Oklahoma
| Summary Demographic State Data (and Source) | |
|---|---|
| Population (2008 CB est.): | 3,642,361 |
| Population (2000 Census): | 3,450,654 |
| Foreign-Born Population (2008 FAIR est.): | 188,820 |
| Foreign-Born Population (2000 Census): | 131,747 |
| Share Foreign-Born (2008 FAIR est.): | 5.2% |
| Share Foreign-Born (2000): | 3.8% |
| Immigrant Stock (2000 CB est.): | 258,000 |
| Share Immigrant Stock (1997 est.): | 7.5% |
| Naturalized U.S. Citizens (2006 CB est): | 57,594 |
| Share Naturalized (2006): | 32.9% |
| Legal Immigrant Admission (DHS 1997-2007): | 35,297 |
| Refugee Admission (DHS 1997-2007): | 1,119 |
| Illegal Alien Population (2008 FAIR est): | 85,000 |
| Projected 2050 Population - (2006 FAIR): | 4,688,819 |
Oklahoma: Extended Immigration Data
STATE POPULATION
Using the Current Population Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that in July 2008 Oklahoma’s population had increased to 3,642,361 residents, i.e., an annual average increase of about 23,095 residents since 2000. That is a rate of increase of about 0.7 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 42,895 residents from net international migration (more foreign-born arriving than leaving). That was an annual average increase of about 5,170 residents, i.e., more than one-fifth (22.4%) of the total increase (not including the children born to the immigrants after their arrival in the United States).
The 2000 Census found 3,450,654 persons resident in Oklahoma. This was an increase of 305,069 persons above the 1990 Census. The rate of increase (9.7%) was slightly less than the national average of 9.9 percent.
The 2000 population is about 80,000 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.
Oklahoma had the 25th greatest rate of population increase in the country between 1960-2000.
The state's population increased by four percent between 1980 and 1990 (from 3,025,487 to 3,145,585 residents).
FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION
Based on the American Community Survey (ACS), the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the foreign-born population of Oklahoma was 174,553 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 Oklahoma was about 188,820 residents in July 2008. This meant a foreign-born population share of 5.2 percent. The amount of change since the 2000 Census indicates an average annual rate of increase in the foreign-born population of about 6,875 people, which is more than one-fourth (29.8%) of the state’s annual average population increase. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 43.3 percent compared to a 4.1 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 10.4 percent share of the state’s current births is large enough to account for about 5,360 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may account for nearly 12,240 persons added to the state’s population annually, i.e., more than half (53%) of the state’s overall population increase.
A comparison of the increase in the immigrant population since 1990 with the change in the overall population during the same period shows that immigrant settlement directly accounted for 21.7 percent 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 likely to be closer to 31 percent, which is based on the increase in the share of those who speak a language other than English at home in Oklahoma.
The 2000 Census found that 53 percent of Oklahoma'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 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 Oklahoma increased by more than two-fifths, from five percent to 7.1 percent. About two-fifths (41.5%) of those who said they spoke a language other than English at home in 2000 also said they spoke English less than very well.
| Speakers of Foreign Languages (at home in Oklahoma in the 2000 Census) | |
| Spanish | 141,060 |
| German | 13,445 |
| Vietnamese | 11,330 |
| French | 8,220 |
| Cherokee | 7,280 |
| Chinese | 5,250 |
| Muskogee | 4,145 |
| Korean | 3,950 |
| Choctaw | 3,375 |
| Arabic | 3,265 |
| (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 175,978 residents, an increase of 33.6 percent since 2000. In comparison, the foreign-born population changed from 65,489 to 131,747 residents between 1990 and 2000, an increase of 101.2 percent.
The ten countries below constituted approximately 70.4% of the foreign-born population in Oklahoma in 2006. Mexico accounted for nearly fifty percent (48.6) alone.
