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Texas

 

Summary Demographic State Data (and Source)
Population (2009 CB est.): 24,782,302
Population (2000 Census): 20,851,820
Foreign-Born Population (2009 FAIR est.): 3,985,239
Foreign-Born Population (2000 Census): 2,899,642
Share Foreign-Born (2009): 16.1%
Share Foreign-Born (2000): 13.9%
Naturalized U.S. Citizens (2009 CB est.): 1,273,429
Share Naturalized (2009): 32.0%
Legal Immigrant Admission (DHS 2000-2009): 831,379
Refugee Admission (HHS 2000-2009): 44,743
Illegal Alien Population (2010 FAIR est.): 1,810,000
Cost of Illegal Aliens - (2010 FAIR) $8,878,500,000
Projected 2050 Population - (2006 FAIR): 42,766,000

 

Texas : Census Bureau Data

 

STATE POPULATION

Using the American Community Survey (ACS), the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that in July 2009 Texas’s population had increased to 24,782,302 residents, i.e., an increase of 1,085,597 residents since 2000. That is a rate of increase of about 1.9 percent per year. The comparable national annual rate of increase was 1.0 percent. 

Texas Population 1900-2009

The 2000 Census found 20,851,820 persons resident in Texas. This was an increase of 1,375,206 persons above the 1990 Census. The annual average increase of 2.1 percent was higher than the national annual average of 1.2 percent population increase.

The 2000 population was about 750,000 more persons than the Census Bureau had expected to find in the state in 2000 when it issued its state population projections in 1996. The significance of this is that the Census Bureau concluded that much of the shortfall in their population estimates during the 1990s was due to an underestimation of the illegal alien population.

Between the 1980 and 1990 Censuses, the population of Texas grew by 19.4 percent (from about 14,229,109 to 20,851,820). That was an annual rate of increase of 1.9 percent. The national rate of change was 1.0 percent.

FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION

Based on the ACS, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the foreign-born population of Texas was 3,985,239 persons in 2009. This meant a foreign-born population share of 16.1 percent. 

 

Texas Foreign-Born Population 1900-2008

 

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 851,910 residents from net international migration (more foreign-born arriving than leaving). That was an annual average increase of about 102,640 residents, i.e., nearly one-fourth (24.5%) of the total increase (not including the children born to the immigrants after their arrival in the United States).

 

Texas Sources of Population Change 2000-08


Foreign-Born Change

The amount of change since the 2000 Census found in the ACS indicates an average annual rate of increase in the foreign-born population of about 116,730 people, which is more than one-fourth (27.6%) of the state’s annual average population increase. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 37.4 percent compared to a 15.8 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 32.2 percent share of the state’s current births is large enough to account for about 123,410 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may account for nearly 240,140 persons added to the state’s population annually, i.e., more than a majority (56.8%) of the state’s overall population increase.

Foreign-Born Characteristics

An indicator of the change in Texas's immigrant population may be seen in data on the share of the population over five years of age that speaks a language other than English at home. Between 1990 and 2000, the share of non-English speakers increased from 25.4 percent to 31.2 percent. More than two-fifths (44.4%) of those persons in 2000 also said they spoke English less than very well. In the 2009 ACS, the share had increased to 34.2 percent and of those 42.3 percent spoke English less than very well. Spanish speakers were 85.6 percent of those who spoke other than English at home, and 87.9 percent of those who spoke English less than very well.

 

Speakers of Foreign Languages
(at home in Texas in the 2000 Census)
Spanish 5,195,180
Vietnamese 122,515
German 82,090
Chinese 72,590
French 60,550
Tagalog 39,990
Korean 38,450
Urdu 32,980
Arabic 32,910
Hindi 20,920
(Source: Census Bureau report: Language Spoken at Home for the Population 5 Years and Over, April 2004)

The chart above shows the foreign-born population increasing by 37.4 percent since 2000 and the share of that population from Latin America and the Caribbean increasing by 34.6 percent. That region’s share of the state’s immigrant population fell from 74.9 percent to 73.4 percent in 2009.

 

NATURALIZATION

Data from the 2009 ACS indicate that 1,273,429 residents, or 32 percent, of the foreign-born population in Texas were U.S. citizens, compared to 914,326 residents, or 31.5 percent, in 2000.

Nationally, 40.3 percent of the foreign-born were U.S. citizens in 2000, and 43.7 percent in 2009.

