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Maryland

Summary Demographic State Data (and Source)
Population (2008 CB estimate):	5,633,597
Population (2000 Census):	5,296,486
Foreign-Born Population (2008 FAIR est.):	728,330
Foreign-Born Population (2000 Census):	518,315
Share Foreign-Born (2008 FAIR est.):	12.9%
Share Foreign-Born (2000):	9.8%
Immigrant Stock (2000 CB est.):	861,000
Share Immigrant Stock (2000 est.):	16.3%
Naturalized U.S. Citizens (2006 CB est.):	305,065
Share Naturalized (2006):	44.7%
Legal Immigrant Admission (DHS 1997-2006):	204,869
Refugee Admission (DHS 1997-2006):	8,061
Illegal Alien Population (2008 FAIR est.):	250,000
Projected 2050 Population (2006 FAIR):	8,977,520

Faced with waves of growth turning open fields into commuter-choked highways, Maryland has made major efforts to control sprawl. Former governor Paris Glendening devoted much of his administration to implementing smart growth plans throughout the state and became a national figure for his fight against sprawl. But Maryland's efforts are being stymied by the cause of development pressures - population growth, much of it fueled by mass immigration.

      

Maryland: Census Bureau Data

STATE POPULATION

Using the Current Population Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that in July 2008 Maryland’s population had increased to 5,633,597 residents, i.e., an annual average increase of about 40,615 residents since 2000. That is a rate of increase of about 0.8 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 137,095 residents from net international migration (more foreign-born arriving than leaving). That was an annual average increase of about 16,520 residents, i.e., more than two-fifths (40.7%) of the total increase (not including the children born to the immigrants after their arrival in the United States).

The 2000 Census found 5,296,486 persons resident in Maryland. This was an increase of 515,018 persons above the 1990 Census. The amount of increase was the 20th highest in the country. The rate of increase (10.8%) was among the 23rd fastest increasing population in the country.

The 2000 population is about 20,000 more persons than the Census Bureau had expected to find in the state in 2000 when it issued its most recent state population projections in 1996. 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.

The population of Maryland rose by 13.4 percent from 1980 to 1990 (from 4,216,933 to 4,781,468 residents).

FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION

Based on the American Community Survey (ACS), the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the foreign-born population of Maryland was 675,828 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 Maryland was about 728,330 residents in July 2008. This meant a foreign-born population share of 12.9 percent. The amount of change since the 2000 Census indicates an average annual rate of increase in the foreign-born population of about 25,305 people, which is more than three-fifths (62.3%) of the state’s annual average population increase. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 40.5 percent compared to a 2.7 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 25.8 percent share of the state’s current births is large enough to account for about 19,255 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may account for about 44,560 persons added to the state’s population annually, i.e., more than the total (109.7%) of the state’s overall population increase.

The 2000 Census found that 44.1 percent of Maryland's foreign-born population had arrived in the state since 1990. This demonstrates the effects of the current mass immigration, and it is a slightly higher 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 in Maryland increased by more than two-fifths, from 8.9 percent to 12.7 percent. Less than two-fifths (39.6%) 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 Maryland in the 2000 Census)
Spanish	230,830
French	41,920
Chinese	34,515
Korean	32,935
German	23,785
Kru, Ibo, Yoruba	19,850
Tagalog	18,495
Russian	17,585
Vietnamese	14,890
Italian	13,800
(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 state’s foreign born population was 683,157 residents, an increase of 31.8 percent since 2000. In comparison, the foreign-born population changed from 313,494 to 518,315 residents between 1990 and 2000, an increase of 65.3 percent.

The ten countries below constituted 43.7% of the foreign-born population in Maryland in 2006. El Salvador accounted for nine percent alone.

