Immigrants' poverty rate high

Immigrants, especially those from Central America, are more likely to live in poverty here in Utah and elsewhere than native-born Americans, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau report and a local study.

The nation's estimated 33.5 million immigrants comprised about 12 percent of the nation's population in 2003, according the Census report released Thursday. More than half of the nation's immigrants are from Latin America, according to the report.

About 17 percent of the nation's foreign-born population lived in poverty in 2002, compared to 12 percent of the native-born population, according to the survey about 70,000 households nationwide.

Among immigrants poverty was highest — 24 percent — among Central Americans and lowest — 9 percent — among Europeans. Naturalized citizens had a poverty rate of 10 percent.

The census report's national findings are in line with a recent report on immigrants in Utah based on Census 2000 data, by Pam Perlich, senior research economist at the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

In Utah, poverty is highest among immigrants from Mexico, Perlich said. New refugees also have a high poverty rate, she said. However, there is also a strong population of highly skilled, highly educated workers from India and other Asian countries.

"Our most recent immigrants are coming to take low wage jobs," Perlich said. "The most common occupations are maids, housekeepers, laborers . . . those are low paying jobs."

In 1999, Perlich said, the median wage and salary income was only $10,344 for new immigrants who entered the country in the previous year. Median income was $21,057 for Utah's native-born population and $17,184 for the overall immigrant population, she said.

Immigrants' wages tend to increase as they establish themselves in the community and move up the occupational ladder, and possibly become naturalized citizens, she said.

Perlich noted that the concentration of immigrants in the medical science field is 10 times that of the native population.

Armando Solorzano, U. associate professor of family and consumer studies, said there's great economic diversity within the state's Latin American population.

"The majority of the people coming from Latin America are coming from the middle class, or political refugees," he said. "That is not the case with Mexicans."

He said Latinos tend to have a harder time integrating into American society than European immigrants because they tend to cling more to their own culture, and language.

Graciela Italiano-Thomas, chief executive officer of the social services organization Centro de la Familia de Utah, said English is "huge barrier" for immigrants from across the spectrum

"It takes even a literate adult to learn a language three to five years, to really function well. . . . When you're also struggling to survive and raise a family, it becomes a huge obstacle," she said.

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