STATE POPULATION                                                                       The Census Bureau estimated that in The Census Bureau estimated that in July 2007 Colorado’s population had increased by an annual average of about 76,645 residents since 2000 (to 4,861,515 residents). Over that period, net immigration was adding about 19,415 persons each year (more immigrants arriving than leaving). During the same period there was an annual average population gain of about 18,160 residents from net domestic migration (more native-born residents arriving than leaving). Net immigrant settlement accounted for more than one-fourth (25.3%) of the population increase over this period, and that does not include the children born to the immigrants after their arrival in the United States.

 

The 2000 population was about 130,000 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.

Colorado had the 6th greatest rate of population increase in the country between 1960-2000.

Between the 1980 and 1990 Censuses, the overall population of Colorado rose by slightly more than one-third (from about 2,731,000 to 3,655,228).

FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION                                                         

FAIR estimates that the foreign-born population of Colorado was about 508,480 residents in July 2007. This meant a foreign-born population share of 10.5 percent. The amount of change since the 2000 Census indicates an average annual rate of increase in the foreign-born population of about 18,985 people, which is nearly one-fourth (24.7%) of the state’s annual average population increase. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 37.5 percent compared to a 10.7 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 21 percent share of the state’s current births is large enough to account for about 14,325 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may account for adding nearly 33,200 persons to the state’s population annually, i.e., more than two-fifths (43.4%) of the state’s overall population increase.

 A comparison of the increase in the immigrant population from 1990 with the change in the overall population during the same period shows that immigrant settlement directly accounted for 22.6 percent of the state's overall population increase over that decade. The share of the population increase due to immigration would be still higher if the children of the immigrants born here after their arrival were included with their immigrant parents in the calculation. The amount of the overall impact of immigration (immigrants plus their children) on population change is more likely to account for about 30 percent of the state's population increase, based on the increase in the share of those in Colorado who speak a language other than English at home.

The 2000 Census found that 54.4 percent of Colorado's foreign-born population had arrived in the state since 1990. This demonstrates the effects of the current mass immigration, and it is a higher share than the national average (43.7%). This is also a much higher share than in 1990 when just under two-fifths (38.5%) of Colorado's foreign-born population had immigrated since 1980.

Colorado ranked 9th nationally in the rate of foreign-born change between 1960-2000.

Another indicator of the change in the immigrant population is data on the share of the population of over 5-year olds that speaks a language other than English at home. Between 1990 and 2000 the share of non-English speakers at home in Colorado increased by nearly one-half, from 10.5 percent to 15.1 percent. Less than half (44.3%) 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 state’s foreign born population was 489,486 residents, an increase of 32.3% percent since 2000. In comparison, the foreign-born population changed from 142,434 to 369,903 residents between 1990 and 2000, an increase of 159.7 percent.

 The ten countries below constituted 75.1% of the foreign-born population in Colorado in 2006. Mexico alone accounted for 52.1%.   

Between the 2000 Census and the Census Bureau estimate for 2006, the foreign-born population in Colorado increased by about 119,600 persons (32.3%). Latin America (including Mexico) accounted for more than 83,700 immigrants (up 40.7%). Mexico alone accounted for more than 73,300 additional immigrants (up 40.4%). Immigrants from Asia grew by 31.7% (nearly 24,000 people). Immigrants from Africa nearly doubled (nearly 9,800). The immigrant population from Europe and Canada increased by about 2,100 persons (2.7%).

CONNECT TO LEGAL IMMIGRATION ADMISSIONS DATA

THE IMMIGRANT STOCK
The Census Bureau estimates that there were about 763,000 people in Colorado 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 estimated population of 3,893,000, the immigrant stock share of the state's population was 19.6 percent in 1997 -- the 13^th highest in the country.

As the graph below shows, the amount and share of Colorado’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 530,000 people to the population. Over this period, the increase in the foreign stock has accounted for 22.1 percent of the state’s population increase.

NATURALIZATION
Data from the 2006 American Community Survey indicate that 151,050 residents, or 30.9 percent, of the foreign-born population in Colorado were citizens, compared to 116,875 residents, or 31.6 percent, in 2000.

Nationally, 40.3 percent of the foreign-born population was citizens in 2000, and 42.0 percent in 2006 

 Refugee Settlement
Colorado has received 8,471 refugees over the most recent ten fiscal years (FY'97-'06) including 810 persons in FY’06.

 

Under the Office of Refugee Resettlement's (HHS/ORR) assistance funding for FY'02 $821,438 is available for refugee employment training and other services programs in Colorado based on a three-year refugee settlement program covering 3,273 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. ORR grants for FY’05 and FY’06 respectively were $3,328,845 and $4,100,813.

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.

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 Colorado as 5,315. Two schools in Colorado are listed as having a major concentration of these students:

Univeristy of Colorado  had enrollment of 1,152 foreign students, 3.9% of total enrollment.

Colorado State University had enrollment of 1,033 foreign students, 3.9% of total enrollment.

Below, a chart illustrates the sharp increase of foreign students attending school in Colorado from 1960-2007.

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

ILLEGAL ALIENS                                                                             

FAIR Estimate - FAIR’s estimate of the state’s illegal alien population as of 2007 is about 270,000 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 Colorado was 144,000 as of January 2000. This number nearly 100,000 higher than the INS' 1996 estimate.

Other Estimates - The Pew Hispanic Center estimates the illegal alien population of the state at 225,000-275,000 as of 2005.

COSTS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS
Incarceration Costs - Colorado 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 Colorado 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. SCAAP data indicate that Colorado's illegal alien inmate population had increased by 87 percent from the 953 inmate years in FY'99 to 1,780 inmate years in FY'02, while compensation increased by 21 percent.

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 Colorado, the proposed payment in fiscal year 2004 is $3,433,957.

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 Colorado taxpayer $564.1 million dollars annually. This cost was partially for educating students who were themselves illegally in the country ($235 million) and in part for the education of their siblings born in the United States to illegal residents ($329.1  million).

Projected Fiscal Costs - In 2006 we estimated that Colorado taxpayers are currently burdened with annual costs of about $711 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 $1,217billion per year in 2010 and to $2,124 billion per year in 2020.

OTHER
Rural schools in Colorado are bearing the brunt of large-scale immigrant settlement with the least amount of financial resources to deal with the soaring costs. State officials have pledged $190 million over 11 years to help the rural areas cope. The state legislature has proposed $500 million in additional funding for schools in the southern part of the state. Almost the entire student population increase is comprised of immigrants who speak little or no English. The number of Spanish-only speaking students, whose migration is due to the booming cattle industry, has multiplied five-fold over the past five years. The schools are unprepared in terms of Spanish-language materials, and bilingual teachers to be able to offer English as a second language instruction. (Source: EFE news service in Hispanicvista, May 23, 2000)

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS
You can find local immigration reform organizations here.

STATE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION VOTING RECORD
You can view the voting record of your representatives in Congress regarding immigration issues in our voting report section