Puerto Ricans Immigrating To United States in Record Numbers
As the immigration debate heats up on Washington, legislators seem to be overlooking the largest group of Hispanics coming to the United States.
According to a Pew Research poll released on Monday, Puerto Ricans are immigrating to the United States mainland in a number unseen since the Great Migration following World War II.
Today, Puerto Ricans are the largest Hispanic origin group living on the American mainland, with over 36 million living in-country in 2013. Between 2010 and 2013, 144,000 more Puerto Ricans left the U.S. territory for the mainland than left the mainland for the island, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. This record gap between immigrants and migrants is higher than it was during the 1970s, 1980s or 1990s.
The number of Puerto Rican immigrants has increased dramatically since the turn of the millennium, with only 1.3 million living in the United States in 2000 and over 3.6 million living in the United States in 2013.
Since 2012, Puerto Rico has experiences record unemployment and low labor force participation rates. According to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, “Puerto Rico’s economic progress has stalled: The island has been operating below its potential for some time and the competitiveness of the economy continues to deteriorate.”
But fiscal reasons aren’t the only thing propelling Puerto Ricans to the U.S. mainland
Among the Puerto Ricans who left, 42 percent cited job-related reasons for moving stateside, 38 percent gave family-related reasons. This compares pretty equally to immigrants from foreign countries over the same time period, 41 percent of whom cited job-related reasons and 29 percent migrating for family reasons. Mexican born immigrants are the most likely to cite job-related reasons, with 62 percent of immigrants coming to the United States for fiscal opportunities, and only 25 percent moving for family-related reasons.
The majority of Puerto Ricans who immigrate to the United States settle in the Northeast or the South, with 50 percent and 30 percent of immigrants settling in those respective regions.
Despite the revet growth, the U.S Puerto Rican Population is expected to decline in the coming decades.
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Puerto Ricans Immigrating To United States in Record Numbers
