Doing Research? : Immigration in Your Backyard Extended Immigration Data for Maine    Summary Demographic State Data (and Source) Population (2007 CB estimate): 1,317,207 Population (2000 Census): 1,274,923 Foreign-Born Population (2007 FAIR est.): Foreign-Born Population (2000 Census): 42,790 36,691 Share Foreign-Born (2007 FAIR est.): Share Foreign-Born (2000): 3.2% 2.9% Immigrant Stock (2000 CB estimate): 139,000 Share Immigrant Stock (2000 estimate): 10.9% Naturalized U.S. Citizens (2006 CB est.): 20,915 Share Naturalized (2006): 49.8% Legal Immigrant Admission (DHS 1996-2005): 11,565 Refugee Admission (DHS 1996-2006) 1,735 Illegal Alien Population (2007 FAIR est.): 5,000 Projected Population - 2050 (2006 FAIR): 1,488,008   STATE POPULATION The Census Bureau estimated that in July 2007 Maine’s population had increased by an annual average of about 5,790 residents since 2000 (to 1,317,207 residents). Over that period net immigration was adding about 725 persons each year (more immigrants arriving than leaving). During the same period there was a net annual average population gain of about 4,300 residents from net domestic migration (more native-born residents arriving than leaving). Net immigrant settlement accounted directly for one-eighth (12.5%) 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   [Note: children born in the United States to immigrants (part of the immigrant stock) are not inlcuded as part of the immigration flow.]   CENSUS DATA                                                                                    The 2000 Census found 1,274,923 persons resident in Maine. This was an increase of 46,995 persons above the 1990 Census. The rate of increase (3.8%) was considerably lower than the national average of 9.9 percent population increase. The 2000 population was 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. Maine had the 34th greatest rate of population increase in the country between 1960-2000. The population of Maine increased by 9.1 percent from 1980 to 1990 (from 1,125,043 to 1,227,928 residents). FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION FAIR estimates that the foreign-born population of Maine was about 42,790 residents in July 2007. This meant a foreign-born population share of 3.2 percent. The amount of change since the 2000 Census indicates an average annual rate of increase in the foreign-born population of about 835 people, which is about one-seventh (14.4%) of the state’s annual average population increase. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 16.6 percent compared to a 2.9 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 6.4 percent share of the state’s current births is large enough to account for about 895 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may account for adding nearly 1,735 persons to the state’s population annually, i.e., more than one-fourth (29.9%) of the state’s overall population increase. The 2000 Census recorded 36,691 foreign-born residents in the state. That was 2.9 percent of the state's overall population and an increase of 1.1 percent above the 1990 foreign-born population of 36,296 residents. That rate of increase in the immigrant population was lower than the 3.9 percent increase in the state's native-born population, and it was much lower than the national average increase in the foreign-born population of 57.4 percent. 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 0.8 percent of the state's overall population increase over that decade. The share of the population increase due to immigration would be higher if the children of the immigrants born here after their arrival were included with their immigrant parents in the calculation.   The 2000 Census found that 28.3 percent of Maine's foreign-born population had arrived in the state since 1990, a much lower 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 in Maine of non-English speakers at home decreased slightly from 9.2 percent to 7.6 percent. About one-quarter (25.6%) of those who said they spoke a language other than English at home in 2000 also said they spoke English less than very well. Speakers of Foreign Languages (at home in Maine in the 2000 Census) French 63,610 Spanish 9,610 German 4,005 Italian 1,475 Chinese 1,090 Mon-Khmer, Cambodian 1,085 Vietnamese 910 Russian 895 Passamaquoddy 885 Tagalog 770 (Source: Census Bureau report: Language Spoken at Home for the Population 5 Years and Over, April 2004) The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey found that in 2006, the state’s foreign born population was 41,956 residents, an increase of 14.3 percent since 2000. In comparison, the foreign-born population changed from 36,296 to 36,691 residents between 1990 and 2000, an increase of 1.1 percent.  The ten countries below constituted 60.2% of the foreign-born population in Maine in 2006. Canada accounted for approximately one third (31.4%) alone. Foreign-Born Change Since 1990: Top Ten Countries 1990-2006 Rank Country 1990   Country 1990   Country 2000 1 Canada 18,729 Canada 15,199 Canada 13,155 2 United Kingdom 2,877 United Kingdom 2,856 Germany 1,884 3 Germany 2,355 Germany 2,150 China 1,841 4 Philippines 724 China 1,108 England 1,718 5 Poland 722 Philippines 1,095 Philippines 1,700 6 Vietnam 679 Vietnam 909 India 1,323 7 Cambodia 645 Soviet Union 757 Korea 1,108 8 Japan 489 Cambodia 709 Russia 1,107 9 Korea 469 India 590 Poland 741 10 Italy 468 Korea 565 El Salvador 660 All Others 8,139 All Others 10,753 All Others 16,719 Total 36,296 Total 36,691 Total 25,237   CONNECT TO LEGAL IMMIGRATION ADMISSION DATA THE IMMIGRANT STOCK The Census Bureau estimated that there were about 139,000 people in Maine 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 1,274,923, the immigrant stock share of the state's population was 10.9 percent. As the graph below shows, the amount and share of Maine’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 44,200 people to the population. Over this period, the increase in the foreign stock has accounted for 13.6 percent of the state’s population increase. NATURALIZATION Data from the 2006 American Community Survey indicate that 20,915 residents, or 49.8 percent, of the foreign-born population in Maine were citizens, compared to 20,522 residents, or 55.2 percent, in 2000. Nationally, 40.3 percent of the foreign-born population was citizens in 2000, and 42.0 percent in 2006  SOCIAL ISSUES Maine loggers have learned that foreign workers displacing Americans is not just a problem in agriculture and high technology fields. With the Canadian currency depressed in relation to the U.S. dollar, Canadians are eager to work in the upper Maine forests under a temporary program. At present there are 668 Canadian loggers in upper Maine. Unemployed Maine loggers have decided to fight for their jobs, and have blockaded border entry points where the Canadian loggers traditionally cross. (Source: Bangor Daily News) Refugee Settlement Maine has received 1,735 refugees over the most recent ten fiscal years (FY'97-'06) including 143 persons in FY’06.     Under the Office of Refugee Resettlement's (HHS/ORR) assistance funding for FY'02 $278,330 is available for refugee employment training and other services programs in Maine based on a three-year refugee settlement program covering 1,109 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 $1,317,327 and $832,299 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.   In Maine, overall enrollment in 2002 (211,461) was 4 percent below enrollment in 1993. By contrast, LEP enrollment (3,000 - 1.4% of all enrollment) was 64.8 percent higher than a decade earlier. 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 Maine as 1,388.  Below, a chart illustrates the sharp increase of foreign students attending school in Maine 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 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 Maine was 3,000 as of January 2000. This number was 3,000 lower  than the INS' 1996 estimate. Other Estimates - The Pew Hispanic Center estimates the illegal alien population of the state at less than 10,000  2005. COSTS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS Incarceration Costs - Maine 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 Maine has received were: FY’99—$179,922 FY’00—$148,731 FY’01—$290,227 FY’02—$266,963 FY’03—$85,545 FY’04—$50,676 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 15 prisoner years of detention. By FY’02, the state’s reported illegal alien detention more than tripled to 50 prisoner years, while compensation increased by 49 percent but then fell off 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 Maine, 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 Maine 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 Maine 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 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