STATE POPULATION
The Census Bureau estimated that in July 2007 Delaware’s population had increased by an annual average of about 11,120 residents since 2000 (to 864,764 residents). Over that period, net immigration was adding about 13,385 persons each year (more immigrants arriving than leaving). During the same period there was an annual average population loss of about 10,695 residents from net domestic migration (more native-born residents leaving than arriving). Net immigrant settlement accounted for more than one-sixth (17.2%) 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.

[Note children born in teh United Statesto immigrants (part of the immigrant stock) are not inlcuded as part of the immigration flow.]

The 2000 Census found 783,600 persons resident in Delaware. This was an increase of 117,432 persons above the 1990 Census. The rate of increase (17.6%) in the population was the 13^th fastest in the country, but the amount of increase was not among the 25 highest in the country.

The 2000 population is about 15,000 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.

Delaware had the 18th greatest rate of population increase in the country between 1960-2000.

Over the 1980-90 decade, the state's population increased by 11.8 percent (from about 596,000 to 666,168).

FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION                                                      FAIR estimates that the foreign-born population of Delaware was about 72,505 residents in July 2007. This meant a foreign-born population share of 8.4 percent. The amount of change since the 2000 Census indicates an average annual rate of increase in the foreign-born population of about 3,780 people, which is about one-third (34%) of the state’s annual average population increase. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 61.5 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 16.8 percent share of the state’s current births is large enough to account for about 1,895 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may account for adding nearly 5,675 persons to the state’s population annually, i.e., more than half (51.1%) of the state’s overall population increase.

The 2000 Census found that 47.2 percent of Delaware's foreign-born population had arrived in the state since 1990. This demonstrates the effects of the current mass immigration, and it is 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 Delaware increased by more than one-quarter from 6.9 percent to 8.9 percent. About two-fifths (40.8%) 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 68,722 residents, an increase of 53.1% percent since 2000. In comparison, the foreign-born population changed from 22,275 to 44,898 residents between 1990 and 2000, an increase of 101.6 percent.

The ten countries below constituted 47.0% of the foreign-born population in Delaware in 2006. Mexico accounted for approximately one fifth alone (20.8%)

Between the 2000 Census and the Census Bureau estimate for 2006, the foreign-born population in Delaware increased by about 30,800 persons (52.9%). Latin America (including Mexico) accounted for more than 18,800 immigrants (up 61.2%). Mexico alone accounted for nearly 7,000 additional immigrants (up 52.6%). Immigrants from Asia grew by 36.4% (nearly 5,000 people). Immigrants from Africa more than tripled (by nearly 4,700). The immigrant population from Europe and Canada increased by more than 2,300 persons (20.3%).

CONNECT TO LEGAL IMMIGRATION ADMISSIONS DATA

THE IMMIGRANT STOCK
The Census Bureau estimates that there were about 71,000 people in Delaware 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 783,600 the immigrant stock share of the state's population was 9.1 percent in 2000.

As the graph below shows, the amount and share of Delaware’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 63,000 people to the population. Over this period, the increase in the foreign stock has accounted for 22.4 percent of the state’s population increase.

NATURALIZATION
Data from the 2006 American Community Survey indicate that 28,987 residents, or 42.2 percent, of the foreign-born population in Delaware were citizens, compared to 19,052 residents, or 42.4 percent, in 2000.  

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

Refugee Settlement
Delaware has received 282 refugees over the most recent ten fiscal years (FY'97-'06) including two persons 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 Deleware as 1,964. One school in Deleware is listed as having a major concentration of these students: Univeristy of Deleware had enrollment of 1,411 foreign students, 7.6% of total enrollment. Below, a chart illustrates the sharp increase of foreign students attending school in Deleware 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 20,000 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 Alabama was 10,000 as of January 2000. This number was 7,500 higher than the INS' 1996 estimate.

Other Estimates - The Pew Hispanic Center estimates the illegal alien population of the state at 15,000 to 30,000 as of 2005.

COST OF ILLEGAL ALIENS

Incarceration Costs- Delaware 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 Delaware 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 Delaware's illegal alien inmate population had decreased by 24 percent from the 70 inmate years in FY'99 to 53 inmate years in FY'02, while compensation declined by 53 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 Delaware, the proposed payment in fiscal year 2004 is $238,469.

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 Deleware taxpayer $53.8 million dollars annually. This cost was partially for educating students who were themselves illegally in the country ($22.4 million) and in part for the education of their siblings born in the United States to illegal residents ($31.4 million).

Projected Fiscal Costs- In 2006 we estimated tha Deleware taxpayer is currently burdened with annual costs of about $65 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 $112 million per year in 2010 and to $198 million per year in 2020.

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS
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