Immigration Executive Action Impact on the States: West Virginia

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 West Virginia, 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 West Virginia 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 West Virginia.

An estimate of the population eligible to participate in DAPA in West Virginia is 100, people according to the Center for Migration Studies (CMS).
An estimate of the population eligible to participate in DACA in West Virginia is 1,200, people according to CMS.
Estimates of West Virginia’s total unauthorized population range from 4,000 in 2013, according to CMS, to less than 5,000 in 2012, according to the Pew Research Center, and 5,000, according to the Migration Policy Institute (MPI).
In 2013, there were a total of 26,321 foreign-born persons in West Virginia, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Executive action will help grow West Virginia’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 West Virginia’s current share of the U.S. economy, CEA’s estimate implies that the actions will increase West Virginia’s GDP by $390 million to $920 million over the next 10 years.

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

West Virginia has a growing immigrant population, many of whom are Latino or Asian. The foreign-born share of West Virginia’s population rose from 0.9% in 1990, to 1.1% in 2000, to 1.4% in 2013, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2013, 27.4% of West Virginia’s foreign-born population was of Latino origin and 30% of the state’s foreign-born were Asian.
The vast majority of children with immigrant parents are U.S. citizens. In 2009, 83% of West Virginia children with immigrant parents were U.S. citizens, according to data from the Urban Institute. In 2009, 89% of children in Latino families in West Virginia were U.S. citizens.
The purchasing power of Latinos and Asians in West Virginia has grown substantially over the past 25 years. The 2012 purchasing power of Latinos in West Virginia totaled $653.9 million—an increase of 603% since 1990. Asian buying power totaled $728.5 million—an increase of 264% 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. West Virginia’s 899 Latino-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $176.6 million and employed 1,430 people in 2007, the last year for which data is available. The state’s 1,526 Asian-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $546.2 million and employed 4,251 people in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners. In 2010, 2.7 percent of all business owners in West Virginia were foreign-born.
Unauthorized immigrants are paying millions of dollars in state and local taxes. Unauthorized immigrants in West Virginia paid $3.8 million in state and local taxes in 2010, including $3 million in sales taxes and $715,000 in state income taxes, according to data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Were unauthorized immigrants in West Virginia to have legal status, they would pay $5 million in state and local taxes, including $3.2 million in sales taxes and $1.7 million in state income taxes.
Deporting all unauthorized immigrants would adversely affect West Virginia’s economy. If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from West Virginia, the state would lose $26.6 million in economic activity, $11.8 million in gross state product, and approximately 180 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group.