North Dakota
| Summary Demographic State Data (and Source) | |
|---|---|
| Population (2008 CB est.) | 641,481 |
| Population (2000 Census) | 642,200 |
| Foreign-Born Population (2008 FAIR est.) | 15,275 |
| Foreign-Born Population (2000 Census) | 12,114 |
| Share Foreign Born (2008 FAIR est.) | 2.4% |
| Share Foreign Born (2000) | 1.9% |
| Immigrant Stock (2000 CB est.) | 52,000 |
| Share Immigrant Stock (2000 est.) | 8.1% |
| Naturalized U.S. Citizens (2006 CB est.) | 5,825 |
| Share Naturalized (2006) | 43.5% |
| Legal Immigrant Admission (DHS 1997-2006) | 5,539 |
| Refugee Admission (DHS 1997-2006) | 3,206 |
| Illegal Alien Population (2008 FAIR est) | 5,000 |
| Projected 2050 Population (2006 FAIR): | 684,758 |
North Dakota: Extended Immigration Data
STATE POPULATION
Using the Current Population Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that in July 2008 North Dakota’s population was 641,481 residents, i.e., marginally less that the population in 2000.
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 added about 3,325 residents from net international migration (more foreign-born arriving than leaving). That was an annual average increase of about 400 residents compared to the slightly declining overall population (not considering the children born to the immigrants after their arrival in the United States).
The 2000 Census found 642,200 persons resident in North Dakota. This was an increase of 3,400 persons above the 1990 Census. The rate of increase (0.5%) was considerably lower than the national average of 9.9 percent population increase.
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 population of North Dakota decreased by 2.1 percent from 1980 to 1990 (from 652,717 to 638,800 residents).
FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION
Based on the American Community Survey (ACS), the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the foreign-born population of North Dakota was 14,486 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 North Dakota was about 15,275 residents in July 2008. This meant a foreign-born population share of 2.4 percent. The amount of change since the 2000 Census indicates an average annual rate of increase in the foreign-born population of about 380 people, compared to the overall drop in the state’s population. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 26.1 percent compared to a 0.6 percent decrease 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 4.8 percent share of the state’s current births is large enough to account for about 390 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may account for nearly 770 persons added to the state’s population annually at the same time the state had a slight population decrease.
The 2000 Census found that 52.3 percent of Nebraska's foreign-born population had arrived in the state since 1990. This demonstrates the effects of the current mass immigration, and it is much higher share than the national average (43.7%).
Between 1990 and 2000 the share of non-English speakers at home in North Dakota decreased from 7.9 percent to 5.7 percent. Less than one-third (29%) 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 North Dakota in the 2000 Census) | |
| German | 14,925 |
| Spanish | 8,265 |
| Norwegian | 2,805 |
| French | 1,590 |
| Dakota | 1,265 |
| Czech | 845 |
| Serbocroatian | 725 |
| Hidatsa | 485 |
| Ukrainian | 455 |
| Polish | 450 |
| (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 13,378 residents, an increase of 10.4% percent since 2000. In comparison, the foreign-born population changed from 9,388 to 12,114 residents between 1990 and 2000, an increase of 29.0 percent.
The ten countries below constituted approximately 54.5% of the foreign-born population in North Dakota in 2006. Canada accounted for approximately one fourth (27.0%) alone.
| Foreign-Born Change Since 1990: Top Ten Countries 1990-2006 | ||||||||
| Rank | Country | 1990 | Country | 1990 | Country | 2000 | ||
| 1 | Canada | 2,679 | Canada | 3,017 | Canada | 3,617 | ||
| 2 | Germany | 881 | Germany | 912 | Mexico | 693 | ||
| 3 | Soviet Union | 697 | Yugoslavia | 870 | Korea | 482 | ||
| 4 | Norway | 624 | India | 717 | Russia | 437 | ||
| 5 | Philippines | 440 | Mexico | 582 | Philippines | 431 | ||
| 6 | United Kingdom | 395 | United Kingdom | 497 | Germany | 372 | ||
| 7 | Korea | 332 | Soviet Union | 471 | India | 341 | ||
| 8 | Poland | 271 | China | 390 | China | 330 | ||
| 9 | India | 234 | Philippines | 349 | Vietnam | 292 | ||
| 10 | Vietnam | 202 | Korea | 271 | Colombia | 291 | ||
| All Others | 2,633 | All Others | 4,038 | All Others | 7,286 | |||
| Total | 9,388 | Total | 12,114 | Total | 6,092 | |||
THE IMMIGRANT STOCK
The Census Bureau estimated that there were about 52,000 people in North Dakota 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 population of 642,200, the immigrant stock share of the state's population was 8.1 percent.
