WASHINGTON, DC – The Immigration Policy Center has compiled research which shows that immigrants, Latinos, and Asians are an essential part of New Jersey’s economy and tax base. As workers, consumers, taxpayers, and entrepreneurs, immigrants and their children are an economic powerhouse. As the state works towards economic recovery, immigrants and their children will continue to play a key role in shaping the economic and political landscape of the Garden State.
Highlights from New Jersey include:
– Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians account for large and growing shares of the economy and electorate in New Jersey. Immigrants make up roughly 20% of the state’s population, and more than half of them are naturalized U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote. “New Americans”
—Immigrants and the children of immigrants—account for 15.1% of all registered voters in the state. Moreover, Latinos and Asians wield roughly $67.3 billion in consumer purchasing power, and the businesses they own had sales and receipts of $25.7 billion and employed 125,593 people at last count. Immigrant workers contributed at least $47 billion to the state economy in 2006, representing almost one-quarter (or 23%) of all earnings statewide. At a time of economic recession, New Jersey can ill-afford to alienate such a critical component of its labor force, tax base, and business community.
– Immigrants and their children are growing shares of New Jersey’s population and electorate.