STATE POPULATION
The Census Bureau estimated that in July 2007 Wisconsin’s population increased by an annual average of about 32,590 residents since 2000 (to 5,601,640 residents). Over that period net immigration was adding about 7,995 persons each year (more immigrants arriving than leaving). During the same period there was a annual average population net loss of about 770 residents from net domestic migration (more native-born residents leaving than arriving). Net immigrant settlement accounted directly for nearly one-fourth (24.5%) of the 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.

 

The 2000 Census found 5,363,675 persons resident in Wisconsin. This was an increase of 471,906 persons above the 1990 Census. The rate of increase (9.6%) was slightly lower than the national average (9.9%). The amount of increase was the 24^th largest in the country.

The 2000 population is about 35,000 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

Between 1980-1990, the state's population increased by four percent (from 4,705,642 to 4,891,769 residents.)

Wisconsin had the 30th highest rate of population increase in the country between 1960-2000.

FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION

FAIR estimates that the foreign-born population of Wisconsin was about 253,140 residents in July 2007. This meant a foreign-born population share of 4.5 percent. The amount of change since the 2000 Census indicates an average annual rate of increase in the foreign-born population of about 8,135 people, which is about one-fourth (25%) of the state’s annual average population increase. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 30.7 percent compared to a 3.5 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 nine percent share of the state’s current births is large enough to account for about 6,315 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may account for adding nearly 14,450 persons to the state’s population annually, i.e., more than two-fifths (44.3%) of the state’s overall population increase.

A comparison of the increase in the immigrant population since 1990 with the change in the overall population during the same period shows that immigrant settlement directly accounted for 15.3 percent of the state's overall population increase over that decade. The effect of immigration on population change is still greater when the children of the immigrants born here after their arrival are 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 22 percent of the state's population increase, based on the increase in the share of those in Wisconsin who speak a language other than English at home.

The 2000 Census found that 46.8 percent of Wisconsin' foreign-born population had arrived in the state since 1990. This demonstrates the effects of the current mass immigration, and it is higher 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 Wisconsin increased by about one-quarter, from 5.8 percent to 7.4 percent. About two-fifths (40.4%) of those who said they spoke a language other than English at home in 2000 also said they spoke English less than very well.

In 1990, there were 121,547 foreign-born residents of Wisconsin. This 2.5 percent share of the state's 4,891,769 population was lower than the national average of 7.9%.

Between 1980-1990, the state's foreign-born population decreased by three percent (from 125,297 to 121,547 residents.) Nearly 35 percent of the foreign-born population of Wisconsin in 1990 had immigrated since 1980.

The Census Bureau estimated from its American Community Survey that in 2002 the foreign-born population of Wisconsin was about 213,900 persons. The chart below shows the regions from which those foreign residents came.

CONNECT TO LEGAL IMMIGRANT ADMISSION DATA

THE IMMIGRANT STOCK
The Census Bureau estimated that there were about 467,000 people in Wisconsin 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 5,363,675, the immigrant stock share of the state's population was 8.7 percent.

As the graph below shows, the amount of Wisconsin’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 266,600 people to the population. Over this period, the increase in the foreign stock has accounted for 24.5 percent of the state’s population increase.

NATURALIZATION

Data from the 2006 American Community Survey indicate that 104,415 residents, or 42.6 percent, of the foreign-born population in Wisconsin were citizens, compared to 76,223 residents, or 39.3 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
Wisconsin has received 6,786 refugees over the most recent ten fiscal years (FY'97-'06), with 403 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 Wisconsin as 7,383. One school in Wisconsin is listed as having a major concentration of these students:  University of Wisconsin-Madison had enrollment of 3,829 foreign students, 9.2% of total enrollment. Below, a chart illustrates the sharp increase of foreign students attending school in Wisconsin 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 90,000 persons. This is part of an overall estimate of the U.S. illegal alien population of about 13 million persons.

The INS estimated in February 2003 that the illegal alien population of Wisconsin was about 41,000 residents. That was more than five times the previous INS estimate that in October 1996 there were about 8,000 illegal alien residents. The latter estimate was up by over 25 percent from an earlier estimate of illegal aliens at about 6,000 residents in October 1992.

Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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 326 prisoner years of detention. By FY’02, the state’s reported illegal alien detention rose by 187 percent to 936 prisoner years, while compensation rose by 42 percent but then declined.

MEDICAL COSTS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS
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 Wisconsin, the proposed payment in fiscal year 2004 is $977,724.

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