 17 Genaro Armas, “Riverside-San Bernadino, Calif., is Nation’s Most Sprawling Area, Advocacy Group Says,” Associated Press, October 18, 2002.
23. “State Rankings by Acreage and Rate of Non-federal Land Developed,” Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
24. “State of the Air 2005: Connecticut”, American Lung Association.
25. Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers.
26. "Overview of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools and Districts: School Year 1999-2000," National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education.
27. "Public Elementary and Secondary School Student Enrollment, High School Completions, and Staff From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2005-06', National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, June 2007.

Back to Top

Back to Top