METROPOLITAN POLICY PROGRAM Audrey Singer, Senior Fellow Latin American Immigrants in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area Latin American Immigrants: Civic and Political Participation in the Washington DC-Metro Area Woodrow Wilson Center November 1, 2007

METROPOLITAN POLICY PROGRAM Suburban residence Global origins A very fast-growing immigrant population Washington DC’s foreign-born population is characterized by:

METROPOLITAN POLICY PROGRAM New York Los Angeles Miami-Fort Lauderdale Chicago San Francisco-Oakland Houston Washington Dallas-Fort Worth Riverside-San Bernardino Boston ,117, ,407, ,949, ,625, ,201, ,113, ,017, ,016, , ,165 %FBMillions Metropolitan Washington ranks 7th in number of foreign-born residents Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2005

METROPOLITAN POLICY PROGRAM Washington DC’s foreign-born population, 2006 RankCountryEstimatePercent Total Foreign Born1,063, El Salvador133, India62, Korea58, Mexico43, Vietnam43, Philippines40, China40, Guatemala33, Bolivia32, Ethiopia27, Peru27, Other Western Africa25, Honduras22, Iran20, Nigeria20, Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2006

METROPOLITAN POLICY PROGRAM Latin American immigrants are the largest regional origin group in the metro area Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2006

METROPOLITAN POLICY PROGRAM In 1980, birth countries were primarily South American and Caribbean Source: 1980 Census

METROPOLITAN POLICY PROGRAM By 2006, most were from Central America Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2006

METROPOLITAN POLICY PROGRAM Washington’s Latin American population has grown by 600 percent in 25 years, twice as fast as the total immigrant pop Source: US Census Bureau, ACS xxxx 59, , , ,885

METROPOLITAN POLICY PROGRAM One-third of all Latin American immigrants in Washington arrived in the United States since 2000 Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2006 Period of Entry to the United States, Latin American Immigrants, 2006

METROPOLITAN POLICY PROGRAM Source: US Census Bureau Latin American immigrants have settled in the core of the region and the inner suburbs Source: Census 2000 SF3

METROPOLITAN POLICY PROGRAM Sources: 1980, 1990 and 2000 censuses; 2006 ACS Recently however, the suburbs continue to attract Latin American immigrants, the inner core’s population began to decline after 2000 Number of Latin American Immigrants in Washington Area Jurisdictions,

METROPOLITAN POLICY PROGRAM Latin Americans are now the majority of immigrants in Prince William and Prince George’s Counties Sources: 1980, 1990 and 2000 censuses; 2006 ACS Percent of Foreign-born Population that was born in Latin America,

METROPOLITAN POLICY PROGRAM Washington’s Latin American immigrants differ greatly from the total population along demographic lines Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2006

METROPOLITAN POLICY PROGRAM Their household characteristics also differ from the total population… Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2006

METROPOLITAN POLICY PROGRAM …as do their labor market characteristics Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2006

METROPOLITAN POLICY PROGRAM Latin Americans are more likely to work in service or construction jobs Occupation, Washington Metropolitan Area, 2006 Latin American ImmigrantsTotal Metro Population Source: US Census Bureau, 2006 ACS