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Oregon

Oregon's battle against sprawl is well known, particularly in the Portland area. But with a 28 percent increase in Portland's population during the 1990s, growth has led to traffic congestion, longer commutes, and inflated home prices (which increased 44 percent in the 1990s).

Extended Data

STATE POPULATION

Using the Current Population Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that in July 2008 Oregon’s population had increased to 3,790,060 residents, i.e., an annual average increase of about 44,415 residents since 2000. That is a rate of increase of about 1.3 percent per year.

NET INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION (NIM)

Based on the Current Population Survey, the Census Bureau estimated that between the 2000 Census and July 2008 the state’s population increased by about 92,395 residents from net international migration (more foreign-born arriving than leaving). That was an annual average increase of about 11,130 residents, i.e., more than one-fourth (25.1%) of the total increase (not including the children born to the immigrants after their arrival in the United States).

The 2000 Census found 3,421,399 persons resident in Oregon. This was an increase of 579,078 persons above the 1990 Census (20.4%). The amount of increase was the 16^th highest in the country. The rate of increase was the 11^th fastest increasing population in the country.

The 2000 population is about 25,000 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 state's overall rate of population increase between 1980-1990 was 7.9 percent (from 2,633,156 to 2,842,321).

FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION

Based on the American Community Survey (ACS), the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the foreign-born population of Oregon was 358,414 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 Oregon was about 381,320 residents in July 2008. This meant a foreign-born population share of 10.1 percent. The amount of change since the 2000 Census indicates an average annual rate of increase in the foreign-born population of about 11,040 people, which is nearly one-fourth (24.9%) of the state’s annual average population increase. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 31.6 percent compared to a 8.8 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 20.2 percent share of the state’s current births is large enough to account for about 9,365 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may account for nearly 20,405 persons added to the state’s population annually, i.e., more than two-fifths (45.9%) of the state’s overall population increase.

Oregon ranked 22nd nationally in the rate foreign-born increase between 1960-2000.

 The 2000 Census found that 50 percent of Oregon's foreign-born population had arrived in the state since 1990. This demonstrates the effects of the current mass immigration, and it is a much 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 Oregon increased by more than two-fifths, from 7.3 percent to 10.3 percent. Less than half (48.6%) of those who said they spoke a language other than English at home in 2000 also said they spoke English less than very well.

Oregon's 1990 foreign-born population numbered 139,307. This was an increase of 29.2 percent over the 1980 number (107,805) and accounted for over 15 percent of the state's overall population increase. The rate of change was the 15th fastest in the country.

The share of the overall immigrant population in 1990 was about five percent of the state's 2,842,321 residents, less than the national average of 7.9 percent, but still exceeded by only 17 other states.

Foreign-Born Change Since 1980:

* 2000 Census data for China include Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The ten countries above constituted nearly three-quarters (73.2%) of the foreign-born population in Oregon in 2000. Mexicans alone constituted 39 percent of the foreign-born total. Compared to the 69,583 Mexican-born residents from the 2000 Census who said they entered the United States between 1990-2000, INS data (see below) indicate that the total number of legal Mexican immigrants who listed Oregon as their intended residence during that period numbered fewer than 32,800 persons.

Multnomah County accounts for nearly 30 percent of the state's total foreign-born population (about 41,500 in 1990). That is a foreign-born rate of 7.1 percent. The rest of the state has a 4.3 percent rate of immigrant settlement. The Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area has a foreign-born population of about 88,000 and a settlement rate of 5.8 percent. That rate is the same as in the Salem metropolitan area, where about 16,200 immigrants live.

According to the 1990 Census, about 7.3 percent of Oregonians say they speak some language other than English at home.

The Census Bureau estimated from its American Community Survey that in 2002 the foreign-born population of Oregon was about 311,400 persons. The chart below shows the regions from which those foreign residents came.

IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE DATA

(Click here for data on immigrant settlement.)

THE IMMIGRANT STOCK

The Census Bureau estimated that there were about 615,000 people in Oregon 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 of 3,421,399, the immigrant stock share of the state's population was 18 percent.

As the graph below shows, the amount of Oregon’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 407,700 people to the population. Over this period, the increase in the foreign stock has accounted for 27 percent of the state’s population increase.

