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Wyoming

Wyoming : Extended Immigration Data

STATE POPULATION

Using the Current Population Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that in July 2008 Wyoming’s population had increased to 532,668 residents, i.e., an annual average increase of about 4,685 residents since 2000. That is a rate of increase of about 0.9 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 2,125 residents from net international migration (more foreign-born arriving than leaving). That was an annual average increase of about 255 residents, i.e., 5.5 percent of the total increase (not including the children born to the immigrants after their arrival in the United States).

The 2000 Census found 493,782 persons resident in Wyoming. This was an increase of 40,194 persons above the 1990 Census. The rate of increase (8.9%) was slightly lower than the national average of 9.9 percent population increase.

The 2000 population is about 31,000 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.

Wyoming had the 24th highest rate of population increase in the country between 1960-2000.

The population of Wyoming decreased by 3.4 percent from 1980 to 1990 (from 469,557 to 453,588 residents).

FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION

Based on the American Community Survey (ACS), the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the foreign-born population of Wyoming was 13,972 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 Wyoming was about 14,895 residents in July 2008. This meant a foreign-born population share of 2.8 percent. The amount of change since the 2000 Census indicates an average annual rate of increase in the foreign-born population of about 445 people, which is nearly one-tenth (9.5%) of the state’s annual average population increase. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 32.9 percent compared to a 7.3 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 5.6 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 835 persons added to the state’s population annually, i.e., more than one-sixth (17.8%) of the state’s overall population increase.

The 2000 Census found that 37.8 percent of Wyoming's foreign-born population had arrived in the state since 1990. This was a lower share than the national average (43.7%). In 1990, slightly more than one-third of the state's foreign-born population had arrived since 1980.

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 Wyoming increased slightly, from 5.7 percent to 6.4 percent. Less than one-third (30.2%) of those who said they spoke a language other than English at home in 2000 also said they spoke English less than very well.

The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey found that in 2006, the foreign born population was 13,929 residents, an increase of 24.3 percent since 2000. In comparison, the foreign-born population changed from 7,647 to 11,205 residents between 1990 and 2000, an increase of 46.5 percent.

The ten countries below constituted 75.2 of the foreign-born population in Wyoming in 2006. Of the total foreign-born population, Mexico accounted for 41.9% alone.

THE IMMIGRANT STOCK

CONNECT TO LEGAL IMMIGRATION ADMISSION DATA

The Census Bureau estimated that there were about 29,000 people in Wyoming 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 493,782, the immigrant stock share of the state's population was 5.9 percent.

As the graph below shows, the amount of Wyoming’s population change due to the increase in the foreign stock is rising. Over the past 34 years the new immigrants and children born to them have added about 15,400 people to the population. Over this period, the increase in the foreign stock has accounted for nine percent of the state’s population increase.

NATURALIZATION

Data from the 2006 American Community Survey indicate that 5,337 residents, or 38.3 percent, of the foreign-born population in Wyoming were citizens, compared to 5,121 residents, or 45.7 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

Wyoming has received refugees in two of the most recent six fiscal years (FY'96-'01) for permanent resettlement. Five refugees arrived in FY'98, and two refugees arrived in FY'2000.

LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY STUDENTS

Data are not available nationally on immigrant students (either legally or illegally resident in the United States) who are enroled in primary and secondary schools (K-12). However, many of these students are enroled in Limited English Proficiency (LEP) 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.

In Wyoming, overall enrolment in 1997 (101,006) was 3.9 percent above enrolment in 1990. By contrast, LEP enrolment (2,010) was 11.5 percent lower.

Data on enrolment in LEP programs is collected by the federal government from school systems that receive Title VII funds for these special instruction programs. The data above on LEP enrolment are compiled by the National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education (NCBE), a body funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The data on LEP and Non-LEP enrolment are understated because data on enrolment in 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 Wyoming as 617.  Below, a chart illustrates the sharp increase of foreign students attending school in Wyoming from 1960-2000.

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

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 Wyoming was 2,250 as of January 2000. This number 550 higher than the INS' 1996 estimate.

Other Estimates - The Pew Hispanic Center estimates the illegal alien population of the state at less than 10,000 as of 2005.

COST OF ILLEGAL ALIENS

Incarceration Costs

The INS estimate of the illegal alien population released in February 2003 listed Wyoming as having an illegal alien population of less than 2,500 residents. This compares with the previous INS estimate of 1,700 illegal aliens as of October 1996. The latter estimate was a 21 percent increase over its previous estimate for October 1992.

Wyoming 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 Wyoming 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 29 prisoner years of detention. By FY’02, the state’s reported illegal alien detention rose by two-thirds to 48 prisoner years, while compensation fell by 25 percent and then declined 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 Wyoming, the proposed payment in fiscal year 2004 is $47,694.

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 Wyoming and seven other states $12.4 million dollars annually. This cost was partially for educating students who were themselves illegally in the country ($7.3 million) and in part for the education of their siblings born in the United States to illegal residents ($17.4 million).

Projected Fiscal Costs -

In 2006 we estimated that Wyoming taxpayers are currently burdened with annual costs of about $5 million because of illegal aliens residing in the state. That estimate was based on only expenditures for education, emergency medical care and incarceration. We projected that those costs will rise unless we gain control over our borders and our worksites. If a new amnesty and increases in immigrants and guest workers were enacted, as proposed by business and ethnic advocacy groups, we project that the cost to the state’s taxpayers for those same programs would rise to $8 million per year in 2010 and to $14 million per year in 2020

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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Wyoming : Immigrant Admissions

Recent immigrant admissions have increased by about 76 percent since adoption of the current immigration system in 1965. During the 1965-'69 period, annual admissions averaged about 175 immigrants. During the 2002-'06 period, admissions averaged about 305 immigrants.

The charts below show recent immigrant admissions and the cumulative INS immigrant admissions data since 1965. The number of annual admissions has ranged from 153 in FY'71 to 566 in FY'91 (influenced by the 1986 amnesty). The cumulative total of admissions to Wyoming between fiscal years 1965 and 2006 was 11,160 immigrants.

The data for fiscal years 1989-91 were artificially raised slightly by the inclusion of former illegal aliens who were amnestied in 1986. According to INS data (1991) the number of amnesty applicants from Wyoming was 1,072 (669 pre-1982 residents and 403 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.

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 four-fifths (79.8%) of all immigrant settlement and adjustment in Wyoming during this ten-year period. The major source countries of the new immigrants (Mexico, China, Canada, the Philippines and the former Soviet Union) account for well over half (54.4%) of the ten-year total. Mexico alone accounted for more than one-fourth (26.6%) of total immigrant settlement since 1990.

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Wyoming : 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 Wyoming.

POPULATION CHANGE

Wyoming’s population increased by 9.0 percent between 1990 and 2000, and by 4.2 percent between 2000 and 2006, bringing Wyoming’s total population to approximately 515, 004. 

Approximately 8.9percent of the total population increase between 2000 and 2006 in Wyoming was directly attributable to immigrants.

FAIR estimates the illegal alien population in 2005 at 3,000.

According to an estimate of the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2005 there were less than 10,000 illegal aliens in Wyoming. ²

POPULATION PROFILE

FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION

ENVIRONMENTAL AND QUALITY OF LIFE PROFILE

Traffic: As population growth put more traffic on the roads, the average commute for Wyoming residents increased from 15 minutes in 1990 to 17.3 minutes in 2005. ³, ⁴ An estimated 8 percent of Wyoming’s commuters have an average of 45 minutes or more. ⁵

Disappearing open space: Each year, Wyoming loses 6,900 acres of open space and farmland due to development.⁶

Crowded housing: In 2005 almost 3,000 Wyoming households are defined as crowded or severely crowded by housing authorities. ⁷ Studies show that a rise in crowded housing often correlates with an increase in the number of foreign-born. ⁸, ⁹

Sprawl: Rural sprawl is increasingly becoming a major concern for Wyoming, which has lost 1.6 million acres of land to rural sprawl between 1960 and 1990 and is predicted to lose nearly 3.3 million by 2050.¹⁰ Sprawl is already a concern for Cheyenne. “We’re slowly getting choked off — if the city doesn’t break through and does become landlocked, the only way to grow will be through urban sprawl,” says one city engineer. ¹¹ With the county’s population slated to increase as a result of several developments that are bound to bring new residents, sprawl will continue to be a major problem. ¹²

Air pollution: As population increases, pollution usually rises along with it. The National Parks Conservation Association lists Yellowstone National Park on its list of “America’s Ten Most Endangered National Parks” because air pollution. ¹³ The poor air quality at Yellowstone has prompted park officials to issue respirators (to filter out pollutants) to employees, many of whom are suffering from sore throats, runny noses, and burning eyes as a result of the pollution. ¹⁴

Poverty: In 2005 21.7 percent of immigrants in Wyoming had incomes below the poverty level, an increase of 31.9 percent since 2005. Among non-citizens, the rate climbs to 34.1 percent. ¹⁵

Education: Between 2002 and 2012, public school enrollment is expected to increase 14 percent, to 101,000. ¹⁶ It will be a major challenge for Wyoming schools to accommodate such increases in enrollment while trying to overcome their poor ratings in teacher quality, standards and accountability, school climate, and equity of resources (as cited by Education Week).¹⁷

Solid Waste: Wyoming generates 1.39 tons of solid waste per capita. ¹⁸

Endotes:

1. FAIR estimate based on the 2006 Current Population Survey.
2. "Estimates of the Unauthorized Migrant Population for
3. States based on the March 2005 CPS", Hispanic Center
4. Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 1990 and 2000, Census 2000, U.S. Census Bureau. 
5. Selected economic Characteristics: 2005 Data Set - 2005 American Community Survey, American Fact Finder, U.S. Census Bureau.
6. “U.S. Population 2007 Data Sheet,” Population Reference Bureau.
7. “State Rankings by Acreage and Rate of Non-Federal Land Developed,” Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
8. Selected Housing Characteristics: 2005 Data Set - 2005 American Community Survey, American Fact Finder, U.S. Census Bureau.
9. Haya El Nasser, “U.S. Neighborhoods Grow More Crowded,” USA Today, July 7, 2002.
10. Randy Capps, “Hardship Among Children of Immigrants: Findings from the 1999 National Survey of America’s Families,” Urban Institute, 2001.
11. Ilene Olson, “Sprawl to Spread,” Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, June 27, 2001.
12. Tim Lockwood, “City Searches for Elbow Room,” Wyoming Tribune- Eagle, March 24, 2002.
13. “Urban Sprawl City, County Need To Be Ready,” Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, July 6, 2001.
14. “Yellowstone Among 10 Most 'Endangered’ Parks,” Associated Press, April 24, 2003.
15. “Pollution from Snowmobile Prompts Park Service to Issue Respirators,” Associated Press, April 24, 2003.
16. “ Wyoming State Factsheet,” Migration Information Source, Migration Policy Institute.
17. “Table 4—Enrollment in Grades K-12 in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, by Region and State, With Projections: Fall 1993 to Fall 2011,” National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core, U.S. Department of Education.
18. “State Gets Poor Education Grades,” Associated Press, January 8, 2003.Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers

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