Abstract
An informed discussion and evaluation of Arizona’s Latino politics, immigration, transborder, and binational relations after the passage of SB1070 requires recent demographic information about the state. An accurate depiction of the demographics of Arizona and Arizona’s Latinos are important for additional reasons. Nationally, there are misperceptions about the racial/ethnic composition of the country.
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Notes
- 1.
The terms Latino and Hispanic are used interchangeably in this paper to refer to this group. The federal government considers Latinos to be an ethnic group that can be of any race.
- 2.
See McConnell (2011) for an analysis of media representations of Latino population growth in another context.
- 3.
This section draws from decennial census data, other sections of the chapter rely on 2000 or 2009 American Community Survey data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Appendix provides additional technical information about the data sources and materials consulted for this chapter. Whites, Blacks/African Americans, Asians, American Indian, and Alaska Natives discussed here refer to those who are not Hispanic. Further, the figures used here for Non-Hispanic Whites, Blacks, American Indian, and Alaska Natives, and Asians refer to those identified as one race and do not include those who identified with two or more races. In Census parlance, then, the figures refer to those are “White alone”, “Black or African American alone”, “Asian alone”, and “American Indian and Alaska Native alone” who are not Hispanic or Latino. Although the ACS reports data on a combined American Indian and Alaska Native group, the majority of those in this category in Arizona are American Indian of a specific tribe. To streamline the table and figures and reduce reader burden, most Latino demographic characteristics are compared with the largest racial/ethnic groups in the state. For demographic profiles that focus on African Americans in Arizona and Asians in Arizona, see http://www.asu.edu/vppa/asuforaz/projects.html.
- 4.
- 5.
The American Community Survey, like other data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau, defines the foreign-born population as those who were not U.S. citizens at birth or whose parents were not U.S. citizens. This definition is different from the common usage of the term, “immigrants”. For example, some might consider Puerto Ricans as immigrants/migrants, but as they are U.S. citizens at birth, they are not classified as foreign-born in the ACS. Thus, when referring to descriptions of ACS data, I use the term “foreign born” when applicable (e.g., the universe of Latin American-born respondents excludes Puerto Ricans and other U.S. citizens) and Latin American (or Latin American-born) to refer to the foreign-born and those who are U.S. citizens at birth but who were born in Latin America (Puerto Ricans). The term immigrant is not used when discussing 2009 ACS data.
- 6.
Comparing U.S. census data for Latinos across time periods is complicated by significant differences in how this information was collected since the first census of 1790. See Rodriguez (2000) for a detailed review of changes in federal data collections.
- 7.
See State of Latino Arizona, 2009 for a concise report of the role of Latinos/Mexican Origin Populations in Arizona’s history and their characteristics vis-à-vis politics, education, the economy, and other domains.
- 8.
Much of the data used in this chapter are based on one-year estimates with fairly small sample sizes; data for many characteristics used here are not released for specific origin/ancestry Latino groups.
- 9.
Again, as Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens at birth, they are classified as U.S.-born.
- 10.
For an overview of changes in census questions about race and Hispanic origin between the 1990 and 2000 censuses see Grieco and Cassidy (2001).
- 11.
Although the percent change statistic is useful in discussing changes in a population, it can also be misleading. The size of the percent change depends on the population base (denominator) at the beginning of the time period of interest; therefore, a group with an initially large population base, such as Non-Hispanic Whites, may have what appears to be a fairly low percent change over time but also have a larger absolute size increase than other groups. For example, a 66.2 % change of Whites in Maricopa County between 1980 and 2000 means that about 810,000 Whites were added to the county over the two decades. In contrast, a 283.6 % increase of Latinos corresponds to about 565,000 Latinos added to the population over the same time period.
- 12.
In 2009, ACS data suggest that 94% of those within the American Indian and Alaska Native category provided a specific American Indian tribe. The most commonly reported American Indian tribe in Arizona in 2009 is Navajo; about 48.5 % of all those in the AIAN category in AZ identified as Navajo.
- 13.
In this figure, the “Other races” category aggregates multiple groups: Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone (Not Hispanic), Some Other race alone (Not Hispanic), and Two or more races.
- 14.
ACS data about race/ethnicity are available for more counties than for other population characteristics. Compared to the state, Mohave and Yavapai Counties have fairly low proportions of Latinos and higher proportions of Non-Hispanic Whites. Coconino County has a larger proportion of individuals who are American Indian and Alaska Native than most other counties in the state.
- 15.
Statistics about specific Latino group do not attempt to discern nativity, that is, whether Latinos were born in these countries or regions but rather their origin or ancestry. The Hispanic Origin code list, showing how different responses to this question could be classified is available at: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/data_documentation/CodeLists/2009Code_Lists.pdf.
- 16.
The ACS asked all respondents who were not born in the United States in what year they came to live in the country, including those born in Puerto Rico. Therefore, these data are not limited simply to the foreign-born population but include those born in Latin America. This has a small impact on the denominator for period of entry: 2009 ACS estimates suggest that there are 641,832 Latin Americans in the state, of which 629,781 are foreign-born, or not U.S. citizens at birth, the remainder are Puerto Rican or from other territories.
- 17.
Publicly available ACS data does not provide the year of entry, but rather the following year ranges: before 1980, 1980–1989, 1990–1999, and 2000 or later.
- 18.
The ACS includes those who are U.S. citizens at birth (e.g., Puerto Ricans) in this question, therefore, it is technically inaccurate to use the term foreign-born in this context.
- 19.
See the Appendix for information about sampling error in the American Community Survey.
- 20.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (2008) defines unauthorized residents as “foreign-born persons who entered the United States without inspection or were admitted temporarily and stayed past the date they were required to leave”.
- 21.
See Pew Hispanic Center (2006b) for more information.
- 22.
None of these studies provide estimates of the numbers of Latin American immigrants in Arizona that are unauthorized.
- 23.
See Passel and Cohn (2010) for detailed information about their methodology.
- 24.
This figure is derived from multiplying the estimate of unauthorized immigrants in Arizona (375,000) by the proportion estimated to be Latin American (80 % or 0.80) to calculate an estimated number of unauthorized immigrants in Arizona who are from Latin America: 300,000. Dividing 300,000 by the number of Latinos in the state in 2009 (2,031,651) produces the 14.8 % figure. Using a more generous estimate, such as considering that 90 % of all unauthorized immigrants in Arizona could be Latin American, suggests that 16.6 % of all Latinos in the state could be unauthorized. The 8.8 % figure of legal immigrants/non-immigrants is derived from subtracting 14.8 % from 23.6 %, the percent of Latinos in the state who are non-citizens.
- 25.
Content from the 2009 ACS in English is available at: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/questionnaires/2010/Quest10.pdf and in Spanish at: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/questionnaires/2010/Quest10SP.pdf.
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Appendix
Appendix
Decennial census data used in the profile come from Summary Tape File 1 (STF1) of the 1990 Census of the Population and Summary Files 1 and 3 (SF1 and SF3) of the 2000 Census. These data are accessible via http://factfinder.census.gov/. Census data for 1980 were accessed using the CensusScope project developed by the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN) at http://www.censusscope.org/. Data on pregnancies and birth rates for the state were derived from the Arizona Department of Health Services (2010) report. National-level projections through 2050 are based on the U.S. Census Bureau (2004), and state-level projections are based on the Arizona Department of Economic Security (2006). Data derived from STF1 (1990) and SF1 (2000) of the decennial census are based on 100 % of the U.S. population, not samples, therefore there is no sampling error associated with these figures and any differences across population subgroups or geographic areas are considered to be statistically significant.
The American Community Survey (ACS) is a national continuous survey that provides annual demographic, economic, housing, social, and economic data. Its primary purpose is to measure the social and economic characteristics of the U.S. population, released the year after the data are collected. The questionnaire and instruction guide for completing the ACS Form is available in English and Spanish.Footnote 25 Each year the ACS samples approximately 3 million addresses each year and conducts nearly two million interviews. The U.S. Census of the Population taken every 10 years is available at every geographic level, from the nation to street blocks. The ACS is not available at all of these geographies; as it is not based on a complete enumeration of the U.S. population and has a fairly small sample, the ACS aggregates data from multiple years to produce reliable numbers for small counties and smaller geographic units. Moreover, ACS data disseminated to the public are much more limited than the decennial census. One-year estimates, in this case from 2009, are available for areas with populations larger than 65,000. One-year estimates from ACS for 2009 are available for Arizona and most consistently available for Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal counties, and are the counties discussed in this profile. In order to provide a consistent demographic profile, this chapter uses only 2009 one-year estimates, rather than three-year estimates (2006–2008) available for areas with 20,000 or more in population (U.S. Census Bureau 2010).
ACS data are based on a sample of the population; therefore, the data produced are estimates subject to sampling error. ACS figures include a published margin of error at the 0.90 level of significance, which allows for calculations of confidence intervals. This calculation is necessary to identify whether differences in ACS estimates across racial/ethnic groups and/or geographic areas are statistically significant. This demographic profile focuses on providing a descriptive profile of Arizona and counties where data are most consistently available (Maricopa, Pima, Pinal counties), and does not focus on identifying county or group-level differences in the estimates. Information about sampling error, confidence intervals, and other technical ACS information are available at: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/ACSGeneralHandbook.pdf.
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McConnell, E.D. (2013). Latinos in Arizona: Demographic Context in the SB 1070 Era. In: Magaña, L., Lee, E. (eds) Latino Politics and Arizona’s Immigration Law SB 1070. Immigrants and Minorities, Politics and Policy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0296-1_1
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