Between the 2000 Census and the Census Bureau estimate for 2006, the foreign-born population in Maryland increased by more than 164,800 persons (31.8%). Latin America (including Mexico) accounted for an increase of nearly 66,100 immigrants (37.5%). Mexico alone accounted for an increase of more than 12,100 additional immigrants (up 62.9%). Immigrants from Asia rose by 27.1% (about 49,700 people). Immigrants from Africa rose by 75.1% (nearly 47,100 persons). The immigrant population from Europe and Canada increased by about 2,000 persons (2.1%).

THE IMMIGRANT STOCK

The Census Bureau estimated that there were about 861 thousand people in Maryland 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 a population estimate of 5,296,486, the immigrant stock share of the state's population was 16.3 percent.

As the graph below shows, the amount and share of Maryland’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 734,400 people to the population. Over this period, the increase in the foreign stock has accounted for 44.7 percent of the state’s population increase.

NATURALIZATION

Data from the 2006 American Community Survey indicate that 305,065 residents or 44.7 percent, of the foreign-born population in Maryland were citizens, compared to 234,711 residents, or 45.3 percent, in 2000.

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

Population Projection

Maryland -- Projected Population in 2050: Projection Scenarios

Maryland's projected population in 2050 could range anywhere from about 7 million residents to about 9 million. The 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 5.6 million residents to 8.3 to 8.7 million residents in 2050 - an increase of 48 to 53 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 by a more modest about 24 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 soar by more than 59 percent.

Maryland -- Projected Population in 2050: Cohorts

1970 Pop.	Post-'70 Stock	Legal Post-'04	Illegal Post-'04	Amnesty+
5,850,890	1,106,096	1,406,068	299,730	314,736

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 continue to increase by about a million residents in Maryland (21%) over the next 45 years.

The post-1970 immigrant cohort is projected to grow by about 340,000 residents (45%) by 2050. This increase 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 more than 764,000 of the state's residents. By 2050, this cohort is projected to rise to more than 1.1 million residents 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 to add to the state's population. Maryland has had an average of nearly 18,000 legal immigrant admissions per year between 1994 and 2003. We project that immigration from Asian countries will continue to constitute nearly half (46%) of the immigrant admissions. Immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries are projected to account for more than 23 percent of the arrivals, if current trends continue. This leaves immigration from countries with predominantly white populations at about 15 percent, and about 16 percent from countries with black populations in Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America. We project that new immigrants and their children from all sources will add more than 1.4 million residents to the state's population over the next 45 years if current trends remain unchanged.

We estimate that Maryland's illegal alien population now numbers more than 100,000 persons. The continued addition of illegal immigrants over the next 45 years, assuming it continues at current rates, is projected to add nearly 300,000 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 more than a further nearly 315,000 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.

Maryland -- Projected Population in 2050: Demographic Change

White, not Hispanic	Mexican	Other Hispanic	Black	Asian	Other
3,432,412	281,606	829,114	3,195,294	1,117,731	121,364

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.

Both the Asian and the Mexican and other Hispanic population segments are projected to continue to rise rapidly. The Asian population is projected to add nearly 810,000 residents - an increase of 263 percent. The Hispanic population is projected to add about 825,000 residents (Mexicans increasing by 437% and other Hispanics by 254%).

Blacks over the period of this projection have a lower rate of increase, i.e., 100 percent, adding 1.6 million residents. Non-Hispanic whites are projected to have very little change, an increase of 2.1 percent (70,000 residents). As a result both are projected to have shrinking shares of the state's population.

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Maryland: General Data

GENERAL INFORMATION

With a major shipping port city at Baltimore, Maryland has long received a sizeable flow of immigrants. The flow has increased -- exploding by more than 600 percent in the past 40 years -- and changed in recent times, with more immigrants settling in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. than in Baltimore. The state is also a major recipient of refugees and of illegal alien workers and settlers.

By connecting to any of the topical areas above, official data and other reports are available that describe the condition of immigrants in Maryland, where they come from, and some of the issues raised by their number.

