In concrete terms, increasing the number of the poor through immigration makes it more difficult to the help the poor already here, while at the same time negatively affecting the tax base. What s more, children who grow up in poverty are more likely to be involved in illicit activity, have higher teenage pregnancy rates, exhibit lower academic achievement, and suffer from a host of other social problems. More subtly, social science research indicates that with more poverty comes less trust, greater suspicion of others, and more social distance. If current immigration policy remains in place, an estimated 10 million new immigrants are likely to settle permanently in the United States in the next decade alone, and the number of persons in immigrant households in poverty will grow 40 percent to reach 11 million by 2010. Impact on the Size and Growth of the Poor Population in the United States contains detailed information about immigrant poverty in the United States.
Information is provided by region, state, and metropolitan area.
The study also provides maps of immigrant poverty by state and by county.