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Immigration Policy: 2020 Presidential Campaign State-Level Economic Indicator Map

Use data to get information about the impact of campaign proposals on states. Examine six indicators focused on immigration policy for each state. See the percent of the population that is foreign-born,1 the percent of the foreign-born population with a bachelor’s or advanced degree compared with the percent of the native-born with a bachelor’s or advanced degree, the old-age dependency ratio,2 the child dependency ratio,3 and percent of the foreign-born population that is unauthorized for the U.S. and each state.4 Although PWBM has shown that increasing immigration boosts economic growth for the U.S. as a whole, these indicators imply that the impact of changes to immigration policy on a state will depend on the demographics of that state.

Instructions: Use the drop-down menu to select the indicator displayed on the map and hover over a state to see the indicator value in that state (i.e. the percent of the population that is foreign-born). Click on a state to see all of the indicators for that state.

Indicator


United States
Foreign-born share: 13.4%5
Unauthorized share of immigrants: 24%6
Old-age dependency ratio: 23.97
Child dependency ratio: 36.98
9 10

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 2013-2017 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates and Pew Research Center

More information:

The main findings from the Interactive State-Level Immigration Map.

The Effects of Changes to Immigration Policy on the United States’ Population.

Projections for the Evolution of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population in the United States.

Projections for the Evolution of Naturalized Citizens in the United States.

Modeling Immigrants’ Legal Status in PWBM’s Microsimulation.


The 2020 Presidential Campaign: Immigration Policy


President Trump has proposed many changes to immigration policy that include: building additional wall along the southern border; not renewing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA), Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA), and Temporary Protective Status (TPS) for people from several countries; increasing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement regulations; and cracking down on sanctuary cities. These policies all work to either reduce the flow of immigrants into the U.S. or reduce the number of immigrants in the U.S.

Many Democratic presidential candidates have proposed to change immigration policy. They share similar views on immigration. For example, all support a pathway to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants. Nearly all have said they oppose or would add to barriers along the U.S.-Mexican border. As of June 25th, 2019, 18 want to eliminate or limit the detention of families. The same number support increased funding to process asylum claims and accepting more refugees per year. Finally, about half support federal health benefits for unauthorized immigrants. In general, the Democratic candidate proposals all work to either maintain/increase the flow of immigrants into the U.S. or maintain/increase the number of immigrants in the U.S.


  1. Anyone who is not a U.S. citizen at birth, including those who become U.S. citizens through naturalization.  ↩

  2. The old-age dependency ratio is the ratio of working age population (18 - 64) to people aged 65 or older.  ↩

  3. The child dependency ratio is the ratio of working age population (18 - 64) to people aged 17 or younger.  ↩

  4. The data in the map is sourced from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year averages ending in 2017, except for the measure of unauthorized immigrants which is sourced from the Pew Research Center.  ↩

  5. (foreign-born population/total population)*100.

    Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2013-2017 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.  ↩

  6. Unauthorized immigrant percent of immigrant population.

    Source: Pew Research Center estimates based on augmented U.S. Census Bureau data. See methodology for details.  ↩

  7. Ratio of working age population (18 - 64) to people aged 65 or older.

    Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2013-2017 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.  ↩

  8. Ratio of working age population (18 - 64) to people aged 17 or younger.

    Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2013-2017 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.  ↩

  9. The share of native-born over the age of 25 with a bachelor's and graduate or professional degree.

    Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2013-2017 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.  ↩

  10. The share of foreign-born over the age of 25 with a bachelor's and graduate or professional degree.

    Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2013-2017 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.  ↩

    States,Foreign born % of population,Native Born % with bachelors or more (among >25 yr old),Foreign born % with bachelors or more (among > 25 yr old),old-age dependency ratio (TOTAL ppn),child dependency ratio (TOTAL ppn),unauthorized immigrant % of all immigrants
    Alabama,0.0346,0.243,0.295,25.5,36.9,0.34
    Alaska,0.0759,0.293,0.266,15.6,39,0.13
    Arizona,0.1339,0.299,0.215,27.1,39.8,0.28
    Arkansas,0.0474,0.221,0.211,26.5,39.3,0.41
    California,0.2698,0.355,0.275,20.8,36.9,0.2
    Colorado,0.0981,0.411,0.274,20.3,36,0.34
    Connecticut,0.1424,0.392,0.347,25.5,33.8,0.23
    Delaware,0.0912,0.298,0.402,27.7,35.2,0.31
    District of Columbia,0.1404,0.571,0.541,23.9,36.9,0.28
    Florida ,0.2025,0.291,0.266,32.1,33.6,0.18
    Georgia,0.1003,0.297,0.318,20.3,39,0.36
    Hawaii,0.1806,0.338,0.26,27.2,35.1,0.17
    Idaho,0.0594,0.274,0.186,24.7,44.3,0.37
    Illinois,0.14,0.34,0.312,23,36.8,0.22
    Indiana,0.0504,0.249,0.314,23.8,38.8,0.29
    Iowa,0.0502,0.276,0.286,26.5,38.6,0.31
    Kansas,0.0702,0.329,0.259,24.2,40.8,0.35
    Kentucky,0.0363,0.228,0.323,24.6,37,0.22
    Louisiana ,0.0415,0.232,0.264,22.7,38.4,0.36
    Maine,0.0358,0.3,0.355,30.4,31.2,0.09
    Maryland,0.1492,0.383,0.419,22.4,35.5,0.29
    Massachusetts,0.1616,0.433,0.371,24.1,31.8,0.22
    Michigan,0.0658,0.27,0.405,25.6,36,0.15
    Minnesota,0.0817,0.35,0.329,23.6,37.8,0.2
    Mississippi,0.0231,0.292,0.252,24,39.8,0.35
    Missouri,0.04,0.277,0.378,25.6,37.3,0.23
    Montana,0.0211,0.305,0.368,28.1,36,0.12
    Nebraska,0.0699,0.314,0.219,24.3,41,0.41
    Nevada,0.1945,0.25,0.199,23.4,37.3,0.35
    New Hampshire,0.0592,0.356,0.417,25.8,31.1,0.13
    New Jersey,0.2209,0.381,0.38,24.2,35.7,0.22
    New Mexico,0.0966,0.281,0.181,26.1,39.6,0.29
    New York ,0.2268,0.374,0.301,23.9,33.4,0.15
    North Carolina,0.0784,0.298,0.3,24.2,36.6,0.39
    North Dakota,0.0358,0.286,0.358,22.9,36.4,0.23
    Ohio,0.0433,0.264,0.423,25.8,36.8,0.17
    Oklahoma,0.0589,0.251,0.21,24.3,40.4,0.38
    Oregon,0.099,0.328,0.282,26.1,34.5,0.26
    Pennsylvania,0.0658,0.293,0.386,27.5,33.9,0.19
    Rhode Island,0.1365,0.349,0.236,25.2,31.2,0.19
    South Carolina,0.0486,0.27,0.276,26.4,36.3,0.35
    South Dakota,0.0332,0.278,0.276,25.8,41.2,0.19
    Tennessee,0.0496,0.258,0.295,24.8,36.6,0.38
    Texas,0.1686,0.301,0.238,18.9,42.5,0.33
    Utah,0.0829,0.337,0.242,17.3,51.3,0.38
    Vermont,0.0452,0.364,0.44,27.7,30.3,0.04
    Virginia,0.1213,0.369,0.413,22.4,35.1,0.27
    Washington,0.1376,0.344,0.347,22.7,35.7,0.23
    West Virginia,0.0161,0.194,0.461,29.9,33.5,0.14
    Wisconsin,0.0488,0.289,0.312,25.1,36.2,0.24
    Wyoming,0.0355,0.269,0.241,23.4,38.4,0.32