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Florida

Summary Demographic State Data (and Source)
Population (2008 Census Bureau est.):	18,328,340
Population (2000 Census):	15,982,378
Foreign-Born Population (2008 FAIR est.):	3,602,720
Foreign-Born Population (2000 Census):	2,670,828
Share Foreign-Born (2008 FAIR est.):	19.7%
Share Foreign-Born (2000):	16.7%
Immigrant Stock (2000 CB est.):	4,637,000
Share Immigrant Stock (2000 est.):	29.0%
Naturalized U.S. Citizens (2006 Census):	1,549,785
Share Naturalized (2006 est.):	45.2%
Legal Immigrant Admission (DHS 1997-2006):	901,020
Refugee Admission (DHS 1997-2006):	140,947
Illegal Alien Population (2008 FAIR est.):	950,000
Costs of Illegal Aliens (2009 FAIR)	$3,831,000,000
Projected 2050 Population (2006 FAIR)	33,455,308

Immigration-driven population growth is taking its toll on Florida, the seventh fastest growing state in the U.S. In the last ten years, over three million new residents settled in Florida - an increase that is larger than the entire population of the state in 1950. One-third of these new residents were immigrants. This large-scale population growth is bringing traffic, pollution, overcrowded schools, and lack of affordable housing to the state, decreasing quality of life and straining natural resources.

In 1995, then-Governor Lawton Chiles' Commission for a Sustainable South Florida warned in a unanimous report that "rapid population growth and sprawling development patterns are leading South Florida down a path toward wall-to-wall suburbanization." Governor Jeb Bush's Growth Management Commission agreed that traffic crowded classrooms, water shortages, and pollution are serious and growing problems in the state. Yet Florida continues to add the third largest number of immigrants of any state.

Florida : Census Bureau Data

STATE POPULATION

Using the Current Population Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that in July 2008 Florida’s population had increased to 18,328,340 residents, i.e., an annual average increase of about 282,645 residents since 2000. That is a rate of increase of about 1.5 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 694,850 residents from net international migration (more foreign-born arriving than leaving). That was an annual average increase of about 83,715 residents, i.e., nearly three-tenths (29.6%) of the total increase (not including the children born to the immigrants after their arrival in the United States).

The Census finding represented about 750 thousand more persons than the Census Bureau had expected to find in the state in 2000 when it last issued state population projections in 1966. The significance of this is that the Census Bureau has concluded that much of the shortfall in their population estimates during the 1990s was due to an underestimation of the illegal alien population.

Florida had the 3rd greatest population increase in the country between 1960-2000. 

Over the 1980-90 decade, the state's population increased by 32.7 percent (from 9,746,961 to 12,937,926 residents).

FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION

Based on the American Community Survey (ACS), the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the foreign-born population of Florida was 3,369,748 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 Florida was about 3,602,720 residents in July 2008. This meant a foreign-born population share of 19.7 percent. The amount of change since the 2000 Census indicates an average annual rate of increase in the foreign-born population of about 127,655 people, which is more than two-fifths (45.2%) of the state’s annual average population increase. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 34.9 percent compared to a 10.6 percent 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 39.4 percent share of the state’s current births is large enough to account for about 74,785 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may account for about 202,445 persons added to the state’s population annually, i.e., more than seven-tenths (71.6%) 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 about one-third (33.1%) of the state's overall population increase over that decade. The effect of immigration on population change is still greater when the children of the immigrants born here after their arrival are 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 about 47 percent of the state's population increase, based on the increase in the share of those in Florida who speak a language other than English at home.

The 2000 Census found that 38.6 percent of Florida'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%).

An indicator of the change 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 non-English speakers at home (over age 5) in Florida increased by more than one-quarter, from 17.3 percent to 23.1 percent. Less than half (44.8%) of those who said they spoke a language other than English at home in 2000 also said they spoke English less than very well.

Speakers of Foreign Languages (at home in Florida in the 2000 Census)
Spanish	2,476,500
French Creole	208,485
French	125,445
German	89,575
Italian	67,255
Portuguese	54,710
Tagalog	38,440
Arabic	32,420
Vietnamese	30,960
Chinese	28,855
(Source: Census Bureau report: Language Spoken at Home for the Population 5 Years and Over, April 2004)

The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey found that in 2006, the foreign born population was 3,425,634 residents, an increase of 28.3% percent since 2000. In comparison, the foreign-born population changed from 1,662,601 to 2,670,828 residents between 1990 and 2000, an increase of 60.6 percent.

The ten countries above constituted 52.7% of the foreign-born population in Florida in 2006. Cuba accounted for approximately one fifth alone (20.5%)

Foreign-Born Change: Top Ten Countries 1990-2006
Rank	Country	1990		Country	2000		Country	2006
1	Cuba	497,619		Cuba	642,951		Cuba	703,108
2	Haiti	83,249		Mexico	189,119		Mexico	303,345
3	Canada	77,559		Haiti	182,224		Columbia	204,347
4	Jamaica	74,863		Jamaica	141,182		Jamaica	186,178
5	Nicaragua	72,060		Canada	99,139		Canada	114,914
6	Colombia	66,614		Nicaragua	98,022		Brazil	71,432
7	United Kingdom	61,069		United Kingdom	70,384		Philippines	60,022
8	Germany	55,321		Dominican Republic	66,690		India	58,090
9	Mexico	55,316		Germany	64,088		Germany	57,089
10	Italy	28,693		Peru	53,939		England	48,240
	All Other	590,232		All Others	1,063,090		All Others	3,425,634
	Total	1,662,601		Total	2,670,828		Total	1,806,765

Between the 2000 Census and the Census Bureau estimate for 2006, the foreign-born population in Florida increased by nearly 755,000 persons (28.3%). Latin America (including Mexico) accounted for an increase of more than 580,500 immigrants (29.9%). Mexico alone accounted for an increase of more than 114,200 additional immigrants (up 60.4%). That was greater than the 60,000 increase in Cuban immigrants. Immigrants from Asia grew by 42.6% (nearly 101,000 people). Immigrants from Africa rose by 71.5% (by nearly 24,700). The immigrant population from Europe and Canada increased by nearly 49,000 persons (10.7%).

THE IMMIGRANT STOCK

The Census Bureau estimated that there were about 4,637,000 people in Florida 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 and the 2000 population, the immigrant stock share of the state's population was about 29.0 percent -- the 4^th largest share in the country.

