Number 23, October 2013
briefing paper
iStock
A Tale of Two Cities (and a Town):
Immigrants in the Rust Belt
by Andrew Wainer
Key Points
• Immigration is slowing—and in some cases reversing—decades of population
decline in American Rust Belt communities, from Baltimore to Detroit to
rural Iowa.
• Immigrants are more likely than U.S.-born residents to be entrepreneurs.
While they are 13 percent of the national population and 16 percent of the
labor force, they are 18 percent of small business owners. Immigrants in
Rust Belt cities are more likely to be entrepreneurs than those in other parts
of the United States.
• Immigrants contribute disproportionately to the U.S. economic output—
particularly to the Rust Belt’s economic production.
• To maximize their economic contributions to Rust Belt cities, immigrants
who are unauthorized need legalization and a path to citizenship.
Andrew Wainer is the senior immigration policy analyst for Bread for the World Institute.
Bread for the World Institute provides policy
analysis on hunger and strategies to end it.
The Institute educates opinion leaders, policy
makers and the public about hunger in the
United States and abroad.
www.bread.org
Abstract
In the midst of the debate over the
largest potential immigration reform
legislation in 50 years, some American
communities struggling with decades of
population loss and economic decline
are being revitalized by newcomers.
The role of immigrants in high-skilled
fields is relatively well-known, but less
acknowledged are the contributions
that “blue collar” immigrants make to
revitalizing depressed communities and
economies, both as manual laborers and
small business entrepreneurs.
In Rust Belt communities such as Baltimore, Detroit, and southeastern Iowa,
immigration has slowed—and in some
cases reversed—decades of population
loss. It is revitalizing neighborhoods and
commercial corridors. Immigrants—including lower-skilled immigrants—help
generate jobs and economic growth for
U.S.-born workers.
Immigrants are a disproportionate
number of our country’s entrepreneurs.
This is particularly true in Rust Belt cities, where immigrants are more likely to
be entrepreneurs than they are in more
traditional immigrant gateways. But to
make their full potential economic impact in the Rust Belt, unauthorized immigrants need a path to citizenship.