NATURALIZATION

Data from the 2000 Census recorded Oregon's naturalized population at 97,381. That was a naturalization rate of 33.6 percent, much lower than the national average rate of 40.1 percent. The sharply declining rate of naturalization (see 1990 data below) indicates a rapidly increasing immigrant population, including illegal immigrants.

Data from the 1990 Census showed that 42.5 percent of Oregon's 139,307 foreign-born residents had become naturalized U.S. citizens. This was about the national average (40.3%).

OTHER DEMOGRAPHIC DATA

A study entitled "Movin' Out: Domestic Migration to and from California in the 1990s" quantifies the net flow of residents from California to Oregon during the period of 1990-99 at 141,000. The study by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), issued in August 2000, put the number of Oregonians moving to California at 233,000 and the number of Californians moving to Oregon at 374,000. The PPIC study suggested that the heavy flow out of California during this period was related more to unemployment rates than to population pressures fueled by high-level immigrant settlement in the state. However, the study documented that a large share of those "Movin' Out" were low-income families whose job prospects may have been adversely affected by the immigrant flow.

Refugee Settlement

Oregon has received nearly 10,200 refugees over the most recent six fiscal years (FY'96-'01) for permanent resettlement (1,496 in FY'01). The average has been nearly 1,700 refugees per year.

Under the Office of Refugee Resettlement's (HHS) assistance funding for FY'02 $1,072,413 is available for refugee employment training and other services programs in Oregon based on a three-year refugee settlement program covering 4,273 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.

Multnomah County and the City of Portland have one of the highest refugee to natural-born citizen ratios in the United States. In Multnomah County, one in 26 residents came as a refugee. One in 22 Portlanders was originally a refugee.
(Source: Oregonian, February 16, 1993)

The federal government gives Multnomah County $207 a month for each refugee for primary dental and health care. However, this coverage only lasts eight months. The total dental and health care cost per refugee is $1,656 a year.
(Source: Oregonian, February 16, 1993)

Although Oregon ranks 29th in population, it was 11th in the number of refugees it settled. (Source: Sunday Oregonian, June 25, 1995)

On average, more than 1,800 refugees were resettled in Oregon each year between 1990 and 1996. (Source: Oregonian, Feb. 3, 1999)

Oregon received its first Kosovo refugees in June 1999. Although the family of three were Moslems, their settlement was coordinated by the Jewish Family and Child Service organization. The refugees will receive $503 a month from the state as well as coverage by the Oregon Health Plan and federal assistance in the form of food stamps. (Source: Oregonian, June 4, 1999)

SOCIAL AND OTHER ISSUES

Multnomah County spends $25,000 a year for library books in foreign languages, $1.5 million a year for language interpreters and $2.8 million annually for refugee health care. (Source: Oregonian, February 16, 1993)

Oregon's Latino enrollment rose over the past decade by 185 percent to 47,027 in 1999. The overall inrollment rise during the same period was 18 percent. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Latino children are far more likely "...to live in poverty, come from single-parent households, have parents who did not finish school, speak limited English and attend troubled schools." At Alder Elementary School in Gresham, about half of the 620 students are Latino (up 28% in the last year). Other schools have also registered large increases in Latino enrollment: Henry in Hillsboro (up 11%), Cornelius near Forest Grove (up 14%), and Barnes in Gresham (up 35%). About 30,000 Latino student from migrant backgrounds have a drop-out rate of about 16 percent, more than double the state average. (Source: Oregonian, Jan. 19, 1999)

The Oregon Health Plan is losing ground despite big increases in spending, at least in part because of the continuing flow of new poverty-level immigrant applicants. The immigration connection may be seen in information from the Clinica del Cario health center in Hood River in an area that serves the largely foreign-born migrant labor population. In this clinic, more than two-thirds of its 23,000 beneficiaries are below the poverty line. (Source: Oregonian, March 29, 1999)