As the graph below shows, the amount and share of Florida’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 3,895,000 people to the population. Over this period, the increase in the foreign stock has accounted for 36.9 percent of the state’s population increase.

NATURALIZATION

Data from the 2006 American Community Survey indicate that 1,549,785 residents, or 45.2 percent, of the foreign-born population in Florida were citizens, compared to 1,207,502 residents, or 45.2 percent, in 2000.

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

Population Projection

Florida -- Projected Population in 2050: Projection Scenarios

Amnesty+	High-trend	Low-trend	Zero-net
33,455,308	31,498,757	30,164,814	24,068,298

Florida's projected population in 2050 could range anywhere from about 24 million residents to over 33 million. The more than 9 million resident difference between these extremes depends on whether policies aimed at immigration stability are adopted or, instead, currently advocated policies that would accommodate today's illegal alien population, allow a new stream of guest workers and increase legal immigration are adopted.

Without any change in immigration policy or enforcement, i.e., with the current trend in large-scale legal and illegal immigration, the state's population is likely to increase from today's more than 17 million residents to around 30 to 31.5 million persons in 2050 - an increase of 69 to 76 percent.

The largest difference from the current trend comes in comparison with a zero-net immigration scenario (when arriving immigrants balance those who are departing). In that case, the population would still grow, but more modestly by about 36 percent. However, if the currently proposed immigration expansion and illegal alien accommodation proposals were adopted - the amnesty/guest worker/immigration increase scenario - the increase in the projected population over the next 45 years would be more than 87 percent.

Florida -- Projected Population in 2050: Cohorts

1970 Pop.	Post-'70 Stock	Legal Post-'04	Illegal Post-'04	Amnesty+
16,902,028	7,166,269	5,568,406	1,862,053	1,956,552

The projection indicates that the population that was already in the country in 1970 - before the effects of the 1965 major change in immigration law - will be still increasing, by about 2.8 million persons (34%) before leveling off in about 2040. This trend reflects some net in-migration from other states as well as larger than average family size among the state's pre-1970 immigrant population.

Post-1970 immigrants are projected to have a rate of increase (88%) more than double the rate for the pre-1970 population. The high rate of growth is influenced by the larger average family size of these immigrants to the state. At the beginning of the projection, this post-1970 immigrant cohort already accounted for about 895,000 of the state's residents. By 2050, this cohort is projected to rise to 1.685 million residents simply on the basis of succeeding generations being larger than that of their forebears.

Without any change in the immigration laws, current mass immigration will continue into the state. Florida has had an average of more than 74,600 legal immigrant admissions per year between 1994 and 2003. The largest national group has been from Cuba (22.7%). They with immigrants from other majority Hispanic countries constitute more than half (57.5%) of this immigrant flow. Immigrants from countries with black populations in Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America have contributed about 22 percent of immigrant admissions. Immigrants from Asian countries and from countries with predominantly white populations have each contributed more than 10 percent of the flow. We project that new immigrants and their children from all sources will add more than 1.1 million residents to the state's population over the next 45 years if current trends remain unchanged.

Illegal immigration, like legal immigration to Florida, comes heavily from the Caribbean and Central America, but also increasingly from Mexico. We estimate that Florida's illegal alien population now numbers about 550,000 persons. The continued addition of illegal immigrants over the next 45 years, assuming it continues at current rates, is projected to add more than 1.5 million persons to the population from newcomers and their offspring.

Finally, we project that proposals for amnesty and other provision that are currently being advocated, if adopted, would add a further nearly 1.6 million persons to the state's population over the next 45 years. This would result from the family members of amnesty recipients, increased legal immigration, and increased long-term guest worker residents.

Florida -- Projected Population in 2050: Demographic Change

White, not Hispanic	Mexican	Other Hispanic	Black	Asian	Other
13,853,101	2,725,039	8,913,066	5,668,622	1,808,334	487,147

The rate of population change for the various scenarios depends on the size and demographic composition of the influx of immigrants, and the differential rates of fertility. The following projections are based on the highest scenario, i.e., amnesty/guestworker increases.

Non-Hispanic whites over the period of this projection increase slowly by nearly 1.5 million persons, or 26 percent. This trend is influenced in part by net migration from other states.

Because the Hispanic population constitutes a large share of the post-70 and continuing immigrant influx as well as potential amnesty beneficiaries, and this population on average has larger than replacement family size, the Hispanic population is projected to rise rapidly: rising by about 3.6 million (476%).

The Asian population is also projected rise sharply, by about 307 percent. That increase is due to the projected addition of more than 760,000 individuals. Blacks are projected to increase by a more moderate 70 percent as a result of adding about 1.8 million residents.

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Florida : Extended Immigration Data

GENERAL INFORMATION

Florida has the third-largest immigrant population in the United States (after California and New York), and the fourth-largest immigrant population share of its total population (after the above two states and Hawaii). More than one of every eight of its residents is foreign born. About one in every eleven immigrants in the United States lives in Florida.

The majority of Florida's immigrants comes from the Caribbean basin. Mexico plays a minor role in this settlement pattern. The immigrant population is much more likely to be living in poverty (22.7%) than the native born (15%).

Florida receives federal assistance to help it defray the costs of the incarcerated criminal alien population in the state and to help it pay the welfare benefits that the state had to pay after the 1986 amnesty for illegal aliens. However, the federal funding falls far short of the costs of immigrants to the state, which led the state to unsuccessfully sue the federal government for additional remuneration. The Supreme Court ruled that the dispute between Florida -- along with other states heavily impacted by immigration -- and the federal government is a political issue that must be settled by Congress, which is responsible for fashioning the nation's immigration laws.

Refugee Settlement

Florida has received 140,947 refugees over the most recent ten fiscal years (FY'97-'06) including 5,247 persons in FY’06.

Under the Office of Refugee Resettlement's (HHS/ORR) assistance funding for FY'02 $15,405,547 is available for refugee employment training and other services programs in Florida based on a three-year refugee settlement program covering 61,383 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 $104,881,398 and $106,190,553.

IMMIGRANT CHILDREN

In 2000 nearly three-tenths of all of Florida's children are either foreign born or the child of an immigrant. Seven percent are first-generation immigrants (foreign born) and 21 percent are second-generation (a child of an immigrant).
(Source: "Check Points," The Urban Inst. Sept. 2, 2000)

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 Florida as 26,875. Several schools in Florida is listed as having a major concentration of these students:

University of Florida had enrollment of 3,921 foreign students, 7.7% of total enrollment.