Limited English Proficiency Students

In Texas overall enrollment in 2008 (4,674,832) was 18.2 percent above enrollment in 1999. LEP enrollment was 31.6 percent higher than a decade earlier.

POPULATION PROJECTION

We projected Texas’s population in 2050 likely would be between 41.1 million and 42.8 million depending on what happens with immigration policy. See “Projecting the U.S. Population to 2050: Four Immigration Scenarios,” FAIR 2006.

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Texas : Extended Data


REFUGEE SETTLEMENT

Texas received 44,743 refugees over the most recent ten fiscal years (FY'00-'09).

 

FOREIGN STUDENTS

TheThe 2009/2010 annual report of the Institute of International Education (IIE) lists the number of foreign students attending post-secondary school in Texas as 58,934. Five schools in the state are listed as having a majority of these students:

  • Houston C.C Syst. – 6,125.
  • U. Texas-Austin – 5,265
  • Texas A&M U. – 4,611
  • U. Houston – 4,103
  • U. Texas-Arlington – 3,512

Other Texas schools with significant foreign student enrollment were: Lone Star Col. – 2,238, U. Texas-San Antonio – 1,231, Richland Col. – 1,147, N. Lake Col. – 956, Collin City C.C. – 853, U. Houston-Clear Lake – 775, U. Texas-Pan am – 708, and San Jacinto Col. – 693.

Those schools represented more than half (54.7%) of the total foreign students in the state.

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

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Texas : Immigrant Admissions

 

Texas Immigrant Admissions

by Fiscal Year
2000 63,840
2001 86,315
2002 88,365
2003 53,592
2004 91,799
2005 95,958
2006 89,037
2007 77,278
2008 89,811
2009 95,384
Total 831,379

 

 

Recent immigrant admissions are at 745 percent of admissions just after adoption of the current immigration system in 1965. During the 1965-'69 period, annual admissions averaged about 12,020 immigrants. During the most recent five years, admissions averaged about 89,495 persons.

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 Texas during this period.

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 - - - 467 505 512 225 335 - 326 2,370
Canada 1,143 1,112 987 1,463 742 495 564 1,270 1,640 1,409 10,825
China * 4,998 2,973 1,871 2,757 2,176 1,759 1,609 3,145 3,422 3,555 28,265
Colombia 458 378 373 505 385 298 384 497 814 930 5,022
Cuba 97 86 131 258 336 218 197 246 452 660 2,681
Dom. Rep. 103 114 101 108 83 97 80 94 138 127 1,045
Ecuador 92 - 106 148 385 106 115 107 161 190 1,410
El Salvador 3,642 2,499 1,656 2,730 2,296 1,694 1,785 2,677 3,644 3,289 25,912
Germany 515 489 438 - 282 313 269 386 557 525 3,774
Guatemala 565 430 352 525 369 363 356 429 622 744 5,669
Guyana 64 62 83 77 53 25 44 31 - 80 519
Haiti 31 26 82 123 22 14 25 21 44 48 436
Honduras 690 - - - 710 513 435 550 - 800 3,698
India 2,808 2,254 2,400 3,295 2,569 2,663 2,388 3,528 4,313 4,294 30,512
Iran 871 655 609 826 606 512 505 599 764 801 6,748
Ireland 204 311 - - 31 18 28 52 - 55 699
Jamaica 134 185 146 164 117 108 104 140 210 209 1,517
Japan - 184 - - 157 114 94 203 286 294 1,332
Korea 759 620 602 843 501 392 430 583 838 928 6,496
Mexico 31,773 27,015 22,792 46,403 30,862 22,956 28,365 31,211 43,524 44,694 329,595
Nicaragua - - - - 208 143 250 644 630 653 2,528
Nigeria - - 906 1,252 951 1,008 864 1,045 - 1,198 7,224
Pakistan 836 719 799 1,291 1,207 1,054 1,245 1,576 1,890 1,575 12,192
Peru 251 264 206 341 233 235 238 270 386 457 2,881
Philippines 2,031 1,833 1,997 2,064 1,519 851 791 2,025 2,260 2,258 17,629
Poland 174 151 184 134 118 66 58 91 118 146 1,240
Sov. Un. * 808 873 824 843 694 799 737 1,362 1,268 1,658 9,866
Trin.& Tob. - 145 - - 121 84 109 129 - 199 787
U. Kingdom 970 937 717 958 612 534 424 845 1,193 1,206 8,396
Vietnam 5,173 4,292 4,251 5,793 3,123 1,576 1,524 2,275 3,772 3,704 35,483
Yugoslavia * - - 309 478 371 182 205 575 982 1,946 5,048
Other 8,190 7,551 7,041 9,539 5,553 4,726 4,946 6,899 12,387 9,407 76,239
Total 67,380 56,158 49,963 83,385 57,897 44,428 49,393 63,840 86,315 88,365 647,124

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 nine-tenths (88.2%) of all immigrant settlement and adjustment in Texas during this ten-year period. More than half (50.9%) of total admissions were accounted for by immigrants from Mexico.

