As US nears milestone, a rising mix of immigrants

On a busy day running Alpha Taxi in Lawrenceville, Ga., he flips through a wad of $10s and $20s as he chats in both English and Spanish on two cellphones while dispatching cabs from a croaking CB radio. An immigrant from Honduras, Mr. Paz points to the blur of cars passing his home base - a bench at a strip mall that caters to Hispanics. "Two, three years ago, it was nothing like this, nothing."

TO ELLIS ISLAND: Visitors approach the former port of entry. MELANIE STETSON FREEMAN - STAFF/FILE

Part 1 - 09/12/06 Is a bigger nation richer? Part 2 - 09/19/06 A rising mix of immigrants Part 3 - 09/26/06 The environmental load of 300 million: How heavy? Part 4 - 10/03/06 How America grows: A tale of two cities Part 5 - 10/10/06 The next 100 million and the face of America

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Lawrenceville has grown 27 percent in five years, and a big reason is immigration. In all of Gwinnett County, the number of foreign-born residents has nearly doubled in that time. "It's 80 percent Hispanic," Paz says. "There's a brown face everywhere you look."

While growth is slowing almost everywhere in the developed world, three factors are powering the US population toward the 300 million mark. Couples are having enough babies to replace themselves. People are living longer. And the biggest reason: Immigration to the US has sharply increased in recent decades.

Immigration is not only boosting America's numbers, it's changing the face of the country. That 300 millionth new person, expected in a few weeks, is just as likely to fly in from China (or wade across the Rio Grande from Mexico) as he or she is to be born here. To put it another way: Every 31 seconds another person from abroad is added to the US population roll.

The rise in newcomers - nearly quadruple the number in 1970 - has fueled a widespread backlash against illegal immigrants. That's half the story. The less familiar but also important trend is the influx of highly skilled workers and highly motivated entrepreneurs who have helped the US economy grow.

Some immigrants have high-end jobs

While 23 percent of the nation's cooks and 20 percent of its janitors were immigrants in 2000, 27 percent of new computer-software engineers were also immigrants, according to a recent Migration Policy Institute study.

Indeed, the more technically educated the group, the more likely immigrants are to be overrepresented in it. While the foreign born make up 15 percent of the overall workforce, according to the 2000 census, they constitute approximately 17 percent of those with a bachelor's degree in science and engineering occupations, 29 percent of those with a master's degree, and 39 percent of those with a doctoral degree.

Already, 1 in 5 US doctors is foreign born, as are 2 in 5 medical scientists, 1 in 5 computer specialists, 1 in 6 people in engineering or science occupations, 1 in 4 astronomers, physicists, chemical, and material scientists, and 1 in 6 biological scientists, according to another Migration Policy Institute study.

"Plainly, high-skilled immigrants are a critical resource for the knowledge-driven economy and play an important role in the country's global dominance in science and engineering and its leadership in technology," write the study's authors, Columbia University economist Neeraj Kaushal and Migration Policy Institute vice president Michael Fix.

In some ways, the nation's big population milestones - America at 100 million, 200 million, and 300 million - bookend the ebb and flow of immigrants.

In 1910, at the height of the last immigration boom and just five years shy of reaching the 100 million mark, nearly 15 percent of Americans were foreign born. For the next 60 years, that percentage dropped steadily, down to less than 5 percent.

But in 1970, not long after the US population reached 200 million, the figure began to climb again. Today, it's back up to over 12 percent.

The result: a smaller share of immigrants than in 1910, but a far greater number. Estimates put the total near 35 million (legal and illegal). That's 2-1/2 times as many immigrants as there were in 1910.

Hispanics take the lead

This graphic represents the share of immigrants holding jobs in the 15 fastest-growing fields. Enlarge the image for a closer look. SOURCE: 'IMMIGRANTS AND LABOR FORCE TRENDS: THE FUTURE, PAST, AND PRESENT,' BY B. LINDSAY LOWELL AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY; JULIA GELATT, RESEARCHER, MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE; AND JEANNE BATALOVA, ANALYST, MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE, JULY 2006 (CITING 2000 US CENSUS 5 PERCENT PUBLIC USE MICRODATA SAMPLE).; RICH CLABAUGH - STAFF Click here to enlarge the image

There's another difference: Whereas the early 1900s saw thousands of Europeans arriving through Ellis Island, then filling up New York's tenement buildings or pushing on to become factory workers, farmers, and shopkeepers in the Midwest, most immigrants today come from Latin America or Asia. As of 2000, 52 percent were from Latin America, 26 percent from Asia, and only 19 percent from Europe.

Immigrants are also spreading out, changing the complexion of corners of the country unaccustomed to waves of foreign-speaking newcomers.

The South, in particular, has seen rapid change: Eastern European dealers at casinos in Mobile, Ala.; Korean shopkeepers in Atlanta; Mexican Christmas tree harvesters on North Carolina's Appalachian slopes.

Some of the states with the fastest- growing immigrant populations lie in the South. Some parts of the region have seen up to 300 percent growth in immigrant populations since 1990.

Such growth is evident in Lawrenceville, the seat of Gwinnett County. Planners see a vibrant future. The county school system has set up a special language center to test new students. There are enough new immigrant children here each year to fill a new school, as they make up about 1,500 of the 7,000 additional students flowing into the school district each year.

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