Florida International University had enrollment of 3,271 foreign students, 8.5% of total enrollment.

University of South Florida had enrollment of 1,820 foreign students, 4.1% of total enrollment (Additional Schools)

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

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

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

You can view a listing of local immigration reform organizations 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.

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Florida : Immigrant Admissions

Florida Immigrant Admissions by Fiscal Year
1996	82,318
1997	59,965
1998	57,484
1999	98,391
2000	104,715
2001	90,819
2002	98,381
2003	75,644
2004	122,918
2005	155,916
Total	901,020

Recent immigrant admissions have jumped 368% since admissions just after adoption of the current immigration system in 1965. During the 1965-'69 period, annual admissions averaged about 27,045 immigrants. During the 2002-'06 period, admissions averaged about 99,630 immigrants.

The charts below show recent immigrant admissions and the cumulative INS immigrant admissions data since 1965. The number of annual admissions has ranged from 13,783 in FY'69 to 155,996 in FY'06. The cumulative total of admissions to Florida between fiscal years 1965 and 2006 was about 2,233,418 immigrants.

The data for fiscal years 1989-91 were artificially raised by the inclusion of former illegal aliens who were amnestied in 1986. According to INS data (1991) the number of amnesty applicants from Florida was 152,898 (50,137 pre-1982 residents and 102,761 agricultural workers). In FY'91 the number was about 80,000 higher than normal as a result of the amnesty enacted in 1986. The number of Mexicans settling in Florida in FY'91 also was about 40,000 higher than in other years during this period, and for Haitians the surge was over 20,000 higher than in other years (see the table below).

INS data for the 1996 fiscal year indicate that Florida had the third highest number of immigrants who naturalized as U.S. citizens (after California and New York). The 123,368 surged from 31,372 in 1995. Nearly 43% of the new citizens were born in Cuba. Haitians, with slightly over 8%, were the second largest group. In Dade County there were 85,206 naturalizations (56% Cuban). The largest national origin group to naturalize in Broward County was from Jamaica (3,227 of 16,095). The 1996 INS data also show an increase in Cuban arrivals, i.e., 26,466 compared with 17,937 in 1995. That is the highest number of arriving Cubans since 1987.

The data for FY'95, FY'97-'99 and FY'03 were artificially low because the 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 Florida 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).

 

Immigrant Admissions by Fiscal Year
Country	FY'96	FY'97	FY'98	FY'99	FY'00	FY'01	FY'02	FY'03	FY'04	FY'05	Total
Bangladesh	364	300	311	192	344	-	285	182	388	532	2,848
Canada	1,866	1,396	1,075	846	2,011	1,953	1,544	796	1,344	2,181	15,012
China *	1,047	977	848	766	1,454	1,285	1,272	861	1,231	2,178	11,919
Colombia	3,510	3,702	3,452	2,531	5,739	5,302	6,000	4,983	6,086	9,821	51,126
Cuba	22,217	28,433	14,265	10,293	15,883	21,729	22,262	6,303	14,992	30,624	187,001
Dom. Rep.	2,050	1,663	1,483	1,111	1,642	1,439	1,493	1,627	1,880	2,064	16,452
Ecuador	609	718	648	763	1,088	994	1,088	878	967	1,580	9,333
El Salvador	539	498	400	405	651	725	665	411	399	862	5,555
Germany	-	688	629	589	954	822	827	437	631	970	6,547
Guatemala	522	503	480	414	724	698	859	527	644	1,222	6,593
Guyana	501	497	313	243	432	-	673	476	427	786	4,348
Haiti	7,748	7,262	6,613	7,305	11,044	17,136	10,961	5,472	6,745	7,378	87,664
Honduras	-	1,959	1,594	1,012	1,414	-	1,153	869	951	1,500	10,452
India	1,393	1,239	1,079	980	1,438	1,782	1,652	1,219	2,534	3,714	17,030
Iran	390	283	291	163	309	309	262	213	249	343	2,812
Ireland	-	61	56	60	109	-	83	54	73	110	606
Jamaica	4,996	5,246	4,795	3,454	5,350	4,560	4,321	3,842	4,074	5,270	45,908
Japan	-	142	125	119	271	243	194	183	242	290	1,809
Korea	262	211	202	211	326	296	256	148	320	638	2,870
Mexico	3,155	3,131	2,788	2,386	4,597	3,596	3,822	1,567	2,704	4,236	31,982
Nicaragua	-	3,3320	1,619	9,515	14,400	10,712	4,163	1,371	1,400	1,252	47,752
Nigeria	294	233	248	161	261	-	196	219	238	349	2,199
Pakistan	422	609	483	385	606	581	503	323	414	622	4,948
Peru	2,338	2,183	1,937	1,322	2,396	2,197	2,339	2,290	2,473	4,101	23,576
Philippines	1,796	1,495	837	786	1,922	1,933	1,897	1,668	2,239	2,766	17,339
Poland	389	312	200	166	317	351	290	294	381	550	3,250
Sov. Un. *	707	537	728	792	1,683	1,344	1,565	1,202	1,623	2,699	12,880
Trin.& Tob.	-	945	853	587	1,278	-	833	745	917	1,175	7,333
U. Kingdom	1,505	1,152	919	735	1,675	1,595	1,295	864	1,416	2,396	13,552
Vietnam	977	945	437	554	994	1,178	887	571	822	1,078	8,452
Yugo. *	498	357	286	444	1,247	1,767	3,121	724	1,130	1,764	11,338
Other	19,366	11,312	9,971	8,194	15,832	20,188	14,058	11,451	15,760	27,867	153,999
Total	79,461	82,318	59,965	57,484	98,391	104,715	90,819	52,770	75,644	122,918	824,485

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 more than four-fifths (81.3%) of all immigrant settlement and adjustment in Florida during this ten-year period. Nearly one-quarter (22.3%) of all immigrants since 1996 came from Cuba. Haitians, Jamaicans, Nicaraguans and Colombians along with the Cubans accounted for more than half (50.9%) of all new "green card" recipients in Florida since 1996. 

