New Data on Iowa’s 1st Congressional District Shows the Economic Impact of Immigrant Population

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 21, 2017

CONTACT
Sarah Doolin Roy, sarah@newamericaneconomy.org

Iowa Leaders Map the Impact of the Foreign-Born and Call for Immigration Reform as Part of a National Day of Action with Over 100 Events Across the Country.

Dubuque, IA — Today, Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with leaders from various industries across the state, showcased new research on the contributions of immigrants in each of Iowa’s congressional districts and highlighted the critical need for immigration reform. Spearheaded by New American Economy (NAE), the event marks the launch of Map the Impact—a campaign to highlight the power of immigrants in communities across the country.

With more than 100 events in over 35 states, this effort arms business, civic, and cultural leaders with new data on immigrant populations in all 435 Congressional Districts and 50 metro areas. Featured in an interactive map that also includes state- and sector-specific data, NAE’s quantifies every locality’s foreign-born population, tax contributions, spending power, home ownership, and voting power, among other items.

At Iowa’s 1st Congressional District level, Map the Impact shows that:

• There are 25,120 foreign-born residents who make up 3.3 percent of the area’s population.
• Immigrants paid $186.0 million in state and local taxes and held $570.4 million in spending power in 2014.
• Immigrants are twice as likely to be entrepreneurs than the native population, and there are nearly 750 immigrant entrepreneurs in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District.
• Immigrants own 4,757 homes and help to build the area’s housing wealth. 
• Immigrants make up 7.5 percent of the manufacturing industry, 4.1 percent of the professional, scientific, and management, and administrative and waste management services industry, and more. 

Visit Map the Impact for state, city, and district information that will help leaders grasp the influence of immigrants in America.

More information can be found at www.NewAmericanEconomy.org

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About New American Economy
New American Economy (NAE) brings together more than 500 Republican, Democratic and Independent mayors and business leaders who support immigration reforms that will help create jobs for Americans today. NAE members include mayors of more than 35 million people nationwide and business leaders of companies that generate more than $1.5 trillion and employ more than 4 million people across all sectors of the economy, from Agriculture to Aerospace, Hospitality to High Tech and Media to Manufacturing. Learn more at www.NewAmericanEconomy.org