According to Barry Edmonston, director of the Center for Population Research and Census at Portland State Univ., population growth and crowding in Portland area schools are related to immigration. "If it weren't for immigration, the school-age enrollment would level off and decline," he said. In the past decade, state enrollment has risen by about 15 percent to nearly 543,000 in 1998. Nationwide, one in five elementary and high school students have at least one parent who is foreign born, and one in 20 were themselves foreign born. The effects of this immigrant surge may be seen in special English instruction (ESL) programs. In Beaverton, the number of ESL classrooms jumped from seven in 1994 to 41 in 1999. Even in older communities, such as Beaver Acres, the ESL class has had to move twice because of overcrowding. (Source: Oregonian, Oct. 7, 1999)

Gov. Kitzhaber used his power of clemency for the first time to pardon an alien convicted in 1991 of sex abuse of a 10-year-old girl. He was deported in September 1999 after completing a 36-month probationary sentence. Antonio Porras, the lawyer for the deported alien, Hector Carillo-Landeros, commented "I know it is a tough call, but the governor did the right thing." As a result of the pardon, Carillo-Landeros becomes eligible to return to the United States. (Source: AP, November 2, 1999)

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 Oregon, overall enrollment in 2002 (552,144) was 2.2 percent above enrollment in 1993. By contrast, LEP enrollment (44,129 - 8% of all enrollment) was 170 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 2004/05 annual report of the Institute of International Education (IIE) lists the number of foreign students attending post-secondary school in Oregon as 5,490. Several schools in Oregon have major concentrations of these students: The University of Oregon. (1,493, 7.3%) and Portland State University (1,037, 4.9%). Below, a chart illustrates the sharp increase of foreign students attending school in Oregon from 1960-2000.

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

ILLEGAL ALIENS

FAIR estimates the state’s illegal alien population as of 2008 is as many as 125,000 persons. This is part of an overall estimate of the U.S. illegal alien population of about 13 million persons.

Following the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which allowed three million illegal aliens to apply for legal permanent residence (1.7 million of them seasonal agricultural workers), 31,000 immigrants applied for permanent residence in Oregon. (Source: Sunday Oregonian, June 25, 1995)

The current INS estimate means that there are only 13 states with higher numbers of illegal alien residents.

In December 2001, Portland International Airport felt the effects of INS "Operation Tarmac." The INS investigators found 124 illegal alien workers and arrested 30 of them for use of fake documents. (Source: Associated Press, Dec. 20, 2001)

The Mexican consulate in Portland estimates that 80,000 Mexicans have immigrated illegally to Oregon. The Extension Service of Oregon State Univ. estimates the number of migrant farm workers who work in Oregon each year at 150,000. According to a Hillsboro berry grower and contractor, "If the immigration service did an inspection during harvest, any farmer in this state would be out of business." (Source: Oregonian, April 30, 1999)

Oregon 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 Oregon 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 for 800 prisoner years of detention. By FY’02, the state’s reported illegal alien detention rose by 58 percent to 1,262 prisoner years, while compensation fell by 14 percent and since has decreased sharply.

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.

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Immigrant Admissions

Recent immigrant admissions have increased by about 426 percent since adoption of the current immigration system in 1965. During the 1965-'69 period, annual admissions averaged about 1,760 immigrants. During the 2002-'06 period, admissions averaged about 9,255 immigrants.

The charts below show recent immigrant admissions and the cumulative immigrant admissions data since 1965. The number of annual admissions has ranged from 1,506 in FY'70 to 24,575 in FY'91 (impacted by the amnesty enacted in 1986). The cumulative total of admissions to Oregon between fiscal years 1965 and 2002 was about 227,575 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 Oregon was 27,603 (4,227 pre-1982 residents and 23,376 agricultural workers).

The data for FY'95 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).

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 (81.3%) of all immigrant settlement and adjustment in Oregon during this ten-year period. Immigrants from Mexico accounted for one-quarter of Oregon's new immigrants since 1990. When immigrants from the former Soviet Union, Vietnam and China are added to those from Mexico, they account for more than half (56%) of the immigrant admissions during this period. 

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Immigration Impact

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

Population Change

Oregon’s population increased by 20.7 percent between 1990 and 2000, and by 7.9 percent between 2000 and 2006, bringing Oregon’s total population to approximately 3.7 million.

Approximately 28 percent of the total population increase between 2000 and 2006 in Oregon was directly attributable to immigrants.