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Florida : Social Policy Issues

EDUCATION

"A whopping influx of foreign-born students that exceeds the Mariel wave of 1980 has Miami-Dade County school officials scrambling to solve space problems.... The school district -- the fourth largest in the country, with more than 362,000 students this year -- is fighting a losing battle against crowding, said Marta Leyva, associate superintendent.... ''During the Mariel boatlift, we took in 10,000 kids in three or four months. School district statistics show that 17,509 foreign-born students were admitted between July 1, 1999, and April 10, 2000, with more and more arriving. A total of 71,962 foreign-born students have entered Miami-Dade schools since July 1, 1995. The data for this school year show a resurgence of new arrivals from Cuba (4,418), Nicaragua (1,606) and Haiti (1,405), plus a significant influx from Colombia (2,980) and Venezuela (1,058). Worries about crowding have replaced the angry parents, raucous crowds and accusations of racism that marred some of the Miami-Dade School Board's past deliberations...." (Source: Miami Herald, Apr. 24, 2000)

Education for illegal aliens totaled $180.4 million in 1993. This number represents another 24 percent increase in costs from the previous year when illegal alien education was $145.9 million. The increase is due to the rise in illegal aliens arriving in Florida.
(Source: Florida Governor's Office)

Florida's education costs for both legal and illegal immigrants in 1993 were $517.6 million, which is up 24% from 1992's expenditure of $418.5 million. The state spent $254 million alone on the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program.

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 enrolled in Limited English Proficiency/English Language Learning (LEP/ELL) 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, with the exception being areas with native Americans who speak a native language other than English.

In Florida, overall enrollment in 2002 (2,500,161) was 10 percent above enrollment in 1993. By contrast, LEP enrollment (290,024 - 11.6% of all enrollment) was 123 percent higher than a decade earlier.

Data on enrollment in LEP/ELL programs are collected by the federal government from school systems that receive Title VII funds for these special instruction programs. The data on LEP/ELL enrollment are understated because data from private schools that do not apply for Title VII assistance are sketchy.

HEALTH CARE AND WELFARE

Lawyers at Florida Legal Services and the American Civil Liberties Union's Florida chapter are preparing to file a civil-rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice, contending that it is illegal for the the Miami-Dade Public Health Trust to provide free or discounted care to one group of county residents while denying the same benefit to another -- even if they are undocumented.
The Miami-Dade County attorney's office, while conceding that no law requires trust officials to ask for immigration documents, contends that the policy is not discriminatory because the papers are used only to check whether patients qualify for government reimbursement.
Jackson spends about $350 million a year on indigent care that is unreimbursed, trust officials said.
(Source: Miami Herald, August 13, 2000)

Health and welfare services for both legal and illegal aliens cost Florida $38.4 million in 1993, which is up by almost $10 million from the $29.4 million spent in 1992. These costs include Medicaid and include data from Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration and Health and Rehabilitative Services.
(Source: Florida Governor's Office, ibid)

Welfare costs for illegal immigrants in Florida have driven the state to deny foster care for children of illegal aliens.
(Source: Washington Times, February 12, 1994)

In April, 1997, Gov. Chiles announced plans to sue the federal government to reverse the cut-off of welfare benefits for an estimated 95,000 immigrant recipients in Florida. The benefits that are being lost include an average $76 per month in food stamps. Another 54,000 immigrants stand to lose an average of $342 per month in SSI benefits. The total amount of benefits being lost in these two programs amounts to over $300 million in a year. Those benefits are lost only by immigrants who (1) have been in the United States for over three to five years (only refugees are eligible for benefits earlier than that), (2) have not become U.S. citizens, (3) have not contributed into the Social Security system for ten years and (4) have not served in the U.S. military.
(Source: Associated Press, April 22, 1997)

With the cut-off of food stamps in 1997, the state acted to cover the terminated benefits for some of the neediest immigrants. A $400,000 fund was set up for feeding children and disabled aliens. There are more than 3,500 disabled immigrants, predominantly in Dade County. Statewide, a total of about 50,000 legal immigrants lost food stamps under the federal action.
(Source: Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Dec. 28, 1997)

CRIME

About 4,100 of Florida's prisoners are immigrants, and 1,400 of those inmates are illegal aliens.
(Source: New York Times, April 9, 1994)

According to Florida's lawsuit against the federal government, Chiles v. United States, et al., the state says it pays $58.6 million a year to incarcerate criminal aliens. Costs include:

$52.6 million from 1988-1993 for the Mariel Reimbursement program;

$130.7 million from 1988-93 for other incarceration;

$33.1 million from 1980-1993 for probation and parole;

$33.6 million from 1980-1993 for public infrastructure for criminal justice. (Source: Tampa Tribune, February 25, 1994)

On April 8, 1994, Florida prison officials settled a first-of-its-kind agreement with the INS to deport 500 to 1,000 criminal aliens being held in the state's prisons. On average, prisoners in Florida serve only 41% of their sentences because the jails are so crowded.
(Source: New York Times, April 9, 1994)

ENVIRONMENT

Due to the rapid population expansion in Florida from more than a decade of high-level immigration, the Western Florida Bay is rapidly becoming an ecological disaster. About 450 square miles of the bay, termed the "dead zone" by local fishermen, have turned from clear waters with teeming sea life to pea-green gruel. Experts theorize that development has drastically reduced the flow of fresh water across the Everglades' sawgrass prairie, changing water temperatures, increasing salinity levels and killing off sea animals and plants. The change in the Florida Bay also threatens the delicate coral reefs off the Florida Keys which depend on stable and precise water conditions for their survival.
(Source: The Miami Herald, August 11, 1992)

The Water Constraint

A book by former Illinois Senator Paul Simon, now head of the Southern Illinois Univ. Public Policy Institute, focuses on the looming shortage of potable water as population expands. The book, "Tapped Out," describes water resource shortages around the world and in the United States. Florida is pinpointed as one of the trouble areas. Simon writes: "Florida's problems are...mushrooming population...and problems with drainage and irrigation. Florida developed a plan in 1995 for the state's five water-management districts. The forward to the plan summarizes the situation: 'In many areas of the state, the prospects for new...inexpensive, clean sources of water no longer exist.' It adds, 'Ninety percent of the state's population depends on groundwater, and the groundwater is highly susceptible to contamination from...municipal landfills, hazardous waste dumps, septic tanks and agricultural pesticides.'" (Source: Parade Magazine, August 23, 1998)

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Florida : Illegal Aliens

FAIR estimates the state’s illegal alien population as of 2008 is as many as 950,000 persons. This is part of an overall estimate of the U.S. illegal alien population of about 13 million persons.

INS ESTIMATE

The INS (now dissolved into the Dept. of Homeland Security) estimated in February 2003 that the population of illegal immigrants in Florida in January 2000 was 337,000. This was a drop from the previous INS estimate that in October 1996 the population was about 350,000 illegal residents. The INS estimated the illegal resident alien population in Florida as of October 1992 at 270,000. The current estimate is the fifth largest concentration of illegal aliens in the country.

