University of Virginia Publication Sheds Light on Profile of Foreign-Born Virginia Residents
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University of Virginia, July 1, 2008
Contact:
Rebecca P. Arrington
Assistant Director of Media Relations
(434) 924-7189
rpa@virginia.edu
As Americans celebrate the founding of our nation on Independence Day, 75 foreign-born Virginia residents, gathering with family, friends, dignitaries and visitors, will take a hard-earned oath of citizenship on the lawn at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. Those new citizens join other foreign-born Virginians who have taken their oaths in ceremonies throughout the year from Harrisonburg to Hampton.
Recognizing the importance of the foreign-born to Virginia, the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service released a study of all of Virginia’s foreign-born residents, noting that new arrivals account for one-quarter of the commonwealth’s population growth since 2000. In the second edition of “Stat Chat,” a digest of facts about demographic topics of current interest, Cooper Center demographers report that one in 10 Virginians is foreign-born, and the percentage of foreign-born in Virginia has increased dramatically since 1970. In 2006, the top five countries of birth for Virginia’s foreign-born were El Salvador, Mexico, Korea, Philippines and India.
Forty-three percent of the foreign-born in Virginia have become United States citizens through the naturalization process, which requires applicants to be 18 years of age; maintain lawful residence in the United States for five consecutive years; demonstrate good moral character, English language ability and knowledge of U.S. history and government; and take an oath of allegiance to the United States. Naturalized citizens exceed the foreign-born non-citizens and their native-born counterparts in household income and educational attainment.
Using 2006 data from the United States Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, the center’s demographers also found that:
# Almost three-quarters of the foreign-born in Virginia are between the ages of 25 and 64, suggesting migration to Virginia for employment opportunities.
# The educational attainment of the foreign-born is represented in two extremes. Overall, a larger percentage of foreign-born Virginians than their native-born counterparts has less than a high school diploma. At the same time, a larger percentage of the foreign-born has earned a bachelor’s or graduate/professional degree.
# Households headed by foreign-born persons have higher median incomes than those headed by their native-born counterparts.
# The foreign-born population in 2006 was primarily from Latin America and Asia. In contrast, in 1900, there were few, if any Virginians from Latin America and 1 percent were from Asia.
# The Washington/Arlington/Alexandria metropolitan region leads the commonwealth with one in every five residents being foreign-born (20 percent of the region’s population). Harrisonburg ranks second (9 percent), followed by Charlottesville, Richmond, Virginia Beach and Winchester, all with 6 percent of the population foreign-born.
“Understanding the diversity and strengths of Virginia’s foreign-born population is essential to tapping their abilities to contribute to Virginia’s future,” said Qian Cai, director of the Cooper Center’s Demographics and Workforce section. “The profiles, potential and needs of foreign-born Virginians are changing. Thorough understanding of these trends, combined with careful planning and sound public policy, will help Virginia meet their needs and benefit from their contributions.”
[Editor’s Note: A copy of “Stat Chat,” and any of the section’s publications, can be downloaded here.]
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(Posted on July 2, 2008)
Comments
The more a community has untalked about interracial dating, the more they seem eager to bring in large numbers of immigrants of all colors. Wonder why that could be?
Posted by at 6:15 PM on July 2
Thomas Jefferson would have had them “escorted” off the property in his time, if they were that lucky. I really think this would make him gag.
Posted by Anglokraut at 11:07 PM on July 2
I was a student at U.Va. when it admitted it’s first two black students. It started very slowly, and we stupidly had little notion of the madness that lay ahead.
This country needs such a housecleaning, throwing out things not really needed and putting what remains back in its place.
Posted by H. Dumpty at 1:48 AM on July 3
Virginians need to wake up and get organized. Vote Constitution Party this year for president. Join NumbersUSA, Fairus, and support Amren, Vdare, etc. Don’t repeat PC and don’t blather it when you don’t believe it.
Posted by Old Atlantic at 8:42 AM on July 3
I am surprised that with all these - now American- morons demanding sharia and allegiance to Allah only they are not prosecuted for lying under oath, treason or obtaining citizenship under false pretenses.
Posted by ciccio at 11:28 AM on July 3
“Don’t repeat PC and don’t blather it when you don’t believe it.”
That should be easy. No one really believes it. Noone over 30 years old anyway. Blacks don’t even believe it. It would be like turning water to wine, however, for them to tell the truth. I’m not sure their psyches could handle it. Too much of a shock to the system.
Posted by at 12:56 PM on July 3
I wonder how Virginia got to be so productive before it had all of these diverse people?
Posted by Frank at 2:46 PM on July 5
I think Robert E. Lee and Jeff Davis knew that a tyrannical federal government could only impose its will on a free citizenry by force. They both resisted this illegal and unconsitutional centralization of power. However, I bet they had no idea that whites would eventually be supplanted by persons of color imported from overseas by the same government they fought so long and hard against.
Posted by Sardonicus at 12:28 PM on July 7