SOCIAL POLICY ISSUES

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that while Maryland's infant mortality rate continues to fall (from 9.5 per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 8.7 in 1997), it lags behind neighboring areas, such as Virginia and Delaware. Jeannine Robinson, Director of the Maryland Commission on Infant Mortality Prevention, attributed the difference to Maryland's large minoriy population and a growing immigrant community in the state. She commented, "In some communities when a baby dies, folks just feel that the baby wasn't supposed to live. We are trying to educate folks that infant mortality is a problem and we should be trying to save babies' lives."

(Source: Washington Times, May 8, 2000)

Refugee Settlement

Maryland has received 8,061 refugees over the most recent ten fiscal years (FY'97-'06) including 676 persons in FY’06.

Under the Office of Refugee Resettlement's (HHS/ORR) assistance funding for FY'02 $945,169 is available for refugee employment training and other services programs in Maryland based on a three-year refugee settlement program covering 3,766 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 $9,252,462 and $7,919,216.

According to the state Office for New Americans, which is primarily involved in assisting the resettlement of refugees, Maryland received the following numbers of refugees from FY'90 to FY'95:

Refugee Settlement FY'90-'95
Year	No. Refugees	Mtgy.	Baltimore	Pr.Geo.	Balt. City	Other
FY'90	2,548	39%	31%	15%	10%	5%
FY'91	2,067	42%	20%	24%	9%	5%
FY'92	3,277	35%	36%	14%	11%	4%
FY'93	2,478	29%	8%	12%	33%	18%
FY'94	2,297	28%	25%	13%	9%	25%
FY'95	1,822	31%	26%	18%	6%	19%

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 Maryland, overall enrollment in 2002 (860,890) was 1.5 percent above enrollment in 1993. By contrast, LEP enrollment (23,891 - 2.8% of all enrollment) was 87.8 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.

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 Maryland as 13,562. One school in Maryland is listed as having a major concentration of these students:

• University of Maryland - College Park had enrollment of 3,476 foreign students, 9.9% of total enrollment.
• Montgomery College had enrollment of 3,055 foreign students, 10.3% of total enrollment
• John Hopkins University had enrollment of 2,635 foreign students, 13.5% of total enrollment

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

ILLEGAL ALIENS

FAIR Estimate - FAIR estimates the state’s illegal alien population as of 2008 is as many as 250,000 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 Maryland was 56,000 as of January 2000. This number was 12,000 higher than the INS' 1996 estimate.That was an a 27 percent increase over the previous INS estimate that there were about 44,000 illegal alien residents as of October 1996. That latter estimate was a 76 percent increase over the estimate of 25,000 illegal residents as of October 1992. It is clear that the illegal resident population is growing rapidly.

Only 18 states have larger illegal alien populations than Maryland according to the most recent INS estimate. Based upon the 2000 Census data, the Migration Policy Institute issued a May 2002 study that estimated Maryland's illegal alien population at more than 100,000.

According to [former] INS regional director Benedict Ferro "We've got 50 times more tips than we can possibly work. We screen them and work with the most aggravated cases. We're not going after the employees so much as we want to stop the employers. We want employers to turn off the magnet." Last year the INS levied more than $500,000 in fines on Maryland businesses. (Source: (Washington Post, Montgomery Weekly section, April 2, 1998)

Other Estimates - The Pew Hispanic Center estimates the illegal alien population of the state at 225,000 to 250,000 as of 2005.

COSTS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS

Incarceration Costs - Maryland 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 Maryland has received were:

FY’99—$3,098,374
FY’00—$1,101,344
FY’01—$2,554,163
FY’02—$2,878,552
FY’03—$2,071,715
FY’04—$2,597,252

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 for 404 prisoner years of detention. By FY’02, the state’s reported illegal alien detention rose by 58 percent to 640 prisoner years, while compensation decreased by seven percent, and then fell further.

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 Maryland, the proposed payment in fiscal year 2004 is $1,335,428.