In November 2006, DHS updated the estimate of the state's illegal alien population to 850,000, an increase of over 500,000since 2003! The most recent estimate by DHS put the illegal population in the state at 980,000 in 2006.

The state government has estimated the illegal alien population higher -- about 420,000 (per the Associated Press, April 22, 1997). These are mostly new illegal resident aliens since 1986, as the amnesty for illegal aliens, for which 156,000 applied from Florida, converted the bulk of older illegal aliens in legal permanent residents. The decline in the INS estimate from 1996 to 2000 is also likely due to Cuban, Haitian and Nicaraguan and some other illegal aliens having benefited from amnesty provisions and gained green cards.

INS data listed in 1991 the number of applicants from Florida for the amnesty for illegal aliens adopted in 1986 as 152,898 (50,137 long-term illegal residents and 102,761 agricultural workers.

OTHER ESTIMATES

The Pew Hispanic Center estimated in March 2005 that the illegal alien population in Florida was 850,000 in 2004.

Based upon the new 2000 Census data, the Migration Policy Institute issued a May 2002 study that estimated Florida's illegal alien population at 700,000.

COSTS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS

Incarceration Costs—Florida 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 Florida 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 Florida's illegal alien inmate population had increased by 83 percent from the 3,054 inmate years in FY'99 to 5,596 inmate years in FY'02, while compensation rose by 29 percent, but then fell off steeply.

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 Florida, the proposed payment in fiscal year 2004 is $8,844,117.

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 Florida taxpayer $1.243 billion dollars annually. This cost was partially for educating students who were themselves illegally in the country ($518.1 million) and in part for the education of their siblings born in the United States to illegal residents ($725.3 million).

Projected Fiscal Costs—In 2006 we estimated that Floridian taxpayers are currently burdened with annual costs of about $1.820 billion 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 $3.094 billion per year in 2010 and to $5.352 billion per year in 2020.

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Florida : Poll Data

Florida Zogby Polling Results (March 2009)

A Zogby International poll of 801 likely voters across the state found that, by an overwhelming margin, Floridians believe that illegal immigration is harming their state.

71.3% of Florida voters say illegal immigration has a negative impact on the state. Only 14.4% believe it has a positive impact on Florida.

83.5% of Florida voters believe illegal aliens have a negative impact on the state budget, versus only 7.9% who believe their impact is positive.

57.5% believe illegal immigration should be reduced through better enforcement of immigration laws. Only 36% of Florida voters favor amnesty or legalization for current illegal aliens.

68.6% of Florida voters want worksite immigration enforcement to continue. Only 21.1% support the Obama administration’s decision to curtail worksite enforcement.

Read FAIR’s press release and illegal immigrant cost study for Florida released with this poll.

 

Breakdown of Florida Zogby polling data

Poll of 801 Florida Likely Voters 3/27/09 - 3/31/09 (MOE +/- 3.5 Percentage Pts.)

As a resident of Florida, what impact, if any, do you believe illegal immigration is having on the state?

Negative		37.9%
Somewhat Negative		33.4
Somewhat Positive		11.8
Very Positive		2.6
No Impact		7.8
Not Sure		6.5

What impact, if any, do you believe the nearly 1 million illegal immigrants living in Florida have on the state budget?

Negative		44.7%
Somewhat Negative		38.8
Somewhat Positive		3.8
Very Positive		4.1
No Impact		5.5
Not Sure		3.2

Statement A:	I oppose legalization, or amnesty, for illegal immigrants. Instead, the government should enforce and strengthen existing laws to convince illegal immigrants to return home and open up jobs for unemployed American workers.
Statement B:	I support granting legalization, or amnesty, to current illegal immigrants, allowing them to keep their jobs, coupled with a commitment on the part of the government to enforce our immigration laws in the future.

Statement A		57.5%
Statement B		36.0
Neither		6.0
Not Sure		.5

An immigration reform bill supported by the president and congressional leaders promises that the government will take steps to prevent illegal immigration in the future. How much confidence do you have that those promises would be fulfilled?

Very Confident		9.1%
Somewhat Confident		29.0
Somewhat Unconfident		17.5
Not confident at all		42.8
Not Sure		1.6

Statement A:	Legalizing, or granting amnesty to, the nearly 1 million illegal immigrants now living in Florida would harm American workers, add to the state's fiscal crisis, and lead to more illegal immigration.
Statement B:	Legalizing or granting amnesty to, the nearly 1 million illegal immigrants now living in Florida would benefit all workers in the state, ease the state's fiscal crisis, and solve the problem of illegal immigration once and for all.

Statement A		62.1%
Statement B		18.1
Neither		17.5
Not Sure		2.3

Which of the following statements best represents your thoughts on illegal immigration and the job market in Florida?

Statement A:	Illegal immigrants are taking jobs that should be available to legal residents of Florida.
Statement B:	Illegal immigrants, for the most part, are taking jobs American workers don’t want.
Statement C:	Illegal immigrants have little or no impact on the labor market in Florida.

Statement A		49.8%
Statement B		41.2
Statement C		5.7
Neither		3.0
Not Sure		0.3

Statement A:	It is important that Congress reauthorize E-Verify and preserve this protection for American workers.
Statement B:	Employers should be allowed to hire whomever they want, whether they are authorized to work in the U.S. or not.

Statement A		82.7%
Statement B		11.1
Neither		5.6
Not Sure		0.7

Statement A:	The government must have safeguards, like E-Verify, in place to make sure that only legal U.S. workers can fill jobs created with taxpayer money.
Statement B:	It makes no difference who fills jobs created with taxpayer money and no special effort should be made to ensure that only legal U.S. workers take those jobs.

Statement A		82.0%
Statement B		9.8
Neither		7.9
Not Sure		0.4

A number of state governments have adopted policies that require all employers to use E-Verify to ensure the workers they hire are legally allowed to work in America. Do you agree or disagree that similar policies should be adopted in Florida, or not?

Agree		84.4%
Disagree		13.0
Not Sure		2.6

Statement A:	Worksite enforcement against companies that employ illegal immigrants is effective and should be maintained, or increased, and illegal workers should be removed.
Statement B:	Worksite enforcement against companies that employ illegal immigrants is ineffective and should be decreased or eliminated.

