The series of executive actions [1]on immigration, which President Obama announced on November 20, 2014, promises to benefit [2] 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 Maine, 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 Maine 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 Maine.
- An estimate of the population eligible to participate in DAPA in Maine is 600, according to the Center for Migration Studies [3] (CMS).
- An estimate of the population eligible to participate in DACA in Maine is 500, according to CMS [3].
- Estimates of Maine’s total unauthorized population range from 3,000 in 2013, according to CMS [4], to less than 5,000 in 2012, according to the Pew Research Center [5], and 5,000, according to the Migration Policy Institute (MPI [6]).
- In 2013, there were a total of 44,687 foreign-born persons [7] in Maine, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Executive action will help grow Maine’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 [8] over the next 10 years. Given Maine’s current share of the U.S. economy, CEA’s estimate implies that the actions will increase Maine’s GDP by $290 million to $680 million [9] over the next 10 years.
Executive action on immigration exists within a broader context in which immigrants, Latinos, and Asians contribute to Maine.
- Maine has a growing immigrant population, many of whom are Latino or Asian. The foreign-born share of Maine’s population changed from 3.0% in 1990 [10], to 2.9% in 2000 [10], to 3.4% in 2013 [11], according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2013, 8.3% of Maine’s foreign-born population was of Latino origin [12] and 22.2% of the state’s foreign-born were Asian.
- The vast majority of children with immigrant parents are U.S. citizens. In 2009 [13], 79.5% of Maine children with immigrant parents were U.S. citizens, according to data from the Urban Institute. In 2009 [13], 97.2% of children in Latino families in Maine were U.S. citizens.
- The purchasing power of Latinos and Asians in Maine has grown substantially over the past 25 years. The 2014 purchasing power of Latinos in Maine totaled $424 million—an increase of 650% since 1990. Asian buying power totaled $504 million—an increase of 522% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth [14] at the University of Georgia.
- Latino- and Asian-owned businesses are contributing to the state’s economy, including by creating jobs. Maine’s 979 Latino-owned [15]businesses had sales and receipts of $163.2 million in 2007, the last year for which data is available. The state’s 1,107 Asian-owned [15]businesses had sales and receipts of $279.3 million and employed 2,550 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 Maine paid $3.7 million in state and local taxes in 2010 [16], including $2.8 million in sales taxes, $464,000 in state income taxes, and $432,000 in property taxes, according to data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Were unauthorized immigrants in Maine to have legal status, they would pay $4.5 million [16] in state and local taxes, including $2.9 million in sales taxes, $1.1 million in state income taxes, and $451,000 in property taxes.
- Deporting all unauthorized immigrants would adversely affect Maine’s economy. If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Maine, the state would lose $137 million in economic activity, $60.9 million in gross state product, and approximately 1,080 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group [17].
Published On: Tue, Mar 10, 2015 | Download File [18]