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 Mryland taxpayer $280.8 million dollars annually. This cost was partially for educating students who were themselves illegally in the country ($117 million) and in part for the education of their siblings born in the United States to illegal residents ($163.8 million).

Projected Fiscal Costs - In 2006 we estimated that Maryland taxpayers are currently burdened with annual costs of about $331 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 $551 million per year in 2010 and to $934 million per year in 2020.

STATE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION VOTING RECORD

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

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

View a listing of local immigration reform organizations here.

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Maryland: Immigrant Admissions

Maryland Immigrant Admissions by Fiscal Year
1997	19,090
1998	15,561
1999	15,605
2000	17,705
2001	22,060
2002	23,751
2003	17,770
2004	20,253
2005	22,870
2006	30,204
Total	204,869

Recent immigrant admissions have slightly increased by 447 percent since adoption of the current immigration system in 1965. During the 1965-'69 period, annual admissions averaged about 4,200 immigrants. During the 2002-'06 period, admissions averaged about 22,970 immigrants.

The charts below show recent immigrant admissions and the cumulative immigrant admissions data since 1965. The number of annual admissions has ranged from 3,263 in FY'66 to 30,204 in FY'06. The cumulative total of immigrant admissions to Maryland between fiscal years 1965 and 2002 was about 522,920 persons

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 Maryland numbered 12,449 (8,694 pre-1982 residents and 3,755 agricultural workers).

The data for FY'95 and FY'97-'99 were artificially low because the INS did not issue green cards to all the eligible applicants for adjustment of status from within the United States. In those four years, immigration could have been as much as 30 percent higher, if the INS had been more efficient.

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'93 - FY'02

The INS data below are furnished for nationals of the countries with the largest number of immigrants admitted or adjusted to legal residence each year since 1993. 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 Wyoming during this period.

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

The 31 nationalities above represent over two-thirds (70.5%) of all immigrant settlement and adjustment in Maryland during this eight-year period.

The principal countries of immigration were China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan), El Salvador, India, and the former Soviet Union. These countries accounted for nearly three-tenths (29.1%) of total immigrant admissions during the period.

Imigration from Korea to Maryland was given impetus by Perdue Farms Inc., based in Salisbury, the nation's third-largest poultry producer. That may change, however, as the result of an investigation by the Washington Post. Perdue announced in February, 2000 that it was suspending its Korean immigrant hiring program after learning that Korean recruiters of its new employees were charging the immigrants as much as $30,000 and requiring a contract that bound the immigrant to work for Perdue for at least one year. The investigation found that the hiring program, which Perdue had run for 25 years and brought in hundreds of Korean immigrants a year, was being used by middle income, white-collar workers in Korea as a springboard to immigrant status in the United States. The visas were so popular, that the immigration brokers in Korea were able to abuse the program. It is illegal in the United States to require a binding work contract that restricts a worker's freedom to change jobs. (Source: Washington Post, February 25, 2000)

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Maryland : Poll Data

A Rasmussen Report poll conducted 500 Likely Voters in Maryland on January 2, 2008 found:

• 76% oppose granting drivers’ licenses to illegal aliens.
• 66% 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.
• 55% believe that if an illegal immigrant is discovered in this manner, they should be deported

A Washington Post telephone poll taken from October 18-22, 2007 of a random sample of 1,103 adults found:

• 85% want the state and local governments to do more to deal with illegal immigration (53% “a lot more” and 32% “some more”).
• 68% believe the federal government has not done enough in dealing with immigration.
• 49% believe immigration is a serious problem (25% “very serious” and 24% “somewhat serious”)
• 42% believe immigrants today pose a burden on our country because they take our jobs, housing, and health care
• 27% believe recent immigration has made their area a worse place to live.

