THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 29, 1995 TAG: 9508290324
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
U.S. residents who were born in another country made up 8.7 percent of the population last year, the highest proportion of immigrants since World War II, a new Census Bureau study shows.
That means 22.6 million people - nearly one in 11 U.S. residents - were foreign-born, and one-third of them lived in California, according to the study released Monday. One-fifth of the immigrants, or 4.5 million people, arrived here in the past five years.
The 8.7 immigrant percentage of the population is up from 7.9 percent in 1990 and nearly double the 1970 level of 4.8 percent.
The census findings, which cover legal and illegal immigrants, come amid fierce debate over immigration policies, both in Congress and among Republican presidential hope-fuls. Congress is considering a number of bills that would cap rates of legal immigration and seek to slow illegal immigration.
More than 4 million people are believed to be in the United States illegally, with some estimates reaching 5.4 million. About 1 million people were admitted to the country legally in 1994.
The Clinton administration is planning to admit 20,000 fewer refugees next year - an 18 percent reduction in refugee admissions - despite a steady increase in the number of people forced to flee their homes because of war, famine or other causes.
Five states with large immigrant populations - Arizona, California, Florida, New Jersey and Texas - have sued the federal government, accusing it of not guarding U.S. borders and seeking reimbursement for education, health care and prison beds used by hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants.
Federal judges have dismissed the lawsuits by California, Florida and Texas. California officials have said they planned to appeal the ruling, and similar appeals could be made by Florida and Texas.
The Census Bureau study showed that immigrants who arrived in this country since 1990 are more likely to receive public assistance than people born here - 5.7 percent vs. 2.9 percent - but those who arrived before 1970 are less likely to receive it - 1.4 percent.
The study, titled ``The Foreign-Born Population: 1994,'' also showed that of the 22.6 million foreign-born people living in the United States in March 1994, 6.2 million came from Mexico.
The Philippines was the homeland of the next largest group, around 1 million, followed by Cuba, 805,000; El Salvador, 718,000; Canada, 679,000; Germany, 625,000; China, 565,000; the Dominican Republic, 556,000; South Korea, 533,000; Vietnam, 496,000; and India, 494,000.
The study also found that more than two-thirds of the foreign-born residents are white, about one-fifth are Asian or Pacific Islander, and one of every 14 are black. Nearly half - 46 percent - are Hispanic.
KEYWORDS: IMMIGRANTS U.S. 1990 CENSUS by CNB