The diversity of Wisconsin