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Maryland: Immigration Impact

Immigration Impact: Maryland
State Population (2006 CB estimate)	5,615,727
State Population in 2000	5,311,695
Average Annual Change 2000-2006	1.0%
Foreign Born Population 2006 1	625,040
Foreign Born Share 2006	2.0%
Foreign Born Population 2000	518,315
Foreign Born Share 2000	9.8%
Average Annual Change 2000-2006	3.3%
Population Projection 2010	5.9 million
Population Projection 2025	6.8 million
Population Projection 2050 (FAIR)	8.7 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 Maryland.

Population Change

Maryland’s population increased by 11 percent between 1990 and 2000, and by 5.7 percent between 2000 and 2006, bringing Maryland’s total population to approximately 5.6 million.

Approximately 35 percent of the total population increase between 2000 and 2006 in Maryland was directly attributable to immigrants.

FAIR estimates the illegal alien population in 2005 at 90,000 which ranks 20th in the U.S. for the FAIR estimate. This number is 60 percent above the U.S. government estimate of 56,000 in 2000, and 164 percent above the 1990 estimate of 34,000.

According to an estimate of the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2005 there were an estimated 225,000 to 275,000 illegal aliens living in Maryland. This estimate ranks 11th among illegal alien populations in the United States for the PEW estimate.²

FAIR estimates in 2004 that the taxpayers of Maryland spent $280.8 million per year on illegal aliens and their children in public schools.³

FAIR’s projected annual fiscal costs to Maryland taxpayers for emergency medical care, education and incarceration resulting if an amnesty is adopted for illegal residents.
Current	2010	2020
$331,000,000	$551,000,000	$934,000,000

Population Profile

Foreign-Born Population

Environmental and Quality of Life Profile

The Chesapeake Bay: Because of population growth, a decade-long attempt to clean up the Chesapeake Bay, reduce air pollution, and combat sprawl has left Maryland’s environment no better off than it was ten years ago, according to a 2002 report by the University of Maryland.⁴

The human population in the Chesapeake Bay watershed—centered on Maryland—is expected to reach 19 million by 2030.⁵ If growth continues in the Chesapeake Bay watershed at its current rate, gains made in restoring the bay would be reversed and more than 3,500 square miles of forests, wetlands and farms would be developed over the next 25 years.⁶

Water Supply: Between 2000 and 2006, Maryland’s foreign-born population increased by 31.8 percent.⁷That compares with a 3.2 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 85.7 percent of the state’s overall growth during that time.⁸By 2050 the state’s population is expected to rise from 5.6 million in 2006 to 7.7 million.⁹Maryland has a daily, per-capita water demand of 155.6 gallons.¹⁰This means that by 2050 public water usage will have increased by 326.8 million gallons each day.

Traffic: As population growth put more traffic on the roads, the average commute for Maryland residents increased 15 percent during the 1990s, from 27 minutes to 31 minutes in 2000.¹¹,¹² 49 percent of Maryland's major urban roads are congested.

45% of Maryland's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition and vehicle travel on Maryland's highways increased 35 percent from 1990 to 2003. Driving on roads in need of repair costs Maryland motorists $1.4 billion a year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs --- $402 per motorist. Congestion in the Baltimore metropolitan area costs commuters $866 per person in excess fuel and lost time, and $1,212 in the Washington, DC metropolitan area person per year in excess fuel and lost time ¹³

In the Washington, DC-Virginia-Maryland metro area, travelers experience an annual delay of 69 hours (ranked third in the U.S.), and in the Philadelphia-New Jersey-Delaware-Maryland area, travelers experience an annual delay of 38 hours. In the Baltimore area travelers experience an annual delay of 50 hours. ¹⁴ 25 percent of commuters in Maryland have a commute that is 45 minutes or more, ranking 2nd in the U.S. ¹⁵

A study by a Montgomery County planning board task force predicted the weekday rush hour on the Beltway around Washington could total 14 hours by 2020.¹⁶ In Howard County, traffic congestion has begun to clog even rural routes and back roads, which desperate drivers are using to avoid jams on the main roads.¹⁷ According to research at the University of Maryland, traffic congestion in Frederick, Howard, and Montgomery is even depressing voter turnout at election time by two or three percent.¹⁸ Local officials are concerned that firefighters are now unable to reach destinations in an emergency due to traffic congestion.¹⁹

