Vermont Immigration Ratings

Hispanic Population

6,000

% of State Population

Undocumented Residents

<10,000

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Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians account for growing shares of the economy and electorate in Vermont. Immigrants make up 2.5% of the state’s population, and well over half of them are naturalized U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote.

“New Americans”—immigrants and the children of immigrants—account for 4.3% of registered voters in the state. Immigrants are not only important to the state’s economy as workers, but also account for millions of dollars in tax revenue and consumer purchasing power. Moreover, Latinos and Asians wield $430.3 million in consumer purchasing power, and the businesses they own had sales and receipts of more than $100 million at last count.

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

Senator Leahy (D)

Senator Sanders (I)

	HS News Grading
Votes	Leahy	Sanders
Overall State Grade:

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 Vermont’s population and electorate.

The foreign-born share of Vermont’s population rose from 3.1% in 1990 to 3.5% in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Vermont was home to 21,410 immigrants in 2007.
56.0% of immigrants (or 11,999 people) in Vermont were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2007—meaning that they are eligible to vote.
4.3% (or 14,818) of registered voters in Vermont 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.

Roughly 2.5% Vermonters are Latino or Asian.

The Latino share of Vermont’s population grew from 0.7% in 1990, to 0.9% in 2000, to 1.3% (or 8,076 people) in 2007. The Asian share of the population grew from 0.6% in 1990, to 0.9% in 2000, to 1.1% (or 6,834 people) in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
In Vermont, more than nine-in-ten (or 94% of) children in immigrant families were U.S. citizens in 2009, according to the Center for Social and Demographic Analysis at the University of Albany.

Latino and Asian entrepreneurs and consumers add millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs to Vermont’s economy.

The 2009 purchasing power of Latinos totaled $251.6 million—an increase of 441.7% since 1990. Asian buying power totaled $178.7 million—an increase of 402.8% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia.
Vermont’s 434 Asian-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $67 million in 2002, the last year for which data is available. The state’s 452 Latino-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $38 million and employed 229 people in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.

Immigrants are important to Vermont’s economy as workers and taxpayers.

Immigrants comprised 3.4% of the state’s workforce in 2007 (or 12,000 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Unauthorized immigrants comprised less than 0.5% of the state’s workforce (or fewer than 10,000 workers) in 2008, according to a report by the Pew Hispanic Center.
More than half of the milk produced in the state comes from the roughly 2,000 Hispanic migrant farm workers living and working in Vermont, according to a survey by the Vermont Farm Bureau.
If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Vermont, the state would lose $794.8 million in economic activity, $294.6 million in gross state product, and approximately 5,143 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group.

Immigrants are important to Vermont’s economy as students.

Vermont’s 1,022 foreign students contributed $28.9 million to the state’s economy in tuition, fees, and living expenses for the 2008-2009 academic year, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators.

Naturalized citizens excel educationally.

In Vermont, 34.4% of foreign-born persons who were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2007 had a bachelor’s or higher degree.
36.4% of Vermont’s foreign-born population age 25 and older had a bachelor’s or higher degree in 2007, compared to 31.9% of native-born persons age 25 and older.
In Vermont, 82.7% 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.