Immigration

Northern Virginia’s 671,000 immigrants are a critical component of the region’s economic strength and an integral part of family life and communities. Foreign-born Virginians make up 26 percent of the region’s residents, twice the rate as in Virginia or the United States as a whole.

African-American and immigrant communities in Virginia share many challenges, and there are critical policy solutions that could improve the lives of both immigrant and African-American Virginians. This report explores some of these challenges and solutions, focusing on residential segregation, schools that too often fail to meet the needs of all students, employment challenges for adults without high school diplomas, low wages for many workers, lack of health insurance and culturally competent health care, significant caretaking responsibilities without the benefit of paid sick leave and family leave, and harsher punishment in the criminal justice system.