Arkansas Immigration Ratings

Hispanic Population

146,000

% of State Population

Undocumented Residents

60,000

View Ratings Information

Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians account for large and growing shares of the economy and population in Arkansas. Immigrants make up 4.2% of the state’s population, and roughly one-third of them are naturalized U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote.

Immigrants, who account for more than 5% of Arkansas workers, added nearly $3 billion to the state’s economy in 2004. Moreover, Latinos and Asians wield roughly $3.7 billion in consumer purchasing power, and the businesses they own had sales and receipts of $988 million and employed more than 10,000 people at last count.

U.S. Senatorial Voting Record:
Immigration Legislation Immigration Reform

Senator Pryor (D)

Senator Lincoln (D)

	HS News Grading
Votes	Pryor	Lincoln
Border Security- Vote to Deny funding to complete 700 miles of border fence.(S.Amdt 1399 to S.Amdt 1373 to HR 2892)	F	F
Deportation- Vote for Funding of Sanctuary Policies for Unauthorized Immigrants.(SAmdt.2630 to HR 2847)	A	A
Workforce- Vote to NOT mandate that all companies with federal contracts verify all employees through E-verify(S.Amdt 1371 to S.Amdt 1373 to HR 2892)	F	F
Workforce-Vote Not to extend E-Verify for six years (S.Amdt 604 to HR 1105)	A	A
Co-Sponsored DREAM ACT- Development Relief, and education for Alien Minors Act of 2009( S. 729)	F	A
Overall State Grade:	N

The Immigration Policy Center (IPC) is the research and policy arm of the American Immigration Council. IPC's mission is to shape a rational conversation on immigration and immigrant integration. Through its research and analysis, IPC provides policymakers, the media, and the general public with accurate information about the role of immigrants and immigration policy on U.S. society. IPC reports and materials are widely disseminated and relied upon by press and policy makers. IPC staff regularly serves as experts to leaders on Capitol Hill, opinion-makers and the media. IPC, formed in 2003 is a non-partisan organization that neither supports nor opposes any political party or candidate for office.

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State Facts

Immigrants and their children are growing shares of Arkansas’s population and electorate.

The foreign-born share of Arkansas’s population rose from 1.1% in 1990, to 2.8% in 2000, to 4.2% in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Arkansas was home to 118,405 immigrants in 2007, which is more than the population of Springfield, Illinois.
Arkansas had the fastest-growing Latino population of any state in the nation between 2000 and 2005, and the fourth-fastest-growing immigrant population, according to a study by the Urban Institute.
28.1% of immigrants (or 33,316 people) in Arkansas were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2007—meaning that they are eligible to vote.
1.4% (or 18,425) of registered voters in Arkansas were “New Americans”—naturalized citizens or the U.S.-born children of immigrants who were raised during the current era of immigration from Latin America and Asia which began in 1965—according to an analysis of 2006 Census Bureau data by Rob Paral & Associates.

More Than 6% of Arkansans are Latino or Asian.

The Latino share of Arkansas’s population grew from 0.8% in 1990, to 3.2% in 2000, to 5.2% (or 147,409 people) in 2007. The Asian share of the population grew from 0.5% in 1990, to 0.8% in 2000, to 1.2% (or 34,018 people) in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Immigrant, Latino, and Asian entrepreneurs and consumers add billions of dollars and tens- of-thousands of jobs to Arkansas’s economy.

Spending by immigrants generated $2.9 billion in Arkansas business revenues in 2004, according to a study by the Urban Institute.
Immigrants (and their U.S.-born children) paid $19 million more in taxes than they consumed in education, health services, and corrections, according to the same study.
The 2008 purchasing power of Arkansas’s Latinos totaled $2.7 billion—an increase of 1,535.8% since 1990. Asian buying power totaled $972 million—an increase of 552.5% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Arkansas.
Arkansas’s 2,013 Asian-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $614 million and employed 7,099 people in 2002, the last year for which data is available.The state’s 2,094 Latino-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $374 million and employed 3,198 people in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.

Immigrants are integral to Arkansas’s economy as workers.

Immigrants comprised 5.3% of the state’s workforce in 2007 (or 71,335 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Without immigrant workers, the state’s manufacturing industry output would be lowered by about $1.4 billion—or about 8 percent of the industry’s $16.2 billion total contribution to the gross state product in 2004, according to a study by the Urban Institute.
Unauthorized immigrants comprised 2.8% of the state’s workforce (or 40,000 workers) in 2008, according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.
If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Arkansas, the state would lose $798 million in expenditures, $354 million in economic output, and approximately 6,660 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group.

Naturalized Citizens Excel Educationally.

In Arkansas, 20.9% of foreign-born persons who were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2007 had a bachelor’s or higher degree, compared to 18.1% of noncitizens. At the same time, only 33.1% of naturalized citizens lacked a high-school diploma, compared to 49.4% of noncitizens.
The number of immigrants in Arkansas with a college degree increased by 68.1% between 2000 and 2007, according to data from the Migration Policy Institute.
In Arkansas, 68.0% of all children between the ages of 5 and 17 in families that spoke a language other than English at home also spoke English “very well” as of 2007.