Statement A		68.6%
Statement B		21.1
Neither		7.8
Not Sure		2.5

Statement A:	Immigration enforcement should never separate families. Illegal immigrants who have family members who are citizens or legal residents should be allowed to remain.
Statement B:	All law enforcement potentially separates families. People who violate laws, including immigration laws, are responsible for any hardship it causes their families and they should be held accountable.

Statement A		37.8%
Statement B		49.4
Neither		11.1
Not Sure		1.7

 

A Rasmussen Report poll conducted of 685 likely Republican voters in Florida on December 11th found:

• 28% (a plurality) rank immigration as the most important issue in determining their vote in the presidential election.

A Quinnipiac University Poll conducted of 1,124 Florida voters from November 26-December 03, 2007 found:

• 66% favor stricter immigration laws and are opposed to amnesty.
• 25% would not vote for a candidate if they completely disagree with him or her on immigration, but agree on other issues

A Rasmussen Report poll conducted 508 Likely Republican Primary Voters in Florida on November 18th found:

• 90% oppose granting drivers’ licenses to illegal aliens.
• 83% 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.
• 78% believe that if an illegal immigrant is discovered in this manner, they should be deported.

A Rasmussen Report poll conducted 529 LikelyDemocratic Primary Voters in Floridaon November 18th found:

• 73% oppose granting drivers’ licenses to illegal aliens.
• 72% 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.
• 51% believe that if an illegal immigrant is discovered in this manner, they should be deported.

A South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Florida Times-Union poll taken in April, 2006 (of 600 adults, including of 138 non-voters) found that:

• 88% believe that illegal immigrants drain social services.
• 72% believe that illegal immigrants should be denied driver's licenses.
• 60% believe that illegal immigrants are driving down wages and hurting the economy.

A Research 2000 poll conducted among likely voters at the end of February 2005 with a +/- 4%age point margin of error found the following (per the March 5 South Florida Sun-Sentinel):

• “Two-thirds…would oppose a plan to allow some undocumented immigrants to live and work legally [the Bush plan] in the US.”
• “…voters oppose - by more than a 3-to-1 margin - letting states issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants…”
• “Only two in 10 Hispanics favored a law allowing undocumented immigrants to work legally in the country. Only two in 10 favored issuing driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants. And only 38% of Florida’s Hispanics…said they thought immigration helped the United States.”
• 81% said that the country should place more restrictions on immigration. (South Florida Sun Sentinel, Sept. 2001)
  

According to a Sun-Sentinel poll of 807 registered voters reported in the Sept. 25, 2001 issue of the newspaper, 81 percent of the respondents agreed that the country should place more restrictions on immigration. The expansion of federal police powers to "indefinitely detain legal immigrants suspected of crimes during a national emergency," was supported by 70 percent of respondents. The poll showed that minorities favor restrictions by larger percentages than whites, and that women are slightely more favorable than men.

The Polling Company conducted a poll, for Negative Population Growth, September 23-27, 1999 (500 likely Florida voters, margin of error 4.4%). The findings were:

• Nearly 60 percent of Florida voters say adding another 5 million residents to Florida's population [the amount of increase now projected by 2025] is either an "extremely serious" or "serious" problem.
• Over 70 percent believe Florida's overcrowding and overpopulation is a major problem.
• 68 percent agee that "Florida would be better-off in the long term with a smaller population to maintain a sound economy and a healthy environment."
• A similar number want immigration scaled back.

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Florida : Immigration Impact

State Population (2006 CB estimate)	18,089,888
State Population in 2000	16,050,166
Average Annual Change 2000-2006	2.1%
Foreign Born Population 20061	3,195,405
Foreign Born Share 2006	17.7%
Foreign Born Population 2000	2,670,828
Foreign Born Share 2000	15.03%
Average Annual Change 2000-2006	%
Population Projection 2010	17.5 million
Population Projection 2025	25.9 million
Population Projection 2050 (FAIR)	31.5 million

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

Population Change

Florida’s population increased by 37 percent between 1990 and 2000, and by 12.7 percent between 2000 and 2006, bringing Florida’s total population to approximately 18 million. 

In 2006 Florida was the ninth fastest growing state in the United States, and accounted for the 2nd largest increase in numerical population size.²

Approximately 25.7 percent of the total population increase between 2000 and 2006 in Florida was directly attributable to immigrants.

FAIR estimates the illegal alien population in 2005 at 555,000, which ranks fifth in the U.S for the FAIR estimate. This number is 65% above the U.S. government estimate of 337,000 in 2000, and 132% above the 1990 estimate of 239,000.

According to an estimate of the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2005 there were an estimated 800,000 to 950,000 illegal aliens living in Florida. That ranked third among illegal alien populations in the United States for the PEW estimate. ³

FAIR estimates in 2004 that the taxpayers of Florida spent $1243.4 million per year on illegal aliens and their children in public schools. 4/

Estimated Annual Fiscal Costs to Florida Taxpayers for Emergency Medical Care, Education and Incarceration Resulting from Illegal or "Guest" Workers and Projected Costs Based on an Amnesty in millions
Current	2010	2020
$1,820	$3,094	$5,352

 

Population Profile

In 1995, then-Governor Lawton Chiles’s Commission for a Sustainable South Florida warned in a unanimous report that “rapid population growth and sprawling development patterns are leading South Florida down a path toward wall-to-wall suburbanization.” Last year, Governor’s Jeb Bush’s Growth Management Commission agreed that traffic, crowded classrooms, water shortages, and pollution are serious and growing problems in the state.⁵ Yet Florida continues to add the third largest number of immigrants of any state.

Florida’s foreign-born population increased 61 percent during the 1990s. Between 1990 and 2000, Florida gained over one million immigrants.

Foreign-Born Population 

Florida’s foreign-born population increased by over 19.6 percent between 2000 and 2006. During that period Florida gained over 524,000 immigrants, bringing the total number of foreign-born residents in the state to almost 3.2 million.

 

 

 

 

Environmental and Quality of Life Profile

Water: Between 2000 and 2006, Florida’s foreign-born population experienced a net increase of 754,806 immigrants, constituting a 28.3 percent increase. This compares with a 10.2 percent increase in the native-born population and that included the children born to immigrants. Including the U.S.-born children of these immigrants, immigration accounts for nearly three-fifths (59.1%) of the state’s overall population increase.⁶

Florida has a daily, per-capita water demand of approximately 153 gallons.⁷ By 2050 Florida’s population is projected to surge from 18 million in 2006 to 31.7 million.⁸This means that if Florida’s current growth rates continue, by 2050, Florida will have increased its public water demands by 2.1 billion gallons per day.

