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

The 2000 population is about 8,000 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.

The population of Vermont increased by 10 percent from 1980 to 1990 (from 511,456 to 562,758 residents).

FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION

FAIR estimates that the foreign-born population of Vermont was about 24,330 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 150 people, which is 8.7 percent of the state’s annual average population increase. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 4.7 percent compared to a 1.9 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 505 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may account for adding about 655 persons to the state’s population annually, i.e., more than one-third (38.4%) of the state’s overall population increase.

 

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 Vermont decreased slightly, from 5.8 percent to 5.3 percent. Less than two-fifths (35.9%) 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 24,182 residents, an increase of 4.0 percent since 2000. In comparison, the foreign-born population changed from 17,544 to 23,245 residents between 1990 and 2000, an increase of 32.5 percent.

The ten countries below constituted approximately three fifths (58.8%) of the foreign-born population in Vermont in 2006. Of the total foreign-born population, Canada alone accounted for approximately one third (28.5%). 

CONNECT TO LEGAL ADMISSION IMMIGRATION DATA

THE IMMIGRANT STOCK
The Census Bureau estimated that there were about 71,000 people in Vermont 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 608,827 residents, the immigrant stock share of the state's population was 11.7 percent in 2000.

As the graph below shows, the amount and share of Vermont’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 27,900 people to the population. Over this period, the increase in the foreign stock has accounted for 15.7 percent of the state’s population increase.

NATURALIZATION
Data from the 2006 American Community Survey indicate that 12,507 residents, or 51.7 percent, of the foreign-born population in Vermont were citizens, compared to 12,451 residents, or 53.6 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
Vermont has received 2,319 refugees over the most recent ten fiscal years (FY'97-'06), with 165 arriving 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 Vermont as 983. Below, a chart illustrates the sharp increase of foreign students attending school in Vermont 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 Vermont was 2,250 as of January 2000.

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 Vermont as having an illegal alien population of less than 2,500 residents. This indicates a drop from the previous INS estimate of 2,700 illegal aliens as of October 1996. That estimate was an increase over the 2,400 illegal alien residents previously estimated for October 1992.

Vermont 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 Vermont 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 11 prisoner years of detention. By FY’02, the state’s reported illegal alien detention rose by 44 percent to 16 prisoner years, while compensation fell by 70 percent and has continued to decline.

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 Vermont, 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 Vermont 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 Vermont 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.

Revised July 2008