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Texas : Illegal Aliens

 

FAIR Estimate - FAIR estimates the state’s illegal alien population as of 2010 is as many as 1,810,000 persons. This is part of an overall estimate of the U.S. illegal alien population of about 12 million persons.

INS/DHS Estimate - The INS (now dissolved into the Dept. of Homeland Security) estimated that the resident illegal population in Texas was 1,041,000 as of January 2000. This number was 341,000 higher than the INS' 1996 estimate.  The most recent estimate by DHS put the illegal alien population in the state at 1,770,000 in 2010.

Other Estimates - The Pew Hispanic Center estimates the illegal alien population of the state at 1,650,000 as of 2010.

COST OF ILLEGAL ALIENS

 

Texas Fiscal Costs In 2009
     Due to Illegal Aliens ($M)       (Pct.)
K-12 educ. $5,089.0    57.3%
LEP educ. $1,023.4 11.5%
University $25.9 0.3%
Medicaid $1,167.5 13.1%
SCHIP $250.7 2.8%
Justice $727.9 8.2%
Welfare+ $212.9 2.4%
General $381.2 4.3%
Total $8,878.5  
Tax Receipts $489.7  
Net Cost $8,388.8  

Source: “The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on United States Taxpayers,” FAIR 2010.

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Texas : Poll Data


University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll of registered Texas voters
May 11-18, 2011

  • Texas voters believe that immigration (16%) and border security (15%) are the top two “most important problem facing the state of Texas today?”
  • Oppose amnesty 57% to 37%.
  • 77% support the enforcement of immigration laws by local law enforcement officers.
  • 44% believe the immigration system is currently “bad for the country” to 42% who believe it is good.

University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll of Texans
February 11-17, 2011

  • 87% support fines for businesses who hire illegal workers.
  • 54% oppose a "pathway to citizenship."
  • 70% support "requiring law enforcement officials to check someone's immigration status when they suspect him/her of being in the country illegally."
  • 53% support "changing the Constitution to repeal this part of the 14th Amendment." (The 14th Amendment does not need to be altered to end birthright citizenship for children born to illegal aliens. If the question was accurately, the support for an end to birthright citizenship would likely be significantly higher.)
  • Support prohibiting businesses from soliciting workers from day labor sites 52% to 34% opposed.
  • 69% oppose sanctuary cities.
  • Opposed in-state tuition for illegal aliens, 59% to 27%.

KHOU-Belo Texas Poll of Likely Texas Voters
October 7, 2010

  • 70% believe that Texas should adopt an immigration law similar to the one recently adopted in Arizona. Only 29% oppose such a law.
  • Support 56% to 39% the construction of a fence along most or all of the Texas-Mexico border.
  • 76% favor increasing fines against Texas companies that hire illegal workers, with Hispanics supporting that policy 60% to 34%.
  • Immigration and border issues were second only to the economy as the most important issue in the 2010 governor's race.

University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll
September 3-8, 2010

  • A poll of registered voters found that 65% favor an Arizona-style immigration enforcement bill with 54% "strongly in favor."

 

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?

 

A study by Rice University of 650 residents of Houston in April, 2007 found that:

  • 55.8% agree with imposing fines and criminal charges on employers for employing illegal immigrants
  • A majority of Texans say immigration should be decreased (51%) or kept at its present level (31%).
  • A large majority said the "main focus of the US government in dealing with the issue of illegal immigration" should be to stop the flow of illegal immigration (56%).
  • A majority (52%) think legal immigrants "mostly hurt the economy by driving wages down for many Americans," and
  • A larger majority (60%) said the same about illegal immigrants. (Scripps Howard Texas poll, November, 2005 - 5%age point margin of error)
  • 64% said the U.S. allows too many legal immigrants into the country. (Scripps Howard Texas, March 2002)
  • 93% support tightening restrictions on visas for foreign students. (Scripps Howard Texas, Dec. 2001)

A Houston Area Survey conducted by the University of Houston’s Center of Public Opinion, from February 13-27th, 2007found:

  • 73% favor fines and criminal charges against employers who hire illegal aliens
  • 48% found increasing immigration “threatens America’s culture”

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Texas : Immigration Impact


Environmental and Quality of Life Profile

Water: Williamson County is predicting a 13 billion-gallon deficit by 2050. The Texas Water Development Board estimates that over the next 50 years, almost 900 cities will either have to drastically reduce water consumption or find new sources to sustain themselves during a drought.1

Water is already a scarce resource in Texas and the increased demand generated by population growth is exacerbating the problem. By 2010,over ten percent of the water needs in urban areas will not be met during times of water shortages.2 El Paso, San Antonio, and Albuquerque could run out of water in ten to 20 years.3 Increased demand for municipal and industrial water use often means buying up and drying out irrigated farmlands - leaving farmers and ranchers without water. As the Texas Agricultural and Natural Resources Summit noted,"As our population increases, water use for municipal purposes will dramatically increase and water for agricultural irrigation will be reduced. Unfortunately, our water resources will stay the same or decline."4

Population growth has taken a toll on the Rio Grande, which is no longer strong enough to reach the sea. So much of the Rio Grande River is being used to accommodate population growth that Larry McKinney of the Texas Parks Wildlife Department commented,"It's hardly even a river anymore. It's more a managed irrigation ditch."5

As more land is paved over for streets and parking lots, water is prevented from sinking into the soil and replenishing groundwater; Houston is estimated to have lost between 12.8 billion and 29.8 billion gallons of water from 1982 to 1997 as a result.6

Traffic: Highways in Texas experienced a 47 percent increase in traffic between 1990 and 2008. Nearly half (47%) of the state's major urban highways are considered congested.7 About 15 percent of Texas commuters had a commute of 45 minutes or longer in 2008.8

Texas has four of the 25 most congested urban areas in the U.S. in terms of wasted fuel. In 2007. Houston commuters lost 56 hours and 40 gallons of fuel sitting in traffic. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington commuters lost 53 hours and 36 gallons of fuel. They ranked 4th and 6th nationally among large metropolitan areas. San Antonio commuters spent an extra 38 hours on travel and burned an extra 27 gallons of fuel. The numbers were similar in Austin, where 39 hours and 27 gallons of fuel per commuter were lost.9 

The effects of traffic congestion had smaller but significant effects on residents of other urban areas as well. In El Paso, whose urban area stretches into New Mexico, the typical commuter lost 19 hours and 14 gallons in 2007. Laredo commuters lost 15 hours and 8 gallons; in Beaumont, the figures were 11 hours and 7 gallons; in Corpus Christi, 9 hours and 5 gallons; and in Brownsville, 8 hours and 5 gallons. The total cost of time and fuel losses to Texas commuters in these urban areas was $6.7 billion in 2007, $2.8 billion of which was in Dallas and another $2.5 billion in Houston.10

Traffic in Austin is expected to be worse than current Los Angeles traffic by 2025.11 Texas traffic is growing so quickly that even if public transit use were to double, the gain would be canceled out by population growth in as little as three months, according to the Texas Public Policy Foundation.12

Unfortunately, road maintenance has been unable to keep up with increased traffic volume. Nearly one-third (32%) of the state's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition, and 18 percent of its bridges are considered structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Drivers pay the price of overdue road maintenance. The typical Texas driver pays an additional $343 each year in repair and operating costs due to road conditions.13

Disappearing Open Space: The amount of developed land in Texas increased by 3,442,600 acres from 1982 to 2007, growing at a pace of 174,570 acres per year over the last ten years of that period.14

Only 10 to 15 percent of the Cross Timbers forest remains.15 More than 60 percent of bottomland hardwoods and 50 percent of the state's original 1.2 million acres of coastal wetlands have been destroyed."16 Texas lost 2,151,000 acres of forest land between 1989 and 1999.17

Crowded Housing: An estimated 388,913 of Texas' housing units were classified as crowded in 2008, defined as units with more than one occupant per room. This amounted to 4.7 percent of the state's housing units. In addition, 93,793 were severely crowded, with at least 1.5 occupants per room. Per housing unit, Texas' rate of overcrowding was more than 150 percent of the national average and third overall, trailing only California and Hawaii.18 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, 28 percent of children in immigrant families live in crowded housing, compared to just 12 percent of children with native-born parents.19

Texas has the three metropolitan areas (Laredo, Dumas, and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission) with the highest rates of crowded housing nationwide, among metropolitan areas with 20,000 people or more. Laredo and Dumas are the only two metro areas in the country in which more than 14 percent of housing units are considered crowded. Eagle Pass (#5 nationally), Raymondville (#8), Rio Grande City-Roma (#12), and Brownsville-Harlingen (#13) all had by-unit crowding rates of over 10 percent. Uvalde, Mount Pleasant, Beeville, Bay City, Alice, and Del Rio are also in the top 50 nationwide, and Uvalde has the second-highest rate of severe crowding. In all, Texas has 22 of the 100 worst-afflicted cities in the nation and 45 of the top 200.20

Sprawl: Texas has lost more prime agricultural acres to development than any other state.21 Texas lost a total of 1.2 million agricultural acres to development between 1992 and 1997, almost double the rate of loss during the previous ten years.22 The vast expanses between Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston are filling in so quickly with suburbs and sprawl that they may soon become a single metropolitan area.23

Houston's urban forest declined dramatically from 1972 to 1999, depriving the area of $55 million annually in benefits such as reduced air pollution and enhanced flood control. Land with heavy tree canopy (having tree cover of 50 percent or more) declined to 26 percent of the region, from 31 percent.24

A study of urban sprawl between 1970 and 1990 that calculated the impact of population increase and per capita land use found that 187.4 square miles of additional land were consumed by urban sprawl in the Austin metropolitan area, and 65.1 percent of that sprawl was attributable to population increase. In the Corpus Christi metro area sprawl consumed an additional 25.2 square miles and population increase accounted for 100 percent of the increase. Urban sprawl increased by 372.4 squares miles in Dallas-Ft. Worth, and 100 percent of the sprawl was attributable to population growth. In El Paso, 101 square miles of growth was 63 percent attributable to population growth, 215.1 square miles of growth was 56.2 percent attributable to population growth in San Antonio, 638.7 square miles of growth was 70.1 percent attributably to population growth in Houston, and 91.6 square miles of population growth in McAllen-Edinburgh-Mission are area was 79.4 percent attributable to population growth.25

Border Issues: Texas's more than 1,800 colonias — unincorporated subdivisions along the Texas-Mexico border, often without basic water and sewer systems, electricity, paved roads, and safe housing — are home to 400,000 people.26 The poverty rate of the 14 counties along the border was 34 percent — double the statewide poverty rate of 17 percent.27 Brownsville's Cameron Park, home to a large population of illegal aliens, is the poorest community in the U.S.28

Air Quality: Texas consumes the fifth-most energy per capita in the U.S. Its rate is nearly 50 percent higher than the national average.29

More than two-thirds of the Texas counties assessed by the American Lung Association in 2010 for risk of high ozone exposure received a grade of "F," including Bexar, Dallas, Harris, and Tarrant counties.30

Solid Waste: Texas generates 1.31 tons of solid waste per capita each year.31 If this rate does not change, projected population growth will add about 32 million tons of solid waste to the state's annual total between 2008 and 2050.

Poverty: Texas' immigrants are more likely to be poor than their native-born counterparts. In 2007, 22.2 percent of foreign-born households were below the poverty line, compared to 15.1 percent of native households. An additional 16.3 percent of the foreign-born and 9.5 percent of native households were not in poverty but had incomes less than 1.5 times the poverty level.32 Nearly two-fifths (39.6%) of children in immigrant families were poor in 2006, compared to 22.8 percent of native children.33

Immigration and School Overcrowding: Between 1990 and 2009, public school enrollment in Texas increased by 1,566,113 students, or 46.3 percent.34 Enrollment is projected to grow by an additional 1,020,770 students between 2009 and 2018.35 Texas' student-teacher ratio of 15 ranks 29th in the U.S.36

The resulting teacher shortage is becoming so acute that one-quarter of all new Texas teachers are not fully certified in the field they were hired to teach. In Austin, portable classrooms account for about 30 percent of the district's elementary classrooms.37

Many school districts, including Dallas and Houston, the state's largest, exceed the state's student-teacher ratio law.38 Texas will need to build two new schools a week to keep up with enrollment increases.39

Illegal Residents

El Paso County spent $13 million to jail 14,800 illegal aliens in 2000 but only received $1.1 million in compensation from the federal government.40

Border communities spend about $108 million a year on undocumented immigrants, according to a study by the U.S.-Mexico Border Counties Coalition. Most of that went toward jailing immigrants, but Texas border counties paid more than $2.5 million for the costs of providing emergency care, autopsies, and burials.41

Endnotes:

  1. Maeve Reston,"Shortages Looming in Some Districts," Austin American-Statesman, August 17,2000.
  2. Monica Wolfson ,"Water Problems in Texas," Scripps Howard News Service, February 25,2002.
  3. Patrick Barta,"Surf and Turf: Battle Brews Over Water Realignment," Wall Street Journal ,October 8,1997.
  4. Timothy Egan,"Near Vast Bodies of Water, Land Lies Parched" New York Times, August 12, 2001.
  5. "Water in Texas," Texas Agricultural and Natural Resources Summit Initiative, November 1996.
  6. Mike Snyder,"Cities Losing Water to Sprawl," The Houston Chronicle, August 29,2002.
  7. The Road Information Project (TRIP), "Key Facts about Texas' Surface Transportation System and Federal Funding," May 2010.
  8. American Community Survey, 2008 Estimates, Custom Data Table.
  9. Texas Transportation Institute, "Urban Mobility Report 2009."
  10. Texas Transportation Institute, "Urban Mobility Report 2009."
  11. Josh Shaffer and Ellen Schroeder,"As Development Spreads, Open Land is Disappearing in Texas," Dallas Morning News, March 18,2002.
  12. "Environment and Natural Resources: Trends and Implications," Texas Agricultural and Natural Resources Summit Initiative, November 1996.
  13. The Road Information Project (TRIP), "Key Facts about Texas' Surface Transportation System and Federal Funding," May 2010.
  14. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, "Summary Report: 2007 National Resources Inventory."
  15. Randy Capps,"Hardship among Children of Immigrants: Finding from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families," Urban Institute, 2001.
  16. "Texas Leads The U.S. In Ag Land Loss," American Farmland Trust.
  17. Ibid
  18. American Community Survey, Three-Year Estimates 2006-2008. Data retrieved using ACS Custom Table tool.
  19. Kids Count Data Center, Kids Count Data Center, 2008 American Community Survey Data.
  20. American Community Survey, Three-Year Estimates 2006-2008. Data retrieved using ACS Custom Table tool.
  21. "Texas Leads The U.S. In Ag Land Loss," American Farmland Trust.
  22. Ibid
  23. Patrick Barta,"A New Way of Looking at Texas: One Big City," Texas Journal ,November 11,1998.
  24. Bill Dawson,"City's Tree Canopy is Getting Thinner," The Houston Chronicle, December 13,2000.
  25. Beck, Roy and Leon Kolankiewicz,"Weighing Sprawl Factors in Large U.S. Cities," NumbersUSA, March 2001.
  26. Alison Gregor,"Colonia Residents Getting Lon Overdue Services," San Antonio Express-News, January 27,2002.
  27. Lisa Falkenberg,"Comptroller Zeros-in on Ills of Region Along Texas-Mexico Border," Associated Press ,March 27,2001.
  28. Carlton Stowers,"Hope in Hell: Cameron Park, Texas, is the Poorest Town in the U.S.A.," Dallas Observer, July 11,2002.
  29. Energy Information Administration, "State Ranking 7.  Total Energy Consumption Per Capita, 2008," released July 22, 2010.
  30. American Lung Association, "State of the Air 2010."
  31. Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers
  32. Migration Information Source State Data (Migration Policy Institute)
  33. Urban Institute, Children of Immigrants Data Tool.
  34. "Table 4. Actual and projected numbers for enrollment in grades PK12 in public elementary and secondary schools, by region and state: Fall 2000 through fall 2018," National Center for Education Statistics, Department of Education. Accessed August 2010.
  35. "Table 34. Enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools, by state or jurisdiction: Selected years, fall 1990 through fall 2009," Digest of Education Statistics, Department of Education.
  36. "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.
  37. "For Kids, Everything's Bigger in Texas," Center for Public Policy Priorities, May 22, 2001.
  38. Thomas Hargrove,"Teaching Without a License, a Growing American Trend," Scripps Howard News Service, August 21, 2001.
  39. Dallas, Houston Have Most Crowded Classrooms in State," Associated Press, July 30, 2002.
  40. "Federal Government Makes $1.1 Million Payment to County for Jail Costs," Associated Press, November 1, 2001.
  41. Dane Schiller,"$50 Million Proposed for Border Costs," San Antonio Express-News, February 8, 2001.

 

Other Resources  

State Local Reform Organizations

State Representatives Voting Record

 

Updated June 2011


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