In particular, coastal states such as Florida may be affected more severely by climate change. In addition to more evaporation, higher sea levels from melted glaciers may push saltwater into underground sources of freshwater.⁹

One hundred years ago Florida had too much water, but its large swamps have been sacrificed to urban sprawl. So much of the landscape has been paved that water can no longer readily enter the ground to replenish aquifers. As a result, large quantities of water are regularly flushed into the ocean to prevent flooding.¹⁰

Florida currently leads the way in water reuse, recycling about 240 billion gallons annually; however, this is not enough. Florida currently uses 2.4 trillion gallons of water each year, and that number will continue to skyrocket with the swelling population.¹¹

"We just passed a crossroads. The chief water sources are basically gone," said John Mulliken, director of water supply for the South Florida Water Management District. "We really are at a critical moment in Florida history."¹²

 Florida has begun to turn to desalination, both of sea water, and deep brackish wells, Desalination occurs especially in the Tampa Bay area, where the nation’s largest desalination plant produces up to 25 million gallons of water per day.¹³  However, the 158 million dollar plant operating in Tampa Bay, and the high energy costs associated with desalination will drive up the cost of water considerably, as well as causing detrimental impacts on coastal marine life due to excess salt.¹⁴

Traffic: As population growth put more traffic on the roads, the average commute for Florida residents increased 20 percent during the 1990s, to 26 minutes in 2005.¹⁵, ¹⁶34% of Florida's major urban roads are congested, and vehicle travel on Florida's highways increased 69% from 1990 to 2003.¹⁷

Driving on roads in need of repair costs Florida motorists $1.1 billion a year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs --- $82 per motorist. Congestion in the Cape Coral area costs commuters $249 per person, $558 per person in the Jacksonville area, $927 per person in Miami, $904 per person in Orlando, $332 per year in Pensacola, $353 per person per year in Sarasota,  and $742 in Tampa per person per year in excess fuel and lost time.¹⁸

In 2003, travelers experienced and annual delay of 51 hours in Miami, 55 hours in Orlando (9^th in the nation), 46 hours in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area, 34 hours in Jacksonville, and 19 hours in the Sarasota-Bradenton area. ¹⁹ 16 percent of commuters had a commute that was 45 minutes or more in 2006. ²⁰

Between 1980 and 1997 the total vehicle miles traveled in Florida increased by 99 porcent.²¹ By 2020, the number of miles traveled on Florida roads is expected to rise by 58 percent.²²

Disappearing open space: Florida leads the nation in housing starts, attracting more than 900 new residents every day. ²³ “In the Tampa Bay area, nearly 200,000 acres were developed between 1982 and 1997. As more land is paved over, water is prevented from sinking into the soil and replenishing groundwater; the area is estimated to lose between 7.3 million and 17 million gallons of water each year as a result.²⁴ Florida leads the South in the amount of timberland lost to development, dropping from more than 20-million tree-covered acres in the 1950s to 15-million acres.²⁵

A study of urban sprawl between 1970 and 1990 that calculated the impact of population increase and per capita land use found that 114.9 square miles of additional land were consumed by urban sprawl in the Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood-Pompano metropolitan area, and 100% percent of that sprawl was attributable to population increase. In Orlando, 97.2 percent of 262.9 square miles of growth was due to population increase, 90.3 percent of 156.4 square miles of growth in Jacksonville was due to population increase, 84.9 percent of 358.7 square miles in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area was due to population increase, and 100 percent of 170.2 miles in square miles of growth in the West-Palm Beach-Boca Raton area was due to population increase. ²⁶ 

Half the Everglades have been lost to farms and development. The east side of the Everglades is almost built out, and officials warn that similar wetlands drainage and habitat destruction to the west are a serious danger. Roads and ditches have blocked and diverted the Everglades’ natural freshwater flows. Wetlands that recharged aquifers and served as nurseries for wildlife have been drained and paved. Polluted runoff from asphalt and agriculture has flowed all the way to the Keys, devastating the Florida Bay.²⁷

Biologists believe there is not enough open land left in the state to support more than 80 panthers, Florida’s official state animal.²⁸

Crowded housing: Over 182,000 households were crowded or severely crowded in 2005 Studies show that a rise in crowded housing often correlates with an increase in the number of foreign-born 29,30.

Sprawl: Clearwater, Hialeah, Coral Springs, and Pembroke Pines have been designated “boomburgs” by the Fannie Mae Foundation. “Boomburgs” show double-digit population growth for each decade since 1950 and suffer from traffic, congestion, sprawl, and strained services. Unlike traditional cities, they lack a dense business core and remain suburban in character.³¹

Solid Waste: Florida generates 1.2 tons of solid waste per capita.³²

Air Quality: Hillsborough and Sarasota both received a grade of “D” from the American Lung Association in their “State of the Air 2005” report. Nine other counties received grades of “C”. ³³

Poverty: In 2005 15.9 percent of immigrants lived below the federal poverty line, an increase of 13.9 percent since 2000. For non-citizens, the poverty rate jumps to 19.2 percent. ³⁴

The enrollment of Florida’s K-12 education system increased by over 293,000 (12 percent) between the 2000 and 2006 school years 35/, 36/ and is projected to increase by an additional 348,000 (13 percent) by the year 2015. Florida’s teacher student ratio, 16.8, ranked 41^st in the nation in 2005. 35/

Impact of Immigration on Florida Schools

Florida’s schools are so overcrowded that legislators are considering paying students to go to private schools instead of public ones.³⁶ In Miami-Dade County, 41 percent of schools are at least 150 percent over capacity,³⁷/ and locker rooms and custodial closets have been converted into classrooms.³⁸

Because Florida’s high immigration rate means that population growth often exceeds projections, school enrollment projections (the basis of the state’s funding formula) frequently underestimate actual enrollments, “leaving school districts scrambling to provide additional personnel and programs without fresh infusions of cash. ³⁹/ “Recently, lawmakers discovered they needed an extra $500 million to pay for an enrollment that exceeded projections by tens of thousands of students.⁴⁰ In Miami-Dade alone, almost 15,000 foreign-born students registered in the first half of the 2000-2001 school year-after funding had already been calculated.41/

“Our anticipated gains in the number of foreign-born students alone will require us to build one elementary school a month just to keep up,” Miami-Dade school superintendent Roger Cuevas says. Every year since 1994, between 12,000 and 20,000 new foreign-born students have enrolled in the district’s schools.⁴²

