Center for American Progress: 10 Facts You Need to Know About Immigrant Women

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They Contribute More than You Realize and Face Dangers You May Be Unaware Of


On International Women's Day, we have reason to celebrate the important contributions
of immigrant women to our society and our economy.

1. The face of today’s immigration is more female than male. In 2010, 55 percent of all people obtaining a green card were women. Of these women 60 percent were already married, while the other 40 percent were single, widowed, or divorced. Women comprised 47 percent of all refugee arrivals and 53 percent of all people who naturalized to become a citizen.

4. Immigrant women embrace citizenship and encourage integration. According to 2009 public opinion research by New America Media, immigrant women from a broad range of countries are overwhelmingly the drivers of naturalization in their families, with 58 percent of respondents stating that they felt the strongest in their family about becoming an American citizen. Overall, 84 percent of the women surveyed want to become citizens, with a whopping 90 percent of female immigrants from Latin American and Arab nations indicating their desire to naturalize.

7. Immigration enforcement is taking its toll on immigrant families. Rising deportations of undocumented immigrants are separating children from their parents. A 2011 report from the Applied Research Center found that more than 5,000 children living in foster care had parents who had been detained or deported from the United States. They estimate that another 15,000 children will end up in foster care in the next five years because of immigration enforcement.

8. Immigrant women workers are vulnerable to abuse at work. Immigrant women make up close to the entire population of domestic workers in major cities such as New York, with one study by Domestic Workers United finding that 33 percent of domestic workers in New York City experienced some form of physical or verbal abuse, often because of their race or immigration status.

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/03/womens_day_immigrants.html