As the graph below shows, the amount of North Dakota’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 15,100 people to the population. Over this period, the increase in the foreign stock has accounted for 94.6 percent of the state’s population increase.
NATURALIZATION
Data from the 2006 American Community Survey indicate that 5,825 residents, or 43.5 percent, of the foreign-born population in North Dakota were citizens, compared to 5,156 residents, or 42.6 percent, in 2000.
Nationally, 40.3 percent of the foreign-born population was citizens in 2000 and 42.0 percent were citizens in 2006.
REFUGEE SETTLEMENT
North Dakota has received 3,206 refugees over the most recent ten fiscal years (FY'97-'06), with 181 arriving in FY’06..
Under the Office of Refugee Resettlement's (HHS) assistance funding for FY'02 $318,486 is available for refugee employment training and other services programs in North Dakota based on a three-year refugee settlement program covering 1,269 refugees (an average of $251 per refugee). This allocation does not include a larger share (55%) of funding programs for communities heavily affected by recent Cuban and Haitian entrants, communities with refugees whose cultural differences make assimilation especially difficult, communities impacted by federal welfare reform changes, educational support to schools with significant refugee students, and discretionary grants. ORR grants for FY’05 and FY’06 respectively were $1,370,992 and $1,401,018.
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 North Dakota, overall enrollment in 2002 (106,047) was 16.7 percent below enrollment in 1993. By contrast, LEP enrollment (8,748 - 8.2% of all enrollment) was 1.1 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 North Dakota as 1,795. Below, a chart illustrates the sharp increase of foreign students attending school in North Dakota from 1960-2000.
ILLEGAL ALIENS
FAIR Estimate - FAIR estimates the state’s illegal alien population as of 2008 is as many as 5,000 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 North Dakota was 2,250 as of January 2000. This number 1,450 higher than the INS' 1996 estimate.
Other Estimates - The Pew Hispanic Center estimates the illegal alien population of the state a less than 10,000 as of 2005.
COSTS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS
Incarceration Costs - The INS estimate of the illegal alien population released in February 2003 listed North Dakota as having an illegal alien population of less than 2,500 residents. This compares with the previous INS estimate of 800 illegal aliens as of October 1996. That estimate was a 25 percent increase over the 600 illegal alien residents previously estimated for October 1992.
North Dakota 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 North Dakota has received were:
| FY’99 | — | $126,119 |
| FY’00 | — | $2,248 |
| FY’01 | — | $19,069 |
| FY’02 | — | $26,004 |
| FY’03 | — | $8,661 |
| FY’04 | — | $25,345 |
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 17 prisoner years of detention. By FY’02, the state’s reported illegal alien detention fell by 59 percent to seven prisoner years, while compensation fell by 79 percent and since has decreased 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 North Dakota, the proposed payment in fiscal year 2004 is $11,923.
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 taxpayers in North Dakota and seven other states $29.8 million dollars annually. This cost was partially for educating students who were themselves illegally in the country ($12.4 million) and in part for the education of their siblings born in the United States to illegal residents ($17.4 million).
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.
North Dakota: Immigrant Admissions
| North Dakota Immigrant Admissions by Fiscal Year | |
| 1997 | 535 |
| 1998 | 472 |
| 1999 | 314 |
| 2000 | 420 |
| 2001 | 558 |
| 2002 | 776 |
| 2003 | 331 |
| 2004 | 578 |
| 2005 | 864 |
| 2006 | 649 |
| Total | 5,539 |
Recent immigrant admissions have about doubled since adoption of the current immigration system in 1965. During the 1965-'69 period, annual admissions averaged about 320 immigrants. During the 2002-'06 period, admissions averaged about 640 immigrants.
