Population statistics can be useful in identifying trends in immigration over time, although schools receive newcomers long before the census takers compile their data. As we look around us, we see new faces in school, in church, at the grocery store, on the street—everywhere in the community. Immigration over the past 25 years has brought diversity and change to communities and schools.

We all form opinions of what this change means, opinions that often reflect our own prejudices and insecurities more than reality. To some, immigrants represent a new source of much-needed skills or labor in the workforce, sometimes people who do work that no one else will do at wages no one else will accept. To others, immigrants are oppressed peoples deserving of our compassion and assistance, or new contributors in the land of opportunity. To still others, however, they are viewed as competitors for scarce jobs and a drain on social services.

Negative attitudes about immigration often lead to misinformation, bias, and discrimination against individuals or cultural groups in society at large and in our schools. This section seeks to defuse current myths about newcomers by providing accurate information about immigration, examining myths about immigrants, and presenting U.S. Census and other data to counter misinformation.

In addition to facing negative attitudes toward immigration, many new immigrants also face negative attitudes about the racial, ethnic, or cultural group to which they belong. Educators need to be sensitive to and counter negative attitudes that immigrant students may face resulting from prejudice or bias because of race, ethnic, or cultural identity as well as immigrant status. Later sections in the guide discuss this issue further and provide strategies for counteracting negative attitudes. References for these myths are on page 84.

MYTH 1: U.S. immigration policy is solely driven by economic goals.
Since World War II, immigration policy has been driven primarily by economic goals. However, since then, immigration policy has served other aims as well:
Unifying families, principally those of U.S. citizens
Promoting diversity in the U.S. population and in the immigrant stream
Promoting human rights by providing sanctuary for those who are in danger because of political or religious beliefs

REALITY: In 1992, almost 120,000 (12 percent of the people admitted to the United States) were refugees or asylees (asylum seekers) fleeing some combination of war, political persecution, or religious persecution.

MYTH 2: Most immigrants are in the United States illegally.

REALITY: The vast majority of immigrants in the United States have been admitted legally, although nearly 50 percent of people polled on this question believe most immigrants are here illegally.
Of the nearly 20 million immigrants counted by the 1990 census, only 15 percent were in the United States illegally
One-third of the immigrant population living in the United States has already become citizens

MYTH 3: The United States has more immigrants than in the past.

REALITY: Immigration in the 1980s and 1990s is higher than it was from 1930 to 1979, but one-third what it was in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Immigration was quite high during the 19th and early 20th centuries as immigrants from Europe came first to settle on Western lands expropriated from American Indian tribes and later to work in the factories of rapidly industrializing Eastern and Midwestern cities
After 50 years of low immigration, refugees from around the world caused immigration to the United States to climb during the 1980s and 1990s

REALITY: In 1910 (the highest point of U.S. immigration), the percentage of people who were born in another country was twice as high as it was in 1990 (the highest point in recent immigration activity).
In 1990, 8 percent of the population was foreign-born
In 1910, 16 percent of the population was foreign-born

MYTH 4: Most of the undocumented immigrants in the United States are Mexicans.

REALITY: Only about one-third of the undocumented immigrants in the United States are Mexican. Next, in order of country of origin (according to 1992 estimates), are: El Salvador, Guatemala, Canada, Poland, and the Philippines.

REALITY: The remainder of undocumented immigrants enter legally on student or tourist visas and then stay on after those visas expire.

REALITY: Most Mexican nationals residing in the United States at any given time are migrants, not immigrants. Migrants are workers who take seasonal jobs and return to their families in Mexico. Immigrants are people who intend to make their permanent home in this country.

REALITY: Although many people believe millions of undocumented Mexicans live in the United States, in reality the number is between 250,000 and 300,000 in any given year.

MYTH 5: The education and socioeconomic levels of immigrants has declined over the past several decades.

REALITY: Here are some characteristics of current immigrants:

Education:
33 percent of immigrants over age 25 have college degrees, compared with 20 percent of U.S. native born over age 25

Income:
Recent legal immigrants have average household incomes that are only 7 percent less than that of U.S. native-born
For those who arrived before 1980, immigrants and refugees have incomes that significantly exceed those of U.S. native born
Immigrants earned 8.5 percent of total U.S. income in 1989 and constituted almost 8.5 percent of the total population

REALITY: Many immigrants who were teachers, doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, and other professionals in their native countries are not allowed to practice their chosen professions in the United States.

MYTH 6: Immigrants take jobs away from U.S. native-born workers.

REALITY: Immigrants generally create job opportunities for others. When the local impact is negative, it is very small.
In strong local economics, immigrants increase economic opportunities for U.S. native-born workers because the money immigrants spend helps create more jobs
In weak local economies, immigrants may have a small negative effect on economic opportunities for lowest-skilled U.S. native-born workers

MYTH 7: Immigrants cost taxpayers a lot of money in government expenditures.

REALITY: Immigrants pay far more in taxes than they use in public services. Immigrants arriving after 1970 have paid a total of $70 billion in taxes at the federal, state, and local levels and have used $35 to $40 billion dollars worth of public services. Thus, U.S. citizens have gained $25 to $30 billion dollars in net savings between immigrant taxes paid and services used.

REALITY: In 1995, the National Research Council, at the request of the bipartisan Commission on Immigration Reform, convened a panel of experts to assess the economic, demographic, and fiscal impact of immigration in the United States. Noting that fiscal impact depends on a variety of factors—such as age and level of education at arrival—and varies at the federal, state, and local levels, the panel did conclude that "taking the difference between taxes paid and benefits received at each age, immigrants (like others) are costly in childhood and in old age, but are net payers of taxes during their working lives." Because most immigrants tend to arrive at young working ages, the panel noted that for this reason "the net fiscal impact of immigration is positive under most scenarios."

REALITY: Misperceptions about the positive effect that documented and undocumented immigrants have on the U.S. economy has led to fear and negative attitudes toward immigrants.

MYTH 8: Most immigrants live on welfare.

REALITY: Welfare use among nonrefugee, working-age immigrants (ages 15-64) is substantially lower than that among U.S. native-born citizens. Based on 1990 census figures, 20.4 percent of immigrants were on welfare, compared with 26.2 percent of U.S. native-born.

In 1993, the U.S. Department of Commerce released We the American… Foreign Born, part of a series of reports on different segments of the U.S. population. Based on the 1990 Census, the report makes the following generalizations about the foreign-born population:
Are the highest number, though not greatest proportion, of foreign born in the history of the United States. In 1900, the proportion was 13.5 percent of the total population; in 1910, 14.8 percent; and in 1990, only 7.9 percent.
Come mostly from Asia or Latin America. From 1900 to 1990, the proportion of foreign born from Latin American and Asia increased from less than 1.5 percent to 43 percent and 25 percent respectively.
Come from many countries. From 1980 through 1990 the top 11 groups were from Mexico, Philippines, Canada, Cuba, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Korea, Vietnam, China, and El Salvador.
Tend to settle near the port of entry. More than half of the foreign born who emigrated from China and Japan have remained in the West. Most of the immigrants from Mexico live in the states that border Mexico. In recent decades, most immigrants have settled in big cities and their suburbs.
Are older than the native-born population. A greater proportion were between the ages of 20 and 64, and 13 percent were over 65 years old, compared with about 12 percent of the native-born population.
Represent a larger share of some racial and ethnic population groups. Of all foreign born, 23 percent were Asian and Pacific Islander, 7 percent were Black, and nearly 40 percent were Latino (up from 15 percent in 1970); of the total population, Asian and Pacific Islanders were 3 percent, Blacks were 12 percent and Latinos were 9 percent.
Have about the same proportion of college graduates as the native-born population but a smaller proportion of high school graduates. About 59 percent, compared with 77 percent of native born, had at least a high school diploma.
If a recent immigrant, tend to speak a language other than English at home. About 80 percent of newcomers spoke a language other than English at home.
Tend to experience occupational segregation in general and by country of birth. Foreign-born males are more likely than native-born males to be in labor, service, and farming occupations. Foreign-born females are more likely than native-born females to be employed as household and service workers. Foreign-born workers have higher unemployment rates than native-born workers. In 1990, only 6 percent of immigrants from Mexico who were 16 years old and over were employed in managerial and professional occupations, compared to more than 40 percent of immigrants from the United Kingdom. More than one-third of Canadian, German, United Kingdom, and Chinese foreign born worked as managers.

When immigrants—whether refugee, legal immigrant, asylee, or undocumented immigrant—arrive in the United States, their choice of where to live is based on a variety of factors:
Area where sponsors are identified, usually by national voluntary agencies working with immigrants and refugees
Location of sponsoring individual or organization
Proximity to family members who immigrated earlier
Proximity to the route of immigration
Existence of ethnic communities founded by earlier immigrants of the same nationality
Location of employment opportunities
Similarity of climate to the country of origin
Lack of financial resources to travel to other parts of the country
Availability of support services for the particular ethnic group

Because settlement patterns vary from state to state and year to year throughout the Northwest and Alaska, it is most useful to provide the overall pattern of settlement. Immigrants from Europe, the Caribbean, and Africa generally enter the United States through major East Coast cities such as New York City and Miami and have a smaller presence in Alaska and the Northwest. Immigrants from Asia and the Pacific region come through West Coast ports of entry. Mexican and Central American immigrants cross through the U.S.-Mexico border. As immigration of Asians increased after 1975 and of Russians/Soviets increased during the late 1980s, these groups tended to settle in California and the Northwest, reversing the pattern of New York, Chicago, Florida, and Texas as major areas of settlement. Canadians and Europeans also enter freely through the Canadian/U.S. border, and it is difficult to accurately assess their numbers or settlement patterns. In Alaska and Idaho, however, Canadians are among the top five largest groups of legal immigrants.

Vietnamese are the largest group of Asians in the Northwest. Filipinos and Koreans are the two largest groups in Alaska. Cambodians, Laotians, and Thai have also settled in the Northwest and Alaska. Russians who emigrated to the United States in the late 1980s settled in Portland and Seattle, where earlier Russian immigrants had established communities. Latinos, the largest immigrant group in the Pacific Northwest, have settled mainly in the Willamette (Oregon) and Yakima and Skagit (Washington) valleys and in agricultural regions of Idaho. More recently, Mexicans are a growing group in Alaska.

It is impossible to obtain an accurate picture of the number of immigrants residing within a state in any given year. The chart below presents a ranking by state of the most numerous groups of recent immigrants to the Northwest and Alaska. The figures, however, represent the number of immigrants in any given year who have applied for and received a permanent resident visa with the INS. The application process is lengthy and isn’t always initiated immediately upon arrival in this country. Therefore, many of the people represented by the figures could have been residing in the United States for a number of years.

Top Five Legal Immigrant Groups by State, 1986-96
Alaska		Idaho		Oregon		Washington
Filipino	3,660	Mexican	12,661	Mexican	29,759	Mexican	43,304
Korean	1,750	Canadian	716	Vietnamese	8,177	Vietnamese	18,447
Mexican	972	Vietnamese	630	Former USSR	7,270	Filipino	17,243
Canadian	553	Filipino	563	Chinese	3,905	Former USSR	13,196
Former USSR	409	Former USSR	435	Korean	3,057	Korean	9,438
Sources: Statistical Yearbook of the Immigration and Naturalization Services, "Immigrants Admitted by Specified Countries of Birth and State of Intended Residence," 1986-1996. 1995 data for some groups was unavailable.

These numbers do not reflect the numbers of undocumented persons residing in the Northwest and Alaska. According to 1996 INS estimates, the numbers are: Alaska 3,700; Idaho 16,000; Oregon 33,000; and Washington 52,000. Close to half of these represent "overstays"— that is, someone who entered the United States legally and stayed on after his or her temporary visa expired. Although these INS estimates are based on the "most extensive array of figures ever compiled for the purpose," they should be viewed with caution. It is estimated that the greatest numbers of undocumented persons in the Northwest and Alaska come from Asia, Canada, Mexico, and Central America because of the their proximity to the West Coast or shared borders with the United States.

In looking at these numbers, one must also take into consideration that not all the immigrants reported in a given year will remain in the United States or remain in their initial state of residence. Government data collected on immigrants during 1900-1950 indicates that nearly one-third either returned to their countries of origin or moved on to other countries. Individuals or groups may also migrate to different areas of the United States. One example is the Hmong from Vietnam and Laos, who migrated in large numbers from points of initial resettlement to California’s Interior Valley.

Although growing in numbers in certain localities in recent years, immigrant populations overall represent a small proportion of the state populations in the Northwest and Alaska, as the following chart shows.

IMMIGRANTS AS A PERCENT OF TOTAL STATE POPULATION
State	Population	Number of Immigrants	Percent of Population
Alaska	611,300	15,700	3.0
Idaho	1,189,251	25,800	2.0
Oregon	3,236,000	125,000	4.0
Washington	5,516,800	258,000	5.0
Information released by the INS in 1996.

The chart on the following page shows that the number of immigrants admitted between 1992 and 1996 has remained fairly consistent but varies significantly by state. Washington has consistently received the largest number of new immigrants of the four states listed below, followed by Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska.

NUMBER OF IMMIGRANTS ADMITTED BY STATE
Year	Alaska	Idaho	Oregon	Washington
1996	1,280	1,825	7,554	18,823
1995	1,049	1,612	4,923	15,862
1994	1,128	1,559	6,784	18,180
1993	1,283	1,232	7,172	17,062
1992	1,120	976	5,608	15,001
Information released by the INS in 1996.

Educators at the building level are, of course, the best source of information on the current immigrant populations within schools.

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