Poverty is often even more prevalent for the children of
immigrants—most of whom are U.S. citizens.10
Like Detroit, Baltimore’s population peaked in 1950 at
almost a million, and then entered a long decline. In the
2010 census, Baltimore had 620,961 residents—it had lost 35
percent of its population. Today, after decades of decline,
Baltimore, along with Detroit and other Rust Best communities such as Dayton, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis, is courting
immigrants to stabilize its population (see Table 1).
Civic leaders agree that repopulation is a central Baltimorean policy goal. “[Baltimore] is just block after block of
boarded up houses,” Maryland Hunger Solutions Program
Advocate Anita Wahi says. “[The] biggest problem right now
is just filling up the city.” Father Robert Wojtek, of Sacred
Heart of Jesus Church in Baltimore, said immigrants are
the primary means of countering the city’s depopulation. “If
these folks weren’t here…then who would be taking the brunt
of the impact of not having a population?” he said. “Housing
and buildings would be even emptier than they are. The ones
that are going to populate [the city] are the immigrants.”
Baltimore City Hall has long been aware of the potential
of immigration to repopulate the city—or at least to slow its
decline—and has taken steps to welcome newcomers. In 2008
Gov. Martin O’Malley established the Maryland Council
for New Americans to “review and recommend new policies
and practices to expedite immigrant integration into the economic and civic life of the state.”11 Building on O’Malley’s
efforts, in December 2011 Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake set a city goal: attracting 10,000 new families over
the next decade.12 “She [Rawlings-Blake] needs bodies,” said
Betty Symington, executive director of the Baltimore Episcopal Refugee and Immigrant Coalition. “And immigration
is a very important way to turn that around.”
In March 2012 Rawlings-Blake issued an executive order
barring city agencies from using municipal funds to apprehend unauthorized** residents and ordered city agencies to
provide all services allowable under federal law to residents
Table 1 Population of Baltimore, MD 1950-2012
Year
population
percent change in population
1950 949,708
1960 939,024
1970 905,759
1980 786,775
1990 736,014
2000 651,154
2010 620,961
Est. 2012
621,342
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
www.bread.org
10.5%
−1.1%
−3.5%
−13.1%
−6.5%
−11.5%
−4.6%
0.1%
Table 2 Baltimore Metropolitan Area Immigrant Population,
2000-2010
2000 2010
# Immigrant
146,128
251,260
% Immigrant
5.7
9.3
# change in immigrant
population 2000-2010
105,132
% change in immigrant
population 2000-2010
72%
Source: Immigrants in 2010 Metropolitan America: A Decade of Change. Brookings Institution, October 2011. http://www.refugeehighway.net/downloads/regionnamerica/2010-Brookings-Report-Decade-of-Change-USA.pdf
regardless of their immigration status.13 In an interview with
National Public Radio in August 2012, Rawlings-Blake said,
“We are open for business, particularly in the area of Latino
immigrants. We’ve actively recruited Latino immigrants to
Baltimore, and when they come here, they’re thriving. Many
have opened businesses, employed individuals... I think it’s
a win-win.”14
Baltimore’s Latino population is still small—in 2010,
the city had about 26,000 Latinos, about 4 percent of the
population.15 But this is a 137 percent increase from 2000;
moreover, the steep increase occurred even though the city
lost more than 4 percent of its overall population in this same
decade.16 Furthermore, according to U.S. Census Bureau
reports, immigration may be the primary cause of an incipient reverse in Baltimore’s population loss. After 60 years
of population loss, the Census Bureau reported that there
were 621,342 people in Baltimore in July 2012, up slightly
from a year earlier. The population gain was attributed to
“increased [immigration] at the same time as the number
of people leaving the city went down.”17 While the numbers
are small, the impact of immigration on Baltimore is clear to
both analysts and residents. A 2010 report by the Baltimore
Metropolitan Council found that foreign immigration will
continue to be the major source of population growth in the
Baltimore region,” adding, “Integrating these populations
into the social and economic fabric of the region will require
a concerted and sustained effort”18 (see Table 2).
The 2000 Census was a wake-up call, alerting residents to
the potential benefits of immigration for Baltimore and new
immigrants to the potential benefits of coming to Baltimore.
Between 1990 and 2000, the city lost 85,000 residents—11.5
**Undocumented and unauthorized are used interchangeable
in this report to refer to immigrants in the United States who
are not in the country legally.
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