STATE POPULATION
The Census Bureau estimated that in July 2007 Montana’s population had increased by an annual average of about 7,625 residents since 2000 (to 957,861 residents). Over that period net immigration was adding about 290 persons each year (more immigrants arriving than leaving). During the same period there was a net annual average population gain of about 4,170 residents from net domestic migration (more native-born residents arriving than leaving). Net immigrant settlement accounted for 3.8 percent of the overall net population increase over this period, and that does not take into account the children born to the immigrants after their arrival in the United States.

[Note that these population changes record the children born in Montana to immigrants (part of the immigrant stock) as part of the natural change rather than a part of the immigration flow.]

The 2000 population is about 48,000 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.

Montana had the 32th greatest rate of population increase in the country between 1960-2000.

During the 1980-1990 decade, the population of the state increased by 1.6 percent (from 786,690 to 799,065 residents.

FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION

FAIR estimates that the foreign-born population of Montana was about 19,690 residents in July 2007. This meant a foreign-born population share of 1.8 percent. The amount of change since the 2000 Census indicates an average annual rate of increase in the foreign-born population of about 175 people. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 7.9 percent compared to a 6.1 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 3.6 percent share of the state’s current births is large enough to account for about 420 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may account for adding nearly 600 persons to the state’s population annually, i.e., about 7.9 percent of the state’s overall population increase.

 The 2000 Census recorded 16,396 foreign-born residents in the state. That was 1.8 percent of the state's overall population and an increase of 19 percent above the 1990 foreign-born population of 13,779 residents. That rate of increase in the immigrant population was higher than the 12.8 percent increase in the native-born population, but it was much lower than the national average of 57.4 percent in the country.

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 2.5 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 likely to be closer to seven percent, which is based on the increase in the share of those who speak a language other than English at home in Montana. 

 

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 Montana decreased slightly, from five percent to 4.8 percent. Slightly more than one-quarter (28.6%) of those who said they spoke a language other than English at home in 2000 also said they spoke English less than very well.

The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey found that in 2006, the state’s foreign born population was 17,512 residents, an increase of 6.8 percent since 2000. In comparison, the foreign-born population changed from 13,779 to 16,396 residents between 1990 and 2000, an increase of 19 percent.

The ten countries below constituted 62.9% of the foreign-born population in Montana in 2006. Canada accounted for nearly a quarter (23.5%) alone.

CONNECT TO LEGAL IMMIGRATION ADMISSSION DATA

THE IMMIGRANT STOCK
The Census Bureau estimated that there were about 64,000 people in Montana 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 902,195, the immigrant stock share of the state's population was 7.1 percent.

As the graph below shows, the amount of Montana’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 20,000 people to the population. Over this period, the increase in the foreign stock has accounted for 8.7 percent of the state’s population increase.

NATURALIZATION
Data from the 2006 American Community Survey indicate that 8,948 residents, or 51.1 percent, of the foreign-born population in Montana were citizens, compared to 9,482 residents, or 57.8 percent, in 2000.

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

REFUGEE SETTLEMENT
Montana has received 143 refugees over the most recent ten fiscal years (FY'97-'06), but none in FY’06.

 

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 Montana as 958. Below, a chart illustrates the sharp increase of foreign students attending school in Montana from 1960-2000.

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 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 Montana was 2,250 as of January 2000. This number more than 1,000 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 - Montana 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 Montana 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 7 prisoner years of detention. By FY’02, the state’s reported illegal alien detention nearly doubled to 13 prisoner years, while compensation fell slightly and then fell sharply.

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 Montana, the proposed payment in fiscal year 2004 is $11,923. 

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 Montana taxpayer $29.8 million dollars annually. This cost was partially for educating students who were themselves illegally in the country ($12.4 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 Montana 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 now access the voting record of your representatives in Congress regarding immigration issues in our voting report section.

Revised July 2008