Maine Immigration Ratings

Hispanic Population

14,000

% of State Population

Undocumented Residents

<10,000

View Ratings Information

Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians account for significant and growing shares of the economy and population in Maine. Immigrants make up 3.4% of the state’s population, and more than half of them are naturalized U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote.

Moreover, Latinos and Asians wield more than $650 million in consumer purchasing power, and the businesses they own had sales and receipts of $318 million and employed more than 3,000 people at last count. At a time of economic recession, Maine can ill-afford to alienate an important component of its labor force, tax base, and business community—especially since the state’s population is aging rapidly and a growing number of retirees are depending on a declining number of workers.

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

Senator Collins (R)

Senator Snowe (R)

	HS News Grading
Votes	Collins	Snowe
Border Security- Vote to Deny funding to complete 700 miles of border fence.(S.Amdt 1399 to S.Amdt 1373 to HR 2892)	A	F
Deportation- Vote for Funding of Sanctuary Policies for Unauthorized Immigrants.(SAmdt.2630 to HR 2847)	F	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)	F	F
Co-Sponsored DREAM ACT- Development Relief, and education for Alien Minors Act of 2009.( S. 729)	F	F
Overall State Grade:	F

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 Maine’s population and electorate.

The foreign-born share of Maine’s population rose from 2.9% in 2000 to 3.4% in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Maine was home to 44,464 immigrants in 2007.
52.4% of immigrants (or 23,288 people) in Maine were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2007—meaning that they are eligible to vote.
1.8% (or 14,596) of registered voters in Maine 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.

Maine’s Latino and Asian populations are growing.

The Latino share of Maine’s population grew from 0.7% in 20006 to 1.1% (or 14,489 people) in 2007. The Asian share of the population grew from 0.7% in 20008 to 1.0% (or 13,172 people) in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Immigrant, Latino, and Asian entrepreneurs and consumers add millions of dollars and thousands of jobs to Maine’s economy.

The 2008 purchasing power of Maine’s Latinos totaled $363 million—an increase of 367.4% since 1990. Asian buying power totaled $303 million—an increase of 271.1% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Maine.
Maine’s 833 Asian-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $205 million and employed 2,364 people in 2002, the last year for which data is available. The state’s 731 Latino-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $113 million and employed 637 people in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.

Immigrants are increasingly important to Maine’s economy as workers.

Immigrants comprised 3.4% of the state’s workforce in 2007 (or 23,843 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Unauthorized immigrants comprised less than 0.5% of the state’s workforce (or fewer than 3,550 workers) in 2008, according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.
If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Maine, the state would lose $137 million in expenditures, $60.9 million in economic output, and approximately 1,080 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group.
The importance of immigrant workers is growing as Maine’s population becomes older. Over the next two decades, the ratio of seniors (age 65 and older) to prime-working-age adults (age 25 to 64) in Maine will increase by 93%, according to a study by the University of Southern California.

Immigrants have helped revitalize Lewiston.

Roughly 3,500 Somali migrants came to Lewiston between 2001 and 2007, and now comprise 10% of the town’s population—the highest concentration of Somalis in America, according to a report by the United Nations Development Program.
Although enrollment at the University of Maine has declined statewide since 2002, the student population at its Lewiston campus increased 16% between 2002 and 2007. Moreover, Andover College opened a Lewiston campus in 2004 and had to begin expanding almost immediately to handle the flood of applications.

Naturalized Citizens Excel Educationally.

21.7% of foreign-born persons in Maine who were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2007 had a bachelor’s or higher degree. At the same time, only 19.8% of naturalized citizens lacked a high-school diploma, compared to 22.3% of noncitizens.
The number of immigrants in Maine with a college degree increased by 27.2% between 2000 and 2007, according to data from the Migration Policy Institute.
28.8% of Maine’s foreign-born population age 25 and older had at least a bachelor’s degree in 2007, compared to 26.7% of native-born persons age 25 and older.
In Maine, 76.6% 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.