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FPI's Immigration Research Initiative was started in 2007 to examine the role of immigrants in the New York State economy. The initiative has released two major reports - Immigrants and the Economy (December 2009) and Working for a Better Life (November 2007) - as well as a number of smaller publications.

The Immigration Research Initiative is guided by an expert advisory panel of respected professionals in a range of relevant fields.

The initiative is directed by David Dyssegaard Kallick, FPI Senior Fellow, who can be reached at 212-721-7164 or ddkallick@fiscalpolicy.org.

Reports

November 30, 2009.  Immigrants and the Economy: Contribution of Immigrant Workers to the Country's 25 Largest Metropolitan Areas, with a focus on the five largest metro areas in the East.

In the 25 metro areas combined, immigrants account for 20 percent of economic output and 20 percent of the population. The same basic relationship holds true, with slight variation, for each of the 25 areas, from metro Pittsburgh, where immigrants represent 3 percent of population and 4 percent of GDP, to metro Miami, where immigrants make up 37 percent of the population and 38 percent of GDP. Immigrants and the Economy also looks at the wide range of occupations held by immigrants and other reasons immigrant economic contribution is so consistently strong, with a special focus on the five largest metro areas in the East. More >>

November 26, 2007.  Working for a Better Life: A Profile of Immigrants in the New York State Economy.

What role do immigrants play in the New York State economy? In 2006, they added $229 billion in economic activity - representing fully 22.4 percent of the state's gross domestic product. This major new report also examines what countries  immigrants come from, where they work and how well they are doing. The report includes detailed analysis of the role of immigrant workers and families in three distinct regional economies: New York City, the downstate suburbs, and upstate New York.

Briefs

January 21, 2010.  Immigrants in New York City: Economic Profile by Country of Origin.

Data citywide as well as specific to countries of origin (in order of population impact): Dominican Republic, Mexico, India, China, Jamaica, Ecuador, Colombia, Guyana and British Guiana, Philippines, Haiti, El Salvador, Korea, Trinidad and Tobago, Poland, Peru, Italy, Russia and other USSR, Ukraine, Pakistan, Cuba, Bangladesh, and Hong Kong.

December 13, 2009.  New York's Regional Economies: The Hudson Valley.

Press release, report.

December 8, 2009.  New York's Regional Economies: Long Island.

Press release, report.

News coverage

• March 12, 2010.  Studies Show Immigration Reform Could Give a Boost to the Economy. By Julissa Treviño, Washington Independent.

• March 11, 2010.  Immigrants' contributions add up. By Camille Bautista, Queens Courier.

• February 12, 2010.  An immigrant stimulus to the economy. By Justin Akers Chacon, a professor of U.S. history and Chicano studies in San Diego, for the Progressive Media Project.

• February 1, 2010.  Will illegal immigration rebound with the economy? By Hoa Quach and Kristina Blake, San Diego News Network.

  "You can see in San Diego, which is a similar story to other places, that although there is a concentration of immigrants in lower wage occupations … there is also a very strong representation of immigrants in the higher end occupations," said David Dyssegaard Kallick, Fiscal Policy Institute's director of the immigration research initiative. "It shows that immigrants are really pulling their own weight."

• January 26, 2010.  FPI releases detailed data on immigrants' contribution to New York metro economy. The Pakistani Newspaper.

• January 23, 2010.  Impacto Inmigrante. By Catalina Jaramillo, El Diario / La Prensa.

• January 22, 2010.  Reporte: Inmigrantes ayudan al crecimiento económico de EE.UU. Reported by Jonathan Inoa of NY1 Noticia.

• January 17, 2010.  Mayor to push immigration reform. By Peter N. Spencer, Staten Island Advance.

• January 13, 2010.  Immigrants playing a larger role in city's economy  - New arrivals from abroad increased their contribution to the gross city product by 61% from 2000 and 2008, according to the state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. By By Daniel Massey, Crain's New York Business.

• December 22, 2009.  Repopulate Detroit with Urban Homesteading: Aggressively recruiting immigrants to Detroit's neighborhoods would pay economic dividends. An editorial from the Detroit News.

• December 18, 2009.  Facts, not noise, can help create immigration policy. An editorial from the Middletown Times Herald Record.

• December 15, 2009.  Study charts immigrants' role in Hudson Valley economy. By Leah Rae, Journal News.

• December 14, 2009.  Report notes LI immigrants' economic contributions. By Sumathi Reddy, Newsday.

• December 14, 2009.  Immigration Good for America And Certainly Essential for New York. By Tony Best, the New York Carib News.

• December 14, 2009.  The High Value of Immigrants to the country’s Economic and Social Well-being. An editorial from the New York Carib News.

• December 9, 2009.  Remarks by Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) during his floor speech on immigrants' contribution to the American economy.