| Foreign-Born Change Since 1990: Top Ten Countries 1990-2006 | ||||||||
| Rank | Country | 1980 | Country | 1990 | Country | 2006 | ||
| 1 | Mexico | 13,686 | Mexico | 55,971 | Mexico | 85,500 | ||
| 2 | Vietnam | 5,696 | Vietnam | 9,958 | Vietnam | 8,974 | ||
| 3 | Germany | 5,502 | Germany | 6,144 | India | 6,882 | ||
| 4 | United Kingdom | 3,300 | India | 5,128 | Germany | 5,549 | ||
| 5 | Korea | 3,099 | China | 4,450 | China | 4,959 | ||
| 6 | Canada | 2,576 | Korea | 4,146 | Canada | 4,154 | ||
| 7 | India | 2,496 | United Kingdom | 3,814 | Vietnam | 3,500 | ||
| 8 | Philippines | 1,860 | Canada | 3,710 | England | 1,723 | ||
| 9 | Japan | 1,582 | Philippines | 3,221 | Japan | 1,570 | ||
| 10 | Iran | 1,536 | Guatemela | 2,386 | United Kingdom | 1,050 | ||
| All Others | 24,156 | All Others | 32,819 | All Others | 52,117 | |||
| Total | 65,489 | Total | 131,747 | Total | 123,861 | |||
THE IMMIGRANT STOCK
The Census Bureau estimated that there were about 258,000 people in Oklahoma in 1997 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 3,450,654, the immigrant stock share of the state's population was 7.5 percent.
As the graph below shows, the amount and share of Oklahoma’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 197,700 people to the population. Over this period, the increase in the foreign stock has accounted for 20.3 percent of the state’s population increase.
NATURALIZATION
Data from the 2006 American Community Survey indicate that 57,954 residents, or 32.9 percent, of the foreign-born population in Oklahoma were citizens, compared to 45,766 residents, or 34.7 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
Oklahoma has received 1,119 refugees over the most recent ten fiscal years (FY'97-'06), with 99 arriving in FY’06.
Under the Office of Refugee Resettlement's (HHS) assistance funding for FY'02 $103,401 is available for refugee employment training and other services programs in Oklahoma based on a three-year refugee settlement program covering 412 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 $628,139 and $755,214..
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 Oklahoma, overall enrollment in 2002 (620,404) was 1.9 percent above enrollment in 1993. By contrast, LEP enrollment (43,670 - 7% of all enrollment) was 121.5 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 Oklahoma as 8,364. Three schools in Oklahoma are listed as having a major concentration of these students:
- Oklahoma State University at Stillwater had enrollment of 1,770 foreign students, 7.5% of total enrollment.
- University of Oklahoma at Norman had enrollment of 1,493 foreign students, 5.5% of total enrollment
- University Central Oklahoma had enrollment of 1,281 foreign students, 8.0% of total enrollment
Below, a chart illustrates the sharp increase of foreign students attending school in Oklahoma from 1960-2000.
ILLEGAL ALIENS
FAIR Estimate - FAIR estimates the state’s illegal alien population as of 2008 is as many as 85,000 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 Oklahoma was 46,000 as of January 2000. This number 25,000 higher than the INS' 1996 estimate.
Other Estimates - The Pew Hispanic Center estimates the illegal alien population of the state at 50,000 to 75,000 as of 2005.
COST OF ILLEGAL ALIENS
Incarceration Costs
The INS estimated in February 2003 that the illegal alien population in Oklahoma as of January 2000 was 46,000 residents. This was more than double the previous INS estimate that in October 1996 the resident illegal alien population in Oklahoma had reached 21,000 from an estimated 17,000 four years earlier.
Oklahoma 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 Oklahoma has received were:
| FY’99 | — | $1,369,229 |
| FY’00 | — | $1,225,790 |
| FY’01 | — | $1,525,286 |
| FY’02 | — | $1,020,718 |
| FY’03 | — | $799,797 |
| FY’04 | — | $819,995 |
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 262 prisoner years of detention. By FY’02, the state’s reported illegal alien detention rose by 173 percent to 715 prisoner years, while compensation fell by 25 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 Oklahoma, the proposed payment in fiscal year 2004 is $1,096,958.
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 Oklahoma taxpayer $161.1 million dollars annually. This cost was partially for educating students who were themselves illegally in the country ($67.1million) and in part for the education of their siblings born in the United States to illegal residents ($94 million).
LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS
You can view a listing of local immigration reform groups here.
STATE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION VOTING RECORD
You can view the voting record of your representatives in Congress regarding immigration issues in our voting report section.
Oklahoma: Immigrant Admission
| Oklahoma Immigrant Admissions by Fiscal Year | |
| 1997 | 3,157 |
| 1998 | 2,273 |
| 1999 | 2,376 |
| 2000 | 4,586 |
| 2001 | 3,492 |
| 2002 | 4,229 |
| 2003 | 2,385 |
| 2004 | 3,506 |
| 2005 | 4,702 |
| 2006 | 4,591 |
| Total | 35,297 |
Recent immigrant admissions have increased by about 369 percent since adoption of the current immigration system in 1965. During the 1965-'69 period, annual admissions averaged about 830 immigrants. During the 2002-'06 period, admissions averaged about 3,885 immigrants.
The charts below show recent immigrant admissions and the cumulative immigrant admissions data since 1965. The number of annual admissions has ranged from 741 in FY'66 to 6,403 in FY'91. The cumulative total of admissions to Oklahoma between fiscal years 1965 and 2002 was about 109,980 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 Oklahoma was 11,033 (6,907 pre-1982 residents and 4,126 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 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 | - | - | - | 27 | 27 | 39 | 28 | 42 | - | 36 | 199 |
| Canada | 59 | 99 | 90 | 88 | 53 | 50 | 55 | 135 | 92 | 107 | 828 |
| China * | 349 | 245 | 125 | 170 | 175 | 115 | 135 | 257 | 181 | 173 | 1,925 |
| Colombia | 17 | 17 | 18 | 11 | 26 | 22 | 11 | 33 | 25 | 52 | 232 |
| Cuba | 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 13 | 6 | 59 |
| Dom. Rep. | 4 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 34 |
| Ecuador | 3 | - | 4 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 8 | 67 |
| El Salvador | 17 | 5 | 10 | 14 | 20 | 5 | 9 | 24 | 21 | 25 | 150 |
| Germany | 97 | 95 | 51 | - | 61 | 29 | 44 | 68 | 60 | 51 | 556 |
| Guatemala | 29 | 17 | 13 | 40 | 37 | 20 | 26 | 54 | 43 | 67 | 346 |
| Guyana | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | - | 4 | 17 |
| Haiti | 2 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 30 |
| Honduras | 11 | - | - | - | 31 | 28 | 10 | 16 | - | 25 | 121 |
| India | 178 | 194 | 268 | 216 | 245 | 204 | 186 | 288 | 284 | 261 | 2,324 |
| Iran | 111 | 82 | 72 | 98 | 89 | 57 | 58 | 101 | 105 | 77 | 850 |
| Ireland | 12 | 8 | - | - | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - | 3 | 26 |
| Jamaica | 10 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 9 | 76 |
| Japan | - | 23 | - | - | 21 | 16 | 18 | 36 | 21 | 33 | 168 |
| Korea | 90 | 71 | 57 | 69 | 93 | 53 | 41 | 95 | 62 | 66 | 397 |
| Mexico | 574 | 513 | 660 | 931 | 1,120 | 812 | 780 | 1,565 | 877 | 1,524 | 9,356 |
| Nicaragua | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 9 | 37 |
| Nigeria | - | - | 30 | 75 | 57 | 40 | 46 | 92 | - | 53 | 393 |
| Pakistan | 14 | 39 | 47 | 50 | 50 | 65 | 60 | 86 | 111 | 83 | 605 |
| Peru | 27 | 20 | 34 | 77 | 51 | 44 | 21 | 68 | 50 | 65 | 457 |
| Philippines | 140 | 117 | 105 | 136 | 105 | 60 | 55 | 174 | 108 | 148 | 1,148 |
| Poland | 12 | 13 | 6 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 91 |
| Sov. Un. * | 23 | 34 | 42 | 34 | 77 | 42 | 43 | 144 | 109 | 155 | 703 |
| Trin.& Tob. | - | 9 | - | - | 4 | 5 | 5 | 24 | - | 10 | 57 |
| U. Kingdom | 75 | 86 | 59 | 84 | 52 | 32 | 43 | 92 | 87 | 89 | 699 |
| Vietnam | 575 | 527 | 514 | 580 | 206 | 131 | 296 | 365 | 330 | 310 | 3,834 |
| Yugo. * | - | - | 15 | 37 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 31 | 13 | 40 | 161 |
| Other | 507 | 501 | 562 | 727 | 514 | 374 | 355 | 732 | 843 | 752 | 5,840 |
| Total | 2,942 | 2,728 | 2,792 | 3,511 | 3,157 | 2,273 | 2,376 | 4,586 | 3,492 | 4,229 | 32,086 |
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 more than four-fifths (81.8%) of all immigrant settlement and adjustment in Oklahoma during this ten-year period. Immigrants from Mexico accounted for nearly three-tenths (29.2%) of Oklahoma's new immigrants since 1993. When the admissions from Mexico are added to those from Vietnam, India and China, they amount to more than half (54.3%) of all of the newcomers during those ten years.
Oklahoma : 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?
Oklahoma: Immigration Impact
ENVIRONMENTAL AND QUALITY OF LIFE PROFILE
Traffic: Highway traffic in Oklahoma increased by 44 percent between 1990 and 2008, exceeding the national average. Nearly three-tenths (29%) of the state’s major urban highways are considered congested.1
The typical Oklahoma City commuter lost about 27 hours and 17 gallons of fuel due to congestion-related traffic delays in 2007. For Tulsa, the figures were 22 hours and 13 gallons of fuel, bringing the total annual cost of time and fuel lost due to congestion in Oklahoma to $449 million.2 About 9 percent of Oklahoma commuters had a commute of 45 minutes or longer in 2008.3
Unfortunately, road maintenance has not kept up with traffic volume in Oklahoma. More than one-third (35%) of its major roads are in poor or mediocre condition, and 29 percent of the state’s bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Motorists pay the cost of overdue road maintenance. The typical Oklahoma driver spends $425 per year on additional maintenance and operating costs due to road conditions, for a $978 million statewide total.4 Tulsa drivers pay $703 extra per year, fourth-highest among urban areas with more than 500,000 people and the highest cost outside of California. Oklahoma City was tenth at $631, and fourth among cities outside California.5
Disappearing open space: The amount of developed land in Oklahoma increased by 608,100 acres from 1982 to 2007, growing at a pace of 32,280 acres per year over the last ten years of that period.6
A study of urban sprawl between 1970 and 1990 that calculated the impact of population increase and per capita land use found that 307.7 square miles of additional land were consumed by urban sprawl in the Oklahoma metropolitan area, and 46.8 percent of that sprawl was attributable to population increase. In the Tulsa metro area sprawl consumed an additional 124.3 square miles and population increase accounted for 46.7 percent of the increase.7
Crowded housing: An estimated 33,541 of Oklahoma’s housing units were classified as crowded in 2008, defined as units with more than one occupant per room. This amounted to 2.4 percent of the state’s housing units. In addition, 7,924 units were severely crowded, with at least 1.5 occupants per room.8 Nationwide, children in immigrant families were three times as likely to live in crowded conditions as children in native families (27 percent to 9 percent). In the state, 22 percent of children in immigrant families live in crowded housing, compared to just 10 percent of children with native-born parents.9
Air pollution: As population increases, pollution usually rises along with it. Of the Oklahoma counties included in the American Lung Association’s 2010 assessment of high ozone risk, more than half received an "F," and no county earned better than a "C." Oklahoma, Tulsa, Canadian, and Cleveland Counties were among those given an "F."10
Poverty: Oklahoma’s immigrants are more likely to be poor than their native-born counterparts. In 2007, 21.2 percent of foreign-born households were below the poverty line, compared to 15.6 percent of native households. An additional 15.8 percent of the foreign-born and 10.8 percent of native households were not in poverty but had incomes less than 1.5 times the poverty level.11 36.6 percent of children in immigrant families were poor in 2006, compared to 22.8 percent of native children.12
Education: Public school enrollment in Oklahoma increased by about 16,000 students between 1998 and 2008. Over the same period, the number of students per teacher decreased from 15.5 to 15.3, compared to a nationwide decrease of 1.4 students per teacher. The state’s student-teacher ratio ranks 34th in the U.S.13
Solid Waste: Oklahoma generates 1.28 tons of solid waste per capita each year.14 If this number is not reduced, projected population growth will increase the amount of solid waste generated in Oklahoma by more than 1.3 million tons per year by 2050.
Endotes:
- The Road Information Project (TRIP), "Key Facts about Oklahoma’s Surface Transportation System and Federal Funding," May 2010.
- American Community Survey, 2008 Estimates, Custom Data Table.
- American Community Survey, 2008 Estimates, Custom Data Table.
- The Road Information Project (TRIP), "Key Facts about Oklahoma’s Surface Transportation System and Federal Funding," May 2010.
- The Road Information Project (TRIP), "Rough Roads Ahead," May 2009.
- USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, "Summary Report: 2007 National Resources Inventory."
- Beck, Roy and Leon Kolankiewicz, "Weighing Sprawl Factors in Large U.S. Cities," NumbersUSA, March 2001.
- American Community Survey, Three-Year Estimates 2006-2008. Data retrieved using ACS Custom Table tool.
- Kids Count Data Center, Kids Count Data Center, 2008 American Community Survey Data.
- American Lung Association, "State of the Air 2010."
- Migration Information Source State Data (Migration Policy Institute)
- Urban Institute, Children of Immigrants Data Tool.
- NEA, "Rankings and Estimates," 1999 and 2009 editions.
- Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers.