Immigration to the District of Columbia
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 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA IMMIGRATION STATISTICS |
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Total Population: |
580,000 (2006) |
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Foreign Born: |
90,000 (2005) |
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Illegal Immigrants: |
FAIR Estimate: 10,000 (2005) |
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USCIS/DHS Estimate: 7,000 (2006) |
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Pew Hispanic Center Estimate: 15,000-30,000 (2005) |
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Immigration to the District of Columbia (Washington DC)
The suburbs of Maryland and Virginia have experienced staggering population growth despite the population of the District of Columbia remaining steady over the past three years. The Washington DC metro area's foreign-born population increased 70 percent during the 1990s. This growth accounts for 49 percent of the District of Columbia’s overall population increase.
This population growth translates into struggles for the metro area, including
overcrowded schools, traffic gridlock, and a rising burden on taxpayers as
communities struggle to meet the increased demand for public services.
The Cost of Illegal Immigration in Washington DC
The District of Columbia’s foreign-born population increased by almost 29 percent between the years 2000 and 2006. During that period, the District of Columbia gained almost 21,000
immigrants, bringing the total number of foreign-born residents in the state to over 94,000.
The District of Columbia’s naturalized population is 22,050, one of the lowest rates in the country. The national average naturalized population rate is 40.1 percent. This low rate of naturalization continues the trend from 1990, and indicates the high settlement rate of new immigrants and the growing number of
illegal immigrants. Less than one-third, or 29.3 percent, of the District of Columbia’s 58,887 foreign-born residents have become
naturalized U.S. citizens. The national average of naturalized foreign-born residents is 40.3 percent.
The cost of illegal immigration to DC residents is considerable as taxpayer dollars
are responsible for incarceration, medical, and the educational costs of
immigrants. The cost of housing illegal immigrant inmates has declined annually from $3,261,785 in 1999 to $44,472 in 2004. This is an 86 percent decline in compensation. This steady decline can be attributed to Washington D.C.'s illegal alien inmate population decreasing by 60 percent from the 124 inmates in 1999 to 49 inmates in 2002. Medical costs for illegal immigrants in the District of Columbia were estimated at $166,928 for the year 2004. Taxpayers in the District of Columbia are burdened with educational expenditures for illegal immigration, costing them $47.1 million dollars annually. Of this annual cost, $19.6 million went to educating students who were themselves illegally in the country and $27.5 million went towards the education of their siblings born in the United States to illegal residents.
In 2006, it is estimated that District of Columbia taxpayers faced annual costs of about $53 million because of illegal aliens residing in the state. This estimate was based
on expenditures for education, emergency medical care, and incarceration. Some
claim that the costs will only rise unless the United States gains control over
the borders and worksites. Some anti-immigration business and ethnic advocacy groups project
that if an amnesty was passed, the cost to the state’s taxpayers would rise to $88 million per year in 2010 and to $150 million per year in 2020.
Conversely, other cite that immigration positively effects the American economy,
as many immigrants that come to the United States desire to
work in occupations
that would otherwise remain unfilled.
Washington DC Immigration Statistics:
- El Salvador, Jamaica, and China comprise the top three foreign-born populations in the District of Columbia.
- The District of Columbia received 3,274 refugees from the years 1996 to 2004
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