According to urban planning experts, urban flight and gridlock will continue plaguing the Baltimore region for at least the next 30 years, and the future promises worsening congestion and traffic snarls as a growing suburban population commutes into the city.²⁰

Disappearing open space: Each year, Maryland loses 36,000 acres of open space and farmland due to development.21/ The Chesapeake Bay Program’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee predicts that two million acres of farm and forest land in the Bay watershed will be lost to sprawl by 2030.²²

215,000 additional acres of land are projected to be developed in counties surrounding Baltimore by 2030 (a 64 percent increase in developed land); farmland, forests, and wetlands would comprise more than half of that total. An estimated 50,000 acres in Anne Arundel will disappear by 2030.²³

A study of urban sprawl between 1970 and 1990 that calculated the impact of population increase and per capita land use found that 282.9 square miles of additional land were consumed by urban sprawl in the Baltimore metropolitan area, and 27.6 percent of that sprawl was attributable to population increase. In the Wilmington, DE-New Jersey, Pennsylvania metro area, which crosses into Maryland, sprawl consumed an additional 78 square miles and population increase accounted for 35.7 percent of the increase. ²⁴

Sprawl: Over the next 20 years, Maryland will grow by more than a million residents, resulting in the loss of another half-million acres to development and an almost 50 percent increase in Central Maryland’s developed land. Under Maryland’s Smart Growth program, every county has had to designate growth areas. But most Baltimore-area counties aren’t fulfilling the intent, which is to limit growth. Over the next 20 years, 75 percent of the region’s newly developed acreage is expected to be outside designated growth areas. From 1982 to 1997, the developed areas of the Baltimore and Washington regions increased by 32 percent and 47 percent, respectively.²⁵

In Howard County, final build-out (the point at which further building isn’t feasible) fast approaches after the county grew by 32 percent in the 1990s; in Frederick, where water shortages forced the city and county to restrict building; in Harford, where there’s been talk of making builders pay new impact fees or excise taxes; in Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties, where slow-growth candidates swept incumbents in 2002 elections.²⁶

Crowded housing: In 2005 42,000 Maryland households were defined as crowded or severely crowded by housing authorities. ²⁷ Studies show that a rise in crowded housing often correlates with an increase in the number of foreign-born.²⁸,²⁹

Poverty: In 2005 9.2 percent of immigrants in Maryland have incomes below the poverty level, and increase of 13.4 percent since 2000. Among non-citizens, the rate climbs to 12.2 percent.³⁰

At a time when there are not enough jobs for unskilled workers, immigration continues to flood the market with unskilled workers, lowering wages and opportunities for American workers; Maryland has approximately six job seekers for every unskilled job opening.³¹

Education: Between 2000 and 2006, the K-12 enrollment in Maryland increased by over 13,000 (1.6 percent), ³², ³³ and is projected to increase by an additional 54,000 students by 2015. ³⁴ Maryland’s student to teacher ratio of 15.2 ranks 31st in the U.S. ³⁵

Howard County’s state delegate has called the school crowding problem “a crisis” saying that it’s necessary to use “every revenue stream we can get our hands on to stay ahead of the population growth curve.” ³⁶ Since 2001, Anne Arundel has sometimes denied developers permission to build new houses in certain school districts because the schools are already overcrowded.³⁷, ³⁸

In Harford, where public school enrollment increased by 1,000 to 1,400 students each year during the 1990s, the county is building a new $40 million middle/high school complex and spending $25 to upgrade older schools to serve the increased student population.39/ In 2003, eleven of Harford schools were servicing more than their maximum designed capacity of students.⁴⁰