Portable classrooms have doubled at Camelot Elementary during the past two years, to the point that students have no place to play outdoors other than a basketball court and a pavilion. The 35 boxy buildings have taken over softball fields and recess areas as the east Orange County School tries to educate 1,200 students on a campus built for 750. Camelot isn't alone. In the past two years, the number of portable classrooms in Orange County has grown by 30 percent. With 4,280 of the units throughout the district, about half of Orange County's classes are in portables -- more than anywhere else in Central Florida. In Orange, 80,000 to 100,000 students spend at least part of their day in the structures. ⁴³

More than 70 students have transferred from Ocean City Elementary because an aging and outmoded sewage treatment plant next door is emitting a foul odor. "The smell affects us physically as well as the operation of our school," said Principal Debbie Boutwell. She said the school's budget is affected because of the 77 children who received zoning waivers not to attend the school, 70 cited the smell as the reason. "We get roughly $3,800 per student, so that's a lot of money that we aren't able to use for staffing," Boutwell said. "We have to write grants to get extra programs like PE and music." She and her staff had hoped that Okaloosa County, which operates the treatment plant just outside Fort Walton Beach, would close it soon. But officials last week said that it will be another three years before that could happen. ⁴⁴

In Sarasota, some classrooms have more than 40 students at a time.⁴⁵ Manatee County, lunch lines are sometimes so long that students don’t have time to eat unless they miss class.⁴⁶ Pasco County has opened six new schools in the last three years, has three more scheduled to open in the upcoming months, and still projects that by 2005, two high schools each will receive 700 more students than they have room for. No affordable land is available for further school construction.⁴⁷  

Illegal Immigration in Florida.

As the number of illegal immigrants increases, hospitals throughout the state say they have been left with millions of dollars in unpaid bills after treating illegal immigrants. Under federal law, hospitals cannot refuse emergency care to anyone, regardless of their immigration status. But because many illegal immigrants work in low-wage jobs that offer no benefits and cannot qualify for Medicaid, they often use emergency rooms as their primary source of routine and critical health care.⁴⁸

Endnotes

1. FAIR estimate based on the 2006 Current Population Survey.
2. Table A. Leading States/Equivalents by population Changes: July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2006. U.S. Census Bureau.
3. "Estimates of the Unauthorized Migrant Population for States based on the March 2005 CPS", Pew Hispanic Center.
4. Martin, Jack. “Breaking the Piggy Bank: How Illegal Immigration is Sending Schools into the Red,” A Report by the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
5. Michael Grunwald, “Growing Pains in Southwest Fla.,” The Washington Post, June 25, 2002.
6. Jack Martin. “Issue Brief: Estimation of Foreign Born Birthrate.” FAIR. 2008
7. U.S. Geological Survey 2000.
8. Jack Martin and Stanley Fogel. “Projecting the U.S. Population to 2050.” FAIR. March 2006.
9.  Brian Skoloff. “Much of US Could See a Water Shortage.” Associated Press. October 26, 2007.  
10. Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination. http://www.tampabaywater.org/watersupply/tbdesal.aspx. May 12, 2008.
11. Patrick Huyghe. “Water, Water Everywhere, So Let’s All Have a Drink.” Discover Magazine. June 11, 2008.
12. “Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000,” Census 2000, U.S. Census Bureau.
13. Selected Economic Characteristics: 2005 Data Set - 2005 American Community Survey, American Fact Finder, U.S. Census Bureau.
14. Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers.
15. Ibid.
16. "The 2005 Urban Mobility Report", Texas Transportation Institute.
17. “U.S. Population 2007 Data Sheet,” Population Reference Bureau.
18. Jennifer Audette, “Losing Patience,” The Ledger, January 7, 2001.
19. “It’s Time Florida Required a True Accounting of Growth’s Costs,” Tampa Tribune, January 2, 2001.
20. Michael Grunwald, “Growing Pains in Southwest Fla.,” Washington Post, June 25, 2002.
21. Gil Klein, “Sprawling South Top U.S. Water Waster, Study Says,” Tampa Tribune, August 29, 2002.
22. Craig Pittman, “Forests Losing Ground to Urban Sprawl,” St. Petersburg Times, November 27, 2001.
23. Beck, Roy and Leon Kolankiewicz, “Weighing Sprawl Factors in Large U.S. Cities,” NumbersUSA, March 2001
24. Michael Grunwald, “Growing Pains in Southwest Fla.,” The Washington Post, June 25, 2002
25. Ibid
26. Selected Housing Characteristics: 2005 Data Set - 2005 American Community Survey, American Fact Finder, U.S. Census Bureau.
27. Haya El Nasser, “U.S. Neighborhoods Grow More Crowded,” USA Today, July 7, 2002.
28. Randy Capps, “Hardship among Children of Immigrants: Finding from the 1999 National Survey of America’s Families,” Urban Institute, 2001.
29. Brad Smith, “Clearwater Booms with Growth,” Tampa Tribune, June 22, 2001.
30. Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers.
31. “State of the Air 2005: Florida”, American Lung Association.
32. “Florida State Factsheet,” Migration Information Source, Migration Policy Institute.
33. "Overview of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools and Districts: School Year 1999-2000," National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education.
34. "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.
35. Ibid
36. Mark Lane, “Voucher Fever May Not Stop at Schools,” Daytona Beach News Journal, February 23, 2001.
37. Tamara Henry, “School Rolls Hit Record,” USA Today, August 22, 2000.
38. “Florida Fails Children of Miami-Dade County,” Education World, July 19, 2000..
39. Laura Zuckerman, “Outlook for Education Spending is Grim,” Daytona Beach News-Journal, March 2, 2001.
40. Suzanne Robinson, “St. Lucie Student Number Topples Projections,” Vero Beach Press Journal, September 2, 2001.
41. Dara Kam, “State May Charge Foreigners Tuition,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, January 25, 2001.
42. “Florida Fails Children of Miami-Dade County,” Education World, July 19, 2000.
43. Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers.
44. Ibid
45. Courtney Cairns Pastor and Chris Davis, “Class Sizes, Small Budgets Strain Schools,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, September 2, 2001.
46. Ibid
47. Kent Fischer, “Space Crunch Spurs Talk of ‘New School,’ ” St. Petersburg Times, March 18, 2001.
48. Dana Canedy, “Care of Illegal Immigrants Hurting Finances of Hospitals,” Press Journal, August 25, 2002.

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