Utah's immigrant population is up 21.6%

A new census survey reveals Utah isn't alone when it comes to an increasing immigrant population.

Utah is one of 46 states that saw an increasing immigrant population from 2000 to 2005, according to the 2005 American Community Survey, released this past week. The survey shows Utah's foreign-born population rose to an estimated 192,916 in 2005, an increase of 21.6 percent since 2000.

Nationally, the number of immigrants rose to an estimated 35,689,842 — or 14.7 percent more than the 2000 Census counted.

The survey didn't ask the legal status of the immigrants, but those on both sides of the volatile immigration debate say the numbers show a need for federal action.

The Pew Hispanic Center has estimated that Utah's undocumented population is somewhere between 75,000 and 100,000.

The federal immigration debate halted after the Senate passed a reform measure which would legalize many of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, and focus on border security. The House had earlier passed an enforcement-only measure aimed at curbing employment of illegal labor and securing the borders.

Rather than hashing out the differences, House members are holding field hearings across the country.

Those who support compre- hensive immigration reform say it's time for Congress to bring an essential workforce out of the shadows. Those who support enforcement-only measures say Congress needs to curb the tide of illegal immigration, which they say is straining social systems.

Benjamin Johnson, director of the Washington-based Immigration Policy Center, said the American Community Survey is just one more piece of evidence that Congress needs to put politics aside and work on a comprehensive solution.

"You know that too many of these folks are coming from outside of the system," Johnson said. "We have an immigration system that's incompatible with the immigration we have today."

Johnson pointed to other trends shown in the survey, namely an aging and more highly educated population. Undocumented immi- grants, he said, tend to be younger, with less formal education, and to move into jobs that native-born Americans are increasingly less willing to fill.

Archie Archuleta, chairman of the Utah Coalition of La Raza, believes the flow of immigration has slowed somewhat, but the nation's economic system is still attracting workers.