FAIR estimates the illegal alien population in 2005 at 139,000, which 15^th in the U.S. for the FAIR estimate. This number is 54% above the U.S. government estimate of 90,000 in 2000, and 434% above the 1990 estimate of 26,000.

According to an estimate of the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2005 there were an estimated 125,000 to 175,000 illegal aliens living in Oregon This estimate ranks 17^th among illegal alien populations in the United States for the PEW estimate.²

FAIR estimates in 2004 that the taxpayers of Oregon spent $401.8 million per year on illegal aliens and their children in public schools.³

Environmental and Quality of Life Profile

Water: Between 2000 and 2006, Oregon’s population rose by 8.2 percent, including a nearly one-fourth (24.2%) net increase in the immigrant population.⁵ That contrasts with the 6.7 percent increase in the native-born population and that included the children born to immigrants. When the U.S.-born children of immigrants are included, immigrants account for well over two-fifths (44.4%) of Oregon’s growth.⁶ By 2050, Oregon’s population is expected to top 6 million, a 62.5 percent increase from its population in 2006.⁷ Oregon has a per-capita, water demand of 165 gallons each day.⁸ This means that by 2050 the public may demand up to 381.8 million gallons more per day than in 2006. Shrinking resources due to global warming, exacerbated by this increase in population may pose dire circumstances in the years ahead.

Particularly in areas such as the Rogue Basin, climate change threatens the current state of the water resources. Current projections suggest that temperatures may climb 15 degrees by 2080. In turn, this temperature elevation would mean diminishing mountain snowpacks and less water to sustain river and stream flows. Making matters worse, runoff will occur more rapidly and earlier in the year as snows melt, causing increased threat of floods. Followed later in the year by increased periods of drought and declining surface water levels.⁹

Water shortages may come to some areas of Oregon sooner than others. New analysis reveals that most towns in Yamhill County, a rapidly growing area, could face shortages by 2010. All water rights in the basin of Yamhill county’s rivers and tributaries are fully appropriated during low flow periods, and groundwater has been steadily declining. Clearly, the water resources cannot keep pace with the area’s growth. Already, several towns have faced mandatory water restrictions during dry spells.¹⁰ With finite water resources, Oregon simply cannot continue growing forever.

Traffic: As population growth put more traffic on the roads, the average commute for Oregon residents increased since the 1990s, from 20 minutes in 1990 to 21.9 minutes in 2005. ¹⁰, ¹²51% of Oregon's major urban roads are congested, and 38% of Oregon's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition. Vehicle travel on Oregon's highways increased 31% from 1990 to 2003. Driving on roads in need of repair costs Oregon motorists $684 million a year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs --- $264 per motorist. Congestion in the Eugene area costs commuters $162 per person per year in excess fuel and lost time, $733 in the Portland area, and $258 in Salem area. ¹³

In Salem travelers experience an annual delay of 15 hours, and an annual delay of 9 hours in Eugene. Travers in the Portland-Washington area experience an annual delay of 39 hours, a figure that ranks 26^th in the nation. ¹⁴ 11 percent or commuters in Oregon have a commute that is 45 minutes or more. ¹⁵

Oregon drivers in urban areas spent more than twice as much time in traffic delays in 2001 as they did in 1991.¹⁶ The Portland area had the eleventh worst traffic congestion in the nation in 2000. The hours of delay caused by area rush hour translate into a cost of $670 million, as well as use of an extra 57 million gallons of fuel. ¹⁷

Disappearing open space: Each year, Oregon loses 20,800 acres of open space and farmland due to development. ¹⁸ In December 2002, the Portland area’s regional government voted to allow development on 18,600 acres of rural land in and around its suburbs. ¹⁹ Portland, once a model for limiting urban growth, has been forced by a growing population to repeatedly expand its urban boundary, most recently urbanizing 200 hundred acres in nearby Hillsboro, 370 acres in West Lynn, 520 acres bordering Forest Park, and 720 acres in Bethany (which is about half of its farmland).²⁰ About eight acres in Portland were paved for development each day during the 1990s. ²¹ Portland’s population increase has forced more and more development of the area within the growth boundary, crowding current residents and eating up any pastoral areas. ²², ²³

