As the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 and the related American Dream and Promise Act of 2021 are being debated in Congress, the New York City Office of Immigration and Naturalization (MOIA) released the city’s latest immigration statistics on June 6. As the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021 is being debated in Congress, the New York City Office of Immigration (MOIA) released the latest immigration statistics for the city on June 6. The data shows that if the two bills are passed, New York City will benefit nearly 500,000 undocumented immigrants and 80,000 young citizens who came to the U.S. as children, and based on preliminary calculations of the composition of these immigrants, 60,000 of the Chinese immigrants may be able to convert from illegal to legal immigration.
The “American Citizenship Act of 2021” was introduced by President Biden in February of this year and introduced by members of Congress at the same time. The bill provides multiple pathways for millions of illegal immigrants in the United States to become legal citizens over an eight-year period. These paths include direct and expedited naturalization for those who came to the United States as children, elimination of restrictions on immigrant dependents, expansion of the number of work visas, and an accelerated acquisition process for college graduates in the United States.
Bitta Mostofi, the outgoing director of the city’s immigration office, held a minority media network meeting on May 6 to inform New York City about new immigration information. (Video Screenshot)
Bitta Mostofi, director of the New York City Office of Immigration, said at a remote press conference for minority media on May 6 that 476,000 “undocumented immigrants” will benefit from New York City. In addition, about 81,000 DACA-eligible citizens who entered the U.S. as children will also benefit immediately from the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021. The bill will immediately benefit the Chinese, who make up 9% of the population. So, if the two new immigration bills are passed without incident, more than 60,000 Chinese may be granted legal immigration status in New York City.
At this meeting, Mostolfi also announced an updated set of numbers on the composition of immigrants in New York City.
There are currently 3 million immigrants in New York City out of a population of 8.3 million; these immigrants, who make up 36 percent of the total population, make up 43 percent of the labor force. In other words, immigrants contribute significantly to New York’s labor market.
The profile of immigrants in New York City households is: the largest share of households consisting of citizenship-acquired, green card holders at 49%; households of U.S.-born persons at 38%; mixed-status households at 12%; and households composed purely of illegal immigrants at only 1%.
In addition, the number of illegal immigrants (undocumented immigrants) in New York City has declined significantly over the past decade, from 670,000 in 2008 to 470,000 in 2019.
Of the five boroughs, Queens has the largest immigrant population at 35.9%; followed by Brooklyn (30.1%), the Bronx (15.9%), Manhattan (14.5%), and Staten Island (3.6%).
Up to 80 percent of undocumented immigrants in New York City are employed, with a median annual salary of $21,800 and a combined income of $15 billion for undocumented immigrants; 57 percent of them have been in the U.S. for more than 10 years; in contrast, the percentage of U.S.-born laborers is 65 percent.
The top five industries in which immigrants work in New York City are: service industries, such as janitorial, cleaning, and home care (37%); construction and extractive industries (14%); transportation and logistics (9%); management, business and finance (9%); and sales (8%).
The composition of undocumented immigrants in New York City: 20% from Mexico; 12% from China; 10% from the Dominican Republic; 7% from Ecuador; and 5% from Guatemala.
The New York City Office of Immigration specifically reminds immigrants that the new immigration bill mentioned above has not yet passed Congress, so please beware of immigration fraud. If you believe you may be a victim, please call 1-800-566-7637 to report the crime; the City’s toll-free immigration legal services hotline is 1-800-354-0365, and immigrants of any status can call this number for information between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Friday.
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