GROUP: ARIZONA IMMIGRANTS EARN LOWEST AMONG STATES
By SONU MUNSHI
Cronkite News Service
PHOENIX (Thursday, Nov. 29) _ The median household income among immigrants living in Arizona is less than any other state with a large population of foreign-born residents, according to a study released Thursday by a group that favors limiting immigration.
“The low incomes are a result of the low levels of education in immigrant families, especially illegal immigrants,” said Steven Camarota, who directed the survey for the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies.
“When people aren’t educated enough, they aren’t getting the high-paying jobs and so their income remains low, making them in turn dependent on the government for health care and education,” Camarota said.
According to the study, which used U.S. Census Bureau data, the median household income for Arizona immigrants, legal and illegal, is about $31,000. That compares to a median income of nearly $51,000 for households of those born in the U.S.
The median immigrant household in Texas earned about $33,000, the study said, while one in California earned about $47,000.
The Arizona numbers didn’t surprise Ira Mehlman, spokesman for You Don’t Speak For Me, a national Hispanic coalition that contends illegal immigration harms Hispanics who are here legally.
Arizona attracts illegal immigrants, who know they’ll get low-skilled, low-paying jobs here, Mehlman said.
Mehlman contended that the taxes paid on $31,000 for a large family do not cover the cost of education or health care. He added that because most low-income jobs do not cover health insurance, illegal immigrants rely on public health care.
“They’re a burden on the system,” Mehlman said.
An immigration expert agreed that the study’s figure for Arizona reflects the low education levels but said that Camarota’s group made no attempt to measure an immigrant’s economic contribution.
“The reason immigrants in Arizona make less money is because economic activity in the state needs low-skill workers,” said Judith Gans, program manager for immigration policy at University of Arizona’s Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy.
“This study ignored the fact that Arizona’s main industries _ tourism, agriculture, construction, service _ need low-skilled workers,” Gans said. “If not, the industry shrinks and prices go up.”
A demographer said he had no reason to doubt the study’s numbers but said it doesn’t give the complete picture. For example, he said, more than half of Latino immigrants who have been in the U.S. for 20 years are homeowners.
“All they’ve focused on is poverty, health care and low education,” said Dowell Myers, a demographer at the University of Southern California.
Marina, an illegal immigrant who lives in Mesa, said she has worked as a house cleaner for most of the 15 years she’s lived in the U.S. Speaking on the condition that only her first name be used, she said she and her husband are lucky to earn about $45,000 a year to support their four children.
But Marina said it’s difficult for an illegal immigrant to get any job, let alone a well-paying one.
“People who don’t have no education don’t have much opportunity, don’t have a future,” Marina said.
Rodolfo Carranza said he entered the U.S. illegally as a child but now is a legal resident. Carranza, who owns Los Pinos Pallets in Phoenix, said most jobs for illegals are low paid and stay that way.
“People without papers won’t leave their jobs to find others because it is very difficult for them to find another one without getting into trouble,” Carranza said.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Cronkite News Service reporter Stephanie Sanchez contributed to this story.
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Web Link:
_Center for Immigration Studies: www.cis.org