The charts below show recent immigrant admissions and the cumulative immigrant admissions data since 1965. The number of annual admissions has ranged from 207 in FY'69 to 776 in FY'02. The cumulative total of admissions to North Dakota between fiscal years 1965 and 2002 was about 18,095 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 North Dakota was 66 (22 pre-1982 residents and 44 agricultural workers) - the lowest in the country.
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 who were already in the United States. In those four years, new immigration could have registered as much as 30 percent higher, if the INS 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'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).
| Immigrant Admissions by Fiscal Year | |||||||||||
| Country | FY'93 | FY'94 | FY'95 | FY'96 | FY'97 | FY'98 | FY'99 | FY'00 | FY'01 | FY'02 | Total |
| Bangladesh | - | - | - | 0 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 0 | - | 1 | 14 |
| Canada | 90 | 69 | 115 | 124 | 70 | 85 | 57 | 98 | 70 | 114 | 892 |
| China * | 66 | 51 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 20 | 15 | 219 |
| Colombia | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 18 |
| Cuba | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 18 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 47 |
| Dom. Rep. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Ecuador | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| El Salvador | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Germany | 8 | 10 | 8 | - | 6 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 15 | 62 | 133 |
| Guatemala | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 13 |
| Guyana | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 5 |
| Haiti | 0 | 0 | 12 | 45 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 69 |
| Honduras | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | 0 | 4 |
| India | 16 | 26 | 28 | 42 | 12 | 41 | 28 | 21 | 23 | 8 | 245 |
| Iran | 6 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2 | - | 3 | 5 | 9 | 32 |
| Ireland | 1 | 2 | - | - | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 6 |
| Jamaica | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| Japan | - | 3 | - | - | 4 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 31 |
| Korea | 13 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 50 |
| Mexico | 13 | 11 | 12 | 16 | 11 | 12 | 16 | 15 | 17 | 6 | 129 |
| Nicaragua | - | - | - | - | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Nigeria | - | - | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | 9 | 23 |
| Pakistan | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 46 |
| Peru | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| Philippines | 21 | 20 | 15 | 19 | 21 | 9 | 19 | 10 | 19 | 18 | 171 |
| Poland | 6 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 30 |
| Sov. Un. * | 106 | 89 | 28 | 26 | 13 | 34 | 26 | 14 | 30 | 18 | 384 |
| Trin.& Tob. | - | 0 | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 5 | 6 |
| U. Kingdom | 23 | 11 | 20 | 12 | 16 | 9 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 131 |
| Vietnam | 105 | 91 | 15 | 53 | 45 | 16 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 369 |
| Yugo. * | - | - | 57 | 107 | 99 | 86 | 10 | 71 | 147 | 265 | 842 |
| Other | 119 | 239 | 131 | 112 | 190 | 114 | 85 | 106 | 170 | 184 | 1,450 |
| Total | 601 | 635 | 483 | 606 | 535 | 472 | 314 | 420 | 558 | 776 | 5,400 |
A dash (-) indicates that the data for that year were not published for that country in the INS Statistical Yearbook.
* China data include Hong Kong and Taiwan. Former USSR data continued since break-up (except FY'96-'97 and ‘01 include only Russia and Ukraine). Former Yugoslavia data continued since break-up.
The 31 nationalities above represent nearly three-quarters (73.1%) of all immigrant settlement and adjustment in North Dakota during this ten-year period. Three-tenths (30.4%) of North Dakota's new immigrants during the period were accounted for by immigrants from Canada, the former Soviet Union and Vietnam.
North Dakota : Poll Data
Rasmussen Poll: Arizona Law SB 1070
July 2010
Suppose the new Arizona immigration law was being considered for your state. Would you favor or oppose passage of that law in your state?
The U.S. Justice Department has decided to challenge the legality of Arizona’s new immigration law in federal court. Do you agree or disagree with the decision to challenge the legality of Arizona’s new immigration law?