Crowded housing: In 2005 over 39,000 Oregon households were defined by housing authorities as crowded or severely crowded. ²⁴ Studies show that a rise in crowded housing often correlates with an increase in the number of foreign-born. ²⁵, ²⁶ In areas with migrant farm workers, overcrowding housing is common, such as Woodburn, where eleven percent of the population live in crowded housing, and Gervais, where it’s 16 percent. In Prescot, on the Columbia River west of Portland, 15 percent of residents live with one or more people to a room. ²⁷ They are followed by residents of Boardman in northeastern Oregon, where eleven percent of people double up. ²⁸

Sprawl: Oregon mayors have been fighting a state requirement that communities periodically plan for population growth in the next 20 years by designating new land for development, which they say facilitates population-driven sprawl. ²⁹ Due to that requirement, Portland’s regional government agreed in December 2002 to the largest expansion of allowable development in its history—18,600 acres—simply to accommodate population growth anticipated over the next 20 years. ³⁰ Residents of Portland suburb Damascus fought unsuccessfully the proposal, which will urbanize over 10,000 acres in their area. ³¹ In other communities, like Wilsonville, sprawl and its associated effects have become residents’ principal complaints. ³³

A study of urban sprawl between 1970 and 1990 that calculated the impact of population increase and per capita land use found that 121.2 square miles of additional land were consumed by urban sprawl in the Portland land area, which crosses over into Vancouver, OR and Washington, and 93.8 percent of that sprawl was attributable to population increase. 33/

Air pollution: As population increases, pollution usually rises along with it. Heavily populated Portland got a “D” in air quality on a Sierra Club evaluation of urban livability. ³⁴The EPA says that, due to pollution from population-related sources like car exhaust, every resident of Oregon is exposed to elevated levels of air toxic pollutants. ³⁵ The counties surrounding Portland are now in the top five percent of U.S. counties with residents are most likely to develop cancer linked to air toxins. ³⁶

Poverty: In 2005 23.4 percent of immigrants in Oregon had incomes below the poverty level, an increase of 42.1 percent since 2000. Among non-citizens, the poverty rate climbs to 29.3 percent.  ³⁷

Education: Between 2000 and 2005 Oregon’s K-12 student enrollment increased by over 7,000 students, ³⁸, ³⁹ and in projected to increase by an additional 23,000 students by the year 2015. ⁴⁰. Oregon’s student-teacher ration of 19.5 ranks 48^th in the United States. ⁴¹

In some school districts, like Portland’s David Douglas district, two out of three new students are immigrants. ⁴² In the Portland suburbs, some schools have both been operating at as much as 114 percent of their capacity. ⁴³ Population growth forced Oregon City into a $67 million bond issue to fund the construction of a new high school and four new elementary schools. ⁴⁴ In Hillsboro where the district grew by 14 percent (2,200 students) in just five years, parents complain of children taught in stuffed schools, where classes are held on noisy stages, in makeshift library classrooms, and in cramped portables; physical education and music classes have dwindled to 20-minute periods, and where children begin eating lunch as early as 10:30 a.m. to fit in all the necessary lunch periods. ⁴⁵

Solid Waste: Oregon generates 1.16 tons of solid waste per capita. ⁴⁶

Illegal Residents: In a month-long investigation of Portland’s service industry in 2001, immigration agents review paperwork for 3,306 employees and discovered that 25 percent were illegal aliens .⁴⁷ Recent raids by government officials have found hundreds of illegal aliens working in Oregon’s service and tourist industries ⁴⁸, ⁴⁹ and involved in ID fraud, ⁵⁰, ⁵¹, ⁵²  as well as immigrants charged with working to support terrorism here and abroad. ⁵³