Solid Waste: Maryland generates 1.63 tons of solid waste per capita. ⁴¹

Air Quality: 12 of Maryland’s 23 counties received a grade of “F” from the American Lung Associations “State of the Air 2005” report. ⁴²

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. Stephen Kiehl, “Md. Environment Troubled, UM Study Says,” Baltimore Sun, December 18, 2002.
5. John Biemer, “Bay Program Outlines Possible Futures for Chesapeake,” Associated Press, February 11, 2003.
6. Anita Huslin, “Warning Issued on Health of Bay,” Washington Post, July 14, 2000.
7.   U.S. Census Bureau 2006
8.  Jack Martin. “Issue Brief: Estimation of Foreign Born Birthrate.” FAIR. 2008.
9.  Jack Martin and Stanley Fogel. “Projecting the U.S. Population to 2050.” FAIR. March 2006.
10.  U.S. Geological Survey 2000 
11. “Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 1990 and 2000,” Census 2000, U.S. Census Bureau.
12. “Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 1990 and 2000,” Census 2000, U.S. Census Bureau.
13. “Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers.
14. "The 2005 Urban Mobility Report", Texas Transportation Institute.
15. “U.S. Population 2007 Data Sheet,” Population Reference Bureau.
16. “Duncan Calls for $1B in Transportation Spending, ICC Restart,” Associated Press, June 25, 2002.
17. Sandy Alexander, “As Howard County’s Population Expands, Cars Flood Rural Roads, Causing Frustration and Accidents,” Baltimore Sun, November 10, 2001.
18. Larry Carson, “Voters’ Commute May Hurt Turnout,” Baltimore Sun, March 3, 2003..
19. Jeff Horsemen, “Forest Drive:2.4 Miles of Backups - and It’s Just Getting Worse,” The Capital, March 16, 2003.
20. Paul Payne, “Planner: Traffic Should be Backed Up for 30 Years,” Associated Press, May 16, 2001.
21. “State Rankings by Acreage and Rate of Non-Federal Land Developed,” Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
22. John Biemer, op.cit.
23. Ezra Fieser, “Study: Development Eroding Green Spaces,” Baltimore Daily Record, May 2, 2002.
24. Beck, Roy and Leon Kolankiewicz, “Weighing Sprawl Factors in Large U.S. Cities,” NumbersUSA, March 2001.
25. The Baltimore Sun, Editorial, December 2, 2002.
26. Ibid
27. Selected Housing Characteristics: 2005 Data Set - 2005 American Community Survey, American Fact Finder, U.S. Census Bureau.
28. Haya El Nasser, “U.S. Neighborhoods Grow More Crowded,” USA Today, July 7, 2002.
29. Randy Capps, “Hardship Among Children of Immigrants: Findings from the 1999 National Survey of America’s Families,” Urban Institute, 2001.
30. <“Maryland State Factsheet,” Migration Information Source, Migration Policy Institute.
31. “Maryland Poverty Profile 2001: Poverty Statistics for the State of Maryland and its Jurisdictions,” Maryland Alliance for the Poor, January 2002.
32. "Overview of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools and Districts: School Year 1999-2000," National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education.
33. "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.
34. Ibid
35. Ibid
36. Larry Carson, “Pace of Growth May Ease, But Not Service Demand,” Baltimore Sun, March 23, 2003.
37. Scott Burke, “Overcrowding at School Stalls Housing Project,” The Capital, June 29, 2001.
38. Lynn Anderson, “Crowded Schools a Factor in Age-restricted Projects,” Baltimore Sun, April 14, 2003.
39. Linda Linley, “ABC’s of Growth,” Baltimore Sun, October 27, 2002. 42. Ted Shelsby, “Officials Warn Growth Failing to Pay for Itself,” Baltimore Sun, February 16, 2003.
40. Ted Shelsby, “Officials Warn Growth Failing to Pay for Itself,” Baltimore Sun, February 16, 2003.
41. Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers.
42. “State of the Air 2005: Maryland”, American Lung Association.

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