Immigration to Maryland
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 MARYLAND IMMIGRATION STATISTICS |
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Total Population: |
5,296,486 (2000) |
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Foreign Born: |
518,315 (2000) |
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Illegal Immigrants: |
FAIR Estimate: 150,000 (2007) |
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USCIS/DHS Estimate: 56,000 (2000) |
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Pew Hispanic Center Estimate: 250,000 (2005) |
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About Maryland
Maryland is a small state where residents enjoy a broad
range of distinctly different lifestyles and histories. The state is
unofficially broken into regions such as central, western, southern and suburban
Maryland. Maryland was the 7th state to enter statehood on April 28, 1788. The
State Capitol is held in Annapolis, MD and is also home to the United States
Naval Academy. As a foremost producer and processor of seafood, Maryland is also
the leader in the production of blue crabs and soft clams.
Immigration to Maryland
Maryland is home to a major shipping port where the arrival of
immigrants has increased by more than 600 percent since the 1960s. With the
close proximity of Washington, D.C., immigrants seem to settle in the Maryland
suburbs of D.C. rather than in the city of Baltimore.
Maryland’s naturalization rate of 45.3 percent is slightly higher than the
national average of 40.1 percent based upon data recorded during the 2000
Census. Between the years of 1994 and 2003, Maryland has averaged about 18,000
legal immigrant admissions per year. Approximately 46% of the immigrant
admissions is from Asian countries with another approximately 23% from Hispanic
countries with the balance broken out between white and black populations. This
rate of naturalization easily suggests Maryland has a deeply established
immigrant population.
There has been an increase in the foreign-born population both through new
immigrant residents in the state as well as through the children born to
immigrants. It is estimated the immigrant population and immigrant births are
adding nearly 15,237 persons to Maryland every year equating to 39.8% of the
state’s overall population increase.
The 2000 Census reports 518,315 immigrant residents in Maryland. This is an
increase of 65.3% over the 1990 foreign-born population recorded at 355,393
immigrants. This increase is significantly higher than the 6.9% increase in the
native-born population for the state of Maryland.
An indication of the change in the immigrant population in Maryland may be seen
from the 2000 Census where the share of non-English speakers at home increased
to 12.7% up from 8.9% recorded in 1990. Additionally, 39.6% of those who said
they spoke a language other than English at home also said they spoke English
less than very well.
Illegal Immigration to Maryland
As of 2007, FAIR estimates the state’s illegal alien population is about 150,000
persons, which equates to about two percent of its overall population. The
annual fiscal cost to Maryland taxpayers for emergency medial care, education
and incarceration projected by FAIR is currently around $331,000,000.
Maryland Immigration Statistics
- Between 1990 and 1994, the number of school-age children living in poverty within the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. from 21,395 to 36,251
- Maryland receives an average of about 785 refugees per year
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