North Dakota: Immigration Impact
POPULATION PROFILE
While rural North Dakota is losing population to urban centers, the population increase in Fargo and Cass County during the 1990s — more than 20 percent — surprised demographers. Nearly half of the newcomers to Cass County during the 1990s were immigrants. "That's not inconsequential numbers," notes the director of the State Data Center at North Dakota State University. "How well will we deal with that?" 1
ENVIRONMENTAL AND QUALITY OF LIFE PROFILE
Water: Between 2000 and 2006, the foreign born population of North Dakota increased by 10.4 percent. 2 This compares with a 1.2 percent decrease in the native-born population and that included the children born to immigrants. According the U.S. Geological Survey, per-capita, water demand in the state is just under 100 gallons per day (99.6). 3 This means that the net increase of 1,264 foreign born between 2000 and 2006 has added approximately 125,000 gallons of water each day to the state's demand.
Monitoring of the Fox Hills aquifer shows that wells are declining between 1 and 2 feet per year. The Water Appropriation Division for the State Water Commission is particularly concerned about ranches which operate on artesian wells. Some are only a few feet from running dry.4
Despite the clear decline in water levels, demand for water remains at an all time high to facilitate energy projects with oil, coal, and ethanol. Already the state has been forced to keep new ethanol plants from tapping into the fragile aquifer. "They're slowly, locally mining the aquifer and it's only a matter of time before the aquifer will cease to flow in low-lying areas," the director of the Water Appropriation Division for the State Water Commission said.5
Dry times have also contributed to the state's dwindling water supply. There has been a great decrease in surface water in the state. Much of the state did not receive adequate snowfall or spring rains to replenish the ponds, and reservoirs. In Minot, citizens have been enduring drought for quite some time. Drought has reduced the Souris River that runs through Minot to little more than a creek. Additionally, officials anticipate Lake Darling, on the river northwest of Minot to drop to a record low this summer. Without normal surface water sources, Minot has been forced to place a burgeoning and unsustainable demand on the town's aquifers.6
Drought has been of particular concern to those in the cattle industry. In addition to posing a shortage of water for all of the cattle, the lower supply may result in unsafe levels of salts and toxins.
Traffic: As population growth put more traffic on the roads, the average commute for North Dakota residents increased from 15.5 minutes in 200 to 16.3 minutes in 2005. 7,8 6 percent of commuters in North Dakota have a commute that is 45 minutes or more. 9
Disappearing open space: Each year, North Dakota loses 6,600 acres of open space and farmland due to development.10
Crowded housing: In 2005 almost 3,000 North Dakota households were defined as crowded or severely crowded by housing authorities. 11 Studies show that a rise in crowded housing often correlates with an increase in the number of foreign-born. 12,13
Poverty: In 2005 12.6 percent of immigrant had incomes below the poverty level. 14
Solid Waste: North Dakota generates 1.01 tons of solid waste per capita. 15
Endnotes:
- Lauren Donovan. "Old country for no men." Bismarck Tribune. June 8, 2008
- " Minot, N.S. could face water supply problems." U.S.Water News Online. April 2008.
- Worried About Livestock Water." Dakota Farmer. June 2, 2008
- FAIR estimate based on the 2006 Current Population Survey
- "Estimates of the Unauthorized Migrant Population for States based on the March 2005 CPS", Pew Hispanic Center.
- "Fargo Area Population Growth 'Phenomenal'" Associated Press, December 31, 2001.
- Selected Social Characteristics: 2000 Data Set - 2005 American Community Survey, American Fact Finder, U.S. Census Bureau.
- Selected Social Characteristics: 2005 Data Set - 2005 American Community Survey, American Fact Finder, U.S. Census Bureau.
- "U.S. Population 2007 Data Sheet," Population Reference Bureau.
- "State Rankings by Acreage and Rate of Non-Federal Land Developed," Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
- Selected Housing Characteristics: 2005 Data Set - 2005 American Community Survey, American Fact Finder, U.S. Census Bureau.
- Haya El Nasser, "U.S. Neighborhoods Grow More Crowded," USA Today, July 7, 2002.
- Randy Capps, "Hardship among Children of Immigrants: Findings from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families," Urban Institute, 2001.
- "North Dakota State Factsheet," Migration Information Source, Migration Policy Institute.
- Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers.