Immigration Executive Action Impact on the States: North Dakota

The series of executive actions on immigration, which President Obama announced on November 20, 2014, promises to benefit the U.S. economy. Most, though not all, of these economic gains would flow from the two deferred action initiatives: Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA), which will grant temporary relief from deportation and work authorization to some unauthorized parents of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents; and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which offers the same relief to qualified young adults who were brought to the United States as children. This fact sheet provides a snapshot of what executive action will mean for North Dakota, including the potential number of applicants for the deferred action initiatives, and the economic benefits DAPA and DACA will bring to the state. The fact sheet also provides background on the immigrant, Latino, and Asian population in North Dakota and their current contributions to the state’s economy.

Estimates of the population eligible to participate in executive action programs represent only a small portion of the total number of immigrants in North Dakota.

An estimate of the population eligible to participate in DAPA in North Dakota is 1,400, people according to the Center for Migration Studies (CMS).
An estimate of the population eligible to participate in DACA in North Dakota is 400, people according to CMS.
Estimates of North Dakota’s total unauthorized population range from 3,000 in 2013, according to CMS, to less than 5,000 in 2012, according to the Pew Research Center.
In 2013, there were a total of 21,107 foreign-born persons in North Dakota, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Executive action will help grow North Dakota’s economy by several hundred million dollars.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) found that the executive action on immigration will grow the U.S. economy by $90 billion to $210 billion over the next 10 years. Given North Dakota’s current share of the U.S. economy, CEA’s estimate implies that the actions will increase North Dakota’s GDP by $300 million to $700 million over the next 10 years.

Executive action on immigration exists within a broader context in which immigrants, Latinos, and Asians contribute to North Dakota.

North Dakota has a growing immigrant population, many of whom are Latino or Asian. The foreign-born share of North Dakota’s population rose from 1.5% in 1990, to 1.9% in 2000, to 2.9% in 2013, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2013, 10.8% of North Dakota’s foreign-born population was of Latino origin and 35.3% of the state’s foreign-born were Asian.
The vast majority of children with immigrant parents are U.S. citizens. In 2009, 80.9% of North Dakota children with immigrant parents were U.S. citizens, according to data from the Urban Institute.
The purchasing power of Latinos and Asians in North Dakota has grown substantially over the past 25 years. The 2012 purchasing power of Latinos in North Dakota totaled $357.6 million—an increase of 1,018.8% since 1990. Asian buying power totaled $336.8 million—an increase of 742.5% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia.
Latino- and Asian-owned businesses are contributing to the state’s economy, including by creating jobs. North Dakota’s 287 Latino-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $20.5 million and employed 651 people in 2007, the last year for which data is available. The state’s 412 Asian-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $151.3 million and employed 1,469 people in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.
Unauthorized immigrants are paying millions of dollars in state and local taxes. Unauthorized immigrants in North Dakota paid $4.8 million in state and local taxes in 2010, including $4.2 million in sales taxes, $326,000 in state income taxes, and $298,000 in property taxes, according to data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Were unauthorized immigrants in North Dakota to have legal status, they would pay $5.6 million in state and local taxes, including $4.5 million in sales taxes, $753,000 in state income taxes, and $313,000 in property taxes.
Deporting all unauthorized immigrants would adversely affect North Dakota’s economy. If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from North Dakota, the state would lose $55.1 million in economic activity, $24.5 million in gross state product, and approximately 360 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group.