Hispanic influx still continuing but a bit slower
Posted on Thursday, May 1, 2008
More than 150, 000 Hispanics live in Arkansas, nearly double the population that the state had seven years ago, new U. S. Census Bureau estimates show.
The figures, released Thursday, show that Hispanic men continue to outnumber women, a likely reflection of the influx of workers drawn to the state’s poultry plants and construction sites.
The yearly growth rate dipped to 6. 3 percent in 2007, the lowest since 2000. However, it still helped put the population at its highest recorded level ever in the state.
The drop could represent a number of things, said David Rasmussen, a research assistant at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Institute for Economic Advancement.
The lower rate could mean jobs filled by Hispanic immigrants may be dwindling, he said. Or the estimates, based on data from the Internal Revenue Service and U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, could be artificially low if illegal immigrants entering the state remained undetected.
“The areas of the state that typically have the highest Hispanic migrations are the ones like Northwest Arkansas or actually the entire west side of Arkansas, and they’re going there for jobs,” Rasmussen said. “If we’re in a recession, bad housing market, all that stuff, that could explain why there’s a slowdown.” Last year, home building permits across the state fell 25 percent, the sharpest decline in seven years. In Northwest Arkansas, the home of many of the state’s Hispanics, permits dropped nearly 50 percent.
Meanwhile, the poultry industry remains pressured by smaller bottom lines and higher costs for feed.
Despite the economic pressures, the Hispanic population continued its explosive growth seen since 1990, when estimates showed only 19, 876 lived in a state of 2. 3 million people. Since then, that population has grown by about 750 percent. As of July 1, 2007, the estimates show Hispanics represented 5. 3 percent of Arkansas’ total population of 2. 8 million people.
The estimates found the majority of Hispanics in the state — 82, 104 — were men. That would be unusual for an established, older population, but demographers say it makes sense in Arkansas. The state’s Hispanic population largely comes from recent immigrants who typically plan to live in the U. S. for a few years before returning home.
However, in recent years, the numbers of women coming to the state has started to increase. Rasmussen said that could be a sign the once-migratory population may be settling down in Arkansas.
“They are staying,” he said. “If you expect just migrant workers, which are mostly men, to come and go, the big indicator that some of them are staying would be if they brought their wives and families.” Non-Hispanic whites remain the dominant racial group in Arkansas representing 2. 15 million people — about 75 percent of the population. Blacks remain the state’s largest minority group with 442, 789 people, representing 15. 6 percent of the state’s population.
Overall, Arkansas holds the ninth fastest yearly rate of growth in the nation for its Hispanic population. Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer at the Washington-based Pew Hispanic Center, said almost every state saw small dips in Hispanic growth patterns, as tougher economic times made migration less likely.
However, neighboring Louisiana saw its Hispanic population grow by 6. 5 percent in the same period, fueled by construction demands in the wake of hurricanes that swept across the Gulf states in 2005. Census estimates put that state’s Hispanic population at 136, 562, up from 128, 202 the year before.
“The stepped-up enforcement coincides with a slowdown in the economy and a slowdown particularly in some of the sectors that employed a lot of illegals, for instance housing construction,” Passel said. “Historically, there’s a strong, strong relationship between the economy and ups and downs in illegal immigration, but it is very possible that enforcement could be having an impact as well.”
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