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. Tara Burghart, “Urban Planning, Oregon-Style, Gets Strong Support, Criticism,” Associated Press, May 31, 2001.
5. U.S. Census Bureau 2006.
6. Jack Martin, “Issue Brief: Estimation of Foreign Born Birthrate,” FAIR, 2008.
7. Jack Martin and Stanley Fogel, “Projecting the U.S. Population to 2050,” FAIR, March 2006
8. U.S. Geological Survey 2000.
9. Paul Fattig, “The bad news? Climate change will bring floods, fires, droughts,” Mail Tribune, June 29, 2008.
10. U.S. Water News Online, “Towns in Oregon wine country area may face water shortages,” April 2008
11. “Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 1990 and 2000,” Census 2000, U.S. Census Bureau.
12. Selected Economic Characteristics: 2005 Data Set - 2005 American Community Survey, American Fact Finder, 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. Jeff Mapes, “Oregon Makes Gains but Problems Persist, Report Says,” The Oregonian, March 16, 2003.
17. Bill Stewart, “Portland, Oregon, Groups Say Report’s Conclusion of Area Congestion is Flawed,” The Oregonian, June 21, 2002.
18. “State Rankings by Acreage and Rate of Non-federal Land Developed,” Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
19. Laura Oppenheimer, “Damascus Waits to See How Growth will Proceed,” The Oregonian, March 31, 2003.
20. Laura Oppenheimer, “Growth Boundary Move Draws Critics in Portland, Ore.,” The Oregonian, February 19, 2003.
21. Elizabeth Murtaugh, “Northwest Gets Mixed Reviews in Report on Regional Well-being,” Associated Press, March 18, 2002.
22. Laura Oppenheimer, “Housing Density Debate Hinges on Quality of Life Issues,” The Oregonian, April 14, 2002.
23. Steve Amick, “Growth in Canby Pushes the Last Horse Out of Town,” The Oregonian, January 3, 2002.
24. “Oregon State Factsheet,” Migration Information Source, Migration Policy Institute.
25. Haya El Nasser, “U.S. Neighborhoods Grow More Crowded,” USA Today, July 7, 2002.
26. Randy Capps, “Hardship Among Children of Immigrants: Findings from the 1999 National Survey of America’s Families,” Urban Institute, 2001.
27. “Details of Oregon Life Seen in Census 2000 Data,” Associated Press, May 14, 2002.
28. Ibid.
29. Dana Tims, “West Linn Mayor Wants to Lead Statewide Reform of Growth Law,” The Oregonian, December 12, 2002.
30. Laura Oppenheimer, “Damascus Waits to See How Growth will Proceed,” The Oregonian, March 31, 2003.
31. Laura Oppenheimer, “Metro Hears Damascus Area Residents’ Resistance,” The Oregonian, October 11, 2002.
32. Dana Tims, “Urban Growth Spurs Talk, No Consensus,” The Oregonian, January 11, 2002.
33. Beck, Roy and Leon Kolankiewicz, “Weighing Sprawl Factors in Large U.S. Cities,” NumbersUSA, March 2001.
34. William McCall, “Sierra Club Gives Portland 'D’ for Air, Public Transit Efforts,” Associated Press, November 16, 2001.
35. Andy Dworkin, “National Study Finds 'Air Toxics’ in Northwest,” The Oregonian, June 4, 2002.
36. Ibid.
37. “Oregon State Factsheet,” Migration Information Source, Migration Policy Institute.
38. "Overview of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools and Districts: School Year 1999-2000," National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education.
39. "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.
40. Projections of Education Statistics to 2015, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education.
41. "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.
42. Tracy Jan, “As Enrollment at Oregon Schools Declines, Local Districts Buck Trend,” The Oregonian, October 31, 2002.
43. “This Week’s Question: How Crowded Is Too Crowded in a Classroom?,” The Oregonian, October 27, 2001.
44. Noelle Crombie, “New High School, Classrooms Come Off Drawing Board,” The Oregonian, April 10, 2001
45. Paige Parker, “Half of the Elementary Schools in the Sprawling Hillsboro School District Post Poor Performances,” The Oregonian, April 17, 2001.
46. Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers
47. Gillian Flaccus, “INS Audit Removes About 800 From Local Workforce,” Associated Press, September 10, 2001.
48. Ibid.
49. Mike Cronin, “Mexican Workers Face INS, Uncertainty,” Bend Bulletin, September 13, 2001.
50. “Portland Man Arrested in Green Card Scam,” Associated Press, February 28, 2003
51. “State Says Fire Crews Hired Improperly,” Associated Press, March 17, 2002.
52. “INS Breaks Up Fake Document Business,” Associated Press, December 6, 2002
53. Andrew Kramer, “FBI Arrests Four - Three in Portland - on Charges of Aiding al Qaeda,” Associated Press, October 4, 2002.

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