[Note: children born in the United States to immigrants (part of the immigrant stock) are not included as part of the immigration flow.]

The 2000 Census found 2,926,324 persons resident in Iowa. This was an increase of 149,569 persons above the 1990 Census. The rate of increase (5.4%) was below the 9.9 percent average rate for 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.

Iowa had the 48th greatest rate of population increase in the country between 1960-2000.

Between 1980 and 1990 Iowa's overall population declined by 4.7 percent (from 2,913,808 to 2,776,755).

FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION                                                       

FAIR estimates that the foreign-born population of Iowa was about 115,665 residents in July 2007. This meant a foreign-born population share of 3.9 percent. The amount of change since the 2000 Census indicates an average annual rate of increase in the foreign-born population of about 3,365 people, which is nearly one-fourth (39.8%) of the state’s annual average population increase. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 27 percent compared to a 1.3 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 7.8 percent share of the state’s current births is large enough to account for about 2,975 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may account for adding about 6,345 persons to the state’s population annually, i.e., three-fourths (75%) of the state’s overall population increase.

Iowa ranked 5th nationally in the rate of foreign-born change between 1970-2005

The 2000 Census found that 57.5 percent of Iowa'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 Iowa increased more than half, from 3.9 percent to six percent. Fewer than half (42.6%) of those who said they spoke a language other than English at home in 2000 also said they spoke English less than very well.

Between 1980 and 1990 Iowa's foreign-born population fell by 9.1 percent (to 43,316 from 47,659).

The Census Bureau estimated from its American Community Survey that in 2002 the foreign-born population of Iowa was about 110,700 persons. The chart below shows the regions from which those foreign residents came.

CONNECT TO LEGAL IMMIGRATION ADMISSION DATA

THE IMMIGRANT STOCK
The Census Bureau estimated that there were about 275,000 people in Iowa 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 the population of 2,926,324, the immigrant stock share of the state's population is 9.4 percent.

As the graph below shows, the amount of Iowa’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 127,000 people to the population. Over this period, the increase in the foreign stock has accounted for 99.3 percent of the state’s population increase.

NATURALIZATION

Data from the 2006 American Community Survey indicate that 41,022 residents or 36.5 percent, of the foreign-born population in Iowa were citizens, compared to 29,951 residents, or 32.9 percent, in 2000.

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

Refugee Settlement
Iowa has received 8,984 refugees over the most recent ten fiscal years (FY'97-'06) including 356 persons in FY’06..

 

Under the Office of Refugee Resettlement's (HHS/ORR) assistance funding for FY'02 $971,521 is available for refugee employment training and other services programs in Iowa based on a three-year refugee settlement program covering 3,871 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 $1,863,871 and $2,044,124

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.

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 Iowa as 7,799. Two schools in Iowa are listed as having a major concentration of these students:

University of Iowa had enrollment of 2,189 foreign students, 7.3% of total enrollment.

Iowa State University had enrollment of 2,460 foreign students, 9.7% of total enrollment

Below, a chart illustrates the sharp increase of foreign students attending school in Iowa from 1960-2000.

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

OTHER
In 2001, according to the Des Moines Register, the Iowa Poll asked whether Iowans approve or disapprove of a state policy (recommended by the governor's strategic planning council) encouraging immigration to Iowa. A large majority (58%) disapproved, compared with 34% who approved. The poll also asked whether Iowans believe immigrants are taking jobs away from Americans living in Iowa or doing jobs that otherwise might go unfilled. A large majority (59%) felt the jobs being taken might go unfilled, compared to 32%) who thought they took jobs from Americans.

ILLEGAL ALIENS

FAIR Estimate - FAIR’s estimate of the state’s illegal alien population as of 2007 is about 55,000 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 Iowa was 24,000 as of January 2000. This number was more than 17,000 higher than the INS' 1996 estimate.

Other Estimates - The Pew Hispanic Center estimates the illegal alien population of the state at 55,000 to 85,000 as of 2005.

COSTS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS
Incarceration Costs - Iowa 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 Iowa 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 125 prisoner years of detention. By FY’02, the state’s reported illegal alien detention had more than doubled to 282 prisoner years, while compensation increased by 81 percent but then fell steeply.

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 Iowa, the proposed payment in fiscal year 2004 is $572,326.

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 Alabama taxpayer $99.1million dollars annually. This cost was partially for educating students who were themselves illegally in the country ($41.3million) and in part for the education of their siblings born in the United States to illegal residents ($57.8 million).

Projected Fiscal Costs - In 2006 we estimated that Alabama taxpayers are currently burdened with annual costs of about $121 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 $203million per year in 2010 and to $349 million per year in 2020.

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS
You can view a listing of 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.

Revised July 2008