Immigrants in South Carolina, Host of Sixth GOP Debate
Date: January 13, 2016
Tomorrow evening, the Republican candidates will meet for their sixth debate (#GopDebate) in North Charleston, South Carolina. Although just 4.8 percent of South Carolina’s population is foreign-born, the number of foreign-born individuals in the state has grown rapidly in recent years. Between 2000 and 2013, the foreign-born population in the state increased by almost 91 percent.
Before tuning in to Fox Business Network to watch the debate, learn a little bit about South Carolina’s immigrant population and their economic contributions to the state:
Business
Immigrants own 6.7 percent of businesses in South Carolina, generating 5.3 percent of the state’s total business income: $521.9 million each year.
Manufacturing
Immigrants support South Carolina’s manufacturing sector: between 2000 and 2010, immigrants created or preserved 4,322 manufacturing jobs in the state.
Healthcare
Immigrants play a critical role in South Carolina’s healthcare industry: in 2012, 14.3 percent of physicians in the state had graduated from a foreign medical school.
Contributions to entitlement programs
In 2013, foreign-born Hispanics in South Carolina contributed $198 million to Social Security and $46 million to Medicare.
These figures are just a sampling of the ways in which immigrants positively impact South Carolina’s economy and society. Learn more about immigration in South Carolina and across the country in our interactive map.
