1 in 7 Virginians Was Born Outside U.S.

Editor's note: Veronica Garabelli, a journalism faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University and an editor for Capital News Service, was interviewed for this article; however, she did not edit the story or supervise the reporter who wrote the article.

By Andrew Riddler
Capital News Service

RICHMOND — Since moving from Uruguay when she was 8 years old, Veronica Garabelli lived and worked in the United States thanks to special visas and a green card. But without citizenship, Garabelli could not vote — until 2016, when she became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Garabelli reflects a growing trend in the United States. From 2010 to 2018, the number of Americans who are naturalized citizens has risen 29%, to more than 22.6 million, according to an analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Naturalized citizens now make up 6.9% of the U.S. population.

In Virginia, the number of naturalized citizens has increased 38%, to about 575,000, the data showed. They represent 6.7% of the state population.

Naturalized citizens are a subset of U.S. residents who were born outside the United States. The total number of foreign-born residents has increased this decade: About one of every seven Virginians — and a similar proportion of all U.S. residents — were born in a different country.

Among the states, Virginia ranks in the top third in terms of the percentage of foreign-born residents (13.9%). That is a tribute to high-quality jobs and other opportunities Virginia has to offer, says Shonel Sen, a research and policy analyst at the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia.

“Typically, tech would be large,” Sen said. She said contractual jobs and other opportunities are available throughout Virginia.

“Northern Virginia obviously has the highest pull, but Richmond and Hampton Roads also are job growth centers,” she said.

Higher education also is an attraction. “There are lots of universities that have (foreign-born) faculty members,” Sen said.

The number of Virginia residents who were born outside the U.S. has climbed from about 1 million (12.7% of the state population) in 2010 to almost 1.2 million (13.9% of the state population) last year, the Census Bureau data showed.

Of Virginia’s 8.5 million residents, fewer than half (49.5%) were born in the commonwealth, according to the latest American Community Survey.

Foreign-born residents represent the largest component of Virginians who weren’t born in Virginia. Then come Virginians who were born in :

• New York (4%)
• Pennsylvania and North Carolina (less than 3% each)
• Maryland, California and Washington, D.C. (about 2% each)

Virginians born in other U.S. states and territories make up the remainder.

Garabelli found a home in the United States. Soon, her whole family will too. “Myself, my sister and my dad — we all became naturalized, and now my mom will be going through the process soon enough.”