A survey of Republicans by McLaughlin & Associates found that 66 percent of Americans support immigration reform and when told the details of a proposal by Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida), 75 percent of those polled were for it.
Rubio’s plan sets up a pathway that would allow nearly 12 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. an opportunity to become citizens. One of the requirements calls for them to come forward to federal authorities and be fingerprinted.
This change in attitude toward immigrants is clearly a positive acknowledgement of people who already add to our economy.
Immigrants buy into the American Dream in a big way.
A new report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) finds that immigrants accounted for the majority of growth in homeownership in New York and California from 2000-2010. Its Institute for Housing America reports 82.2 percent of those who bought homes in California were immigrants and 65.1 percent in New York. And immigrants in Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Ohio and Michigan also bought the majority of homes sold.
Professor Dowell Myers of the Population Dynamics Research Group at the University of Southern California says young immigrants, 25-34, are the most likely homebuyers because they are “… the most common age of entry to the housing market.” And the age group is growing.
According to the MBA report
- Between 2010–2020, immigrants nationwide are projected to account for 32.2 percent of the growth in all households, including 35.7 percent growth in homeowners and 26.4 percent growth in renter households
- Between 2010–2020, foreign-born ownership demand is projected to remain a majority of the growth in six states: California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Michigan.
