Immigrants contributing to South Texas economy, reports find

McALLEN, Texas ( Border Report ) — A series of new reports find that immigrants on the South Texas border are helping to create jobs, paying taxes and driving the local economies.

The four reports were released by the American Immigration Council in partnership with the Brownsville Chamber of Commerce and Texans for Economic Growth and studied immigrant contributions to the economies of McAllen, Laredo, Brownsville and the mid-Valley of the Rio Grande Valley from 2014 to 2019, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

In McAllen, immigrants were credited with preserving or creating 10,500 local manufacturing jobs that would have otherwise vanished or moved to other locations in 2019, according to the “Immigrants in McAllen” report.

In Laredo, immigrants paid over $194 million in federal taxes and $142 million in local taxes in 2019, according to the “Immigrants in Laredo” report.

In the mid-Rio Grande Valley, fewer immigrants received Medicare or Medicaid benefits in 2019, 33.8%, compared to 39.2% of U.S.-born residents, according to the “Immigrants in Middle Rio Grande Valley” report.

In Brownsville, although immigrants made up less than a quarter of the overall population — 23.4% — they comprised over half, or 53.3% of entrepreneurs in the border city in 2019. They also were 160.4% more likely to be entrepreneurs than their U.S.-born counterparts, according to the “Immigrants in Brownsville” report.

“It really goes to show that immigrants are having a great impact on the economy and are really contributing well to the region,” Juan Avilez, state policy associate for the nonprofit American Immigration Council , told Border Report on Monday.

“If you look across the board at these reports, immigrants really are punching well above their way in terms of entrepreneurial spirit and how much of the entrepreneur workforce they make,” Avilez said. “And I think that speaks to just their ability to create jobs in those regions, and how greatly they’re able to contribute in those areas. So, I think really they’re driving innovation in a lot of these areas, creating jobs, not just for other immigrants, but for all the residents.”

The data was taken from the Census Bureau’s American Community Surveys, which study economics, occupations, education attainment and home ownership within the country.

Other takeaways from the reports:

McAllen report

In 2019, 229,200 immigrants lived in the border city of McAllen, just across from Reynosa, Mexico. Nearly 35% of the workforce in McAllen were immigrants.

Most, 93%, came from Mexico, and from 2014 to 2019, the overall population in McAllen grew from 806,300 to 855,000, which was a 6.1% increase. However, immigrants decreased during that time frame 3.3% from 237,000 to 229,200.

In 2019, immigrants in McAllen contributed $7.2 billion to the metro area’s gross domestic product.

Immigrants in McAllen contributed $444.7 million to Social Security and $111.4 million to Medicare and only 21% of immigrants received Medicare or Medicaid in 2019.

Brownsville report

In 2019, 98,600 immigrants lived in the border city of Brownsville, just across from Matamoros, Mexico.

Over 90% of the immigrants were from Mexico. And immigrants made up 23.4% of the population.

Of the workforce, 30% were immigrants. Industries with the highest share of working immigrants included: construction, manufacturing and agriculture.

Immigrant entrepreneurs in Brownsville generated $210.8 million in business income in 2019.

Mid-Valley report

The middle Rio Grande Valley, in between McAllen and Brownsville, in 2019 had 67,100 workers and 22%, or 14,800 were immigrants, most from Mexico.

In 2019, immigrant residents contributed $2.5 billion to the region’s gross domestic product.

Most industries with the highest share of workers were: manufacturing, health care, social assistance, construction, transportation and warehousing.

Immigrants in the mid-Valley made up nearly 30% of all business owners in the region, despite only making up 19% of the population.

Nearly three-quarters, or 74% of immigrants lived in houses and 17% in apartments in the mid-Rio Grande Valley. Seventy percent of immigrants owned their own homes, compared with 66.8% of U.S. born residents in the region.

Laredo report

Immigrants in Laredo in 2019 paid over $194 million in federal taxes and $142 million in state and local taxes. And immigrant households earned $1.6 billion.

Immigrants contributed $154 million to Social Security and $37.9 million to Medicare but only 23.6% of immigrants received the government healthcare benefits in 2019.

Immigrants helped create or preserve 3,300 local manufacturing jobs that would have been eliminated or moved elsewhere in 2019, and manufacturing had the highest percentage of immigrant workers with 55%. Other industries with a high share of immigrant workers included: construction, transportation and warehousing and professional services.

In 2019, immigrants in Laredo were less likely to own their own homes compared to U.S. born residents, 58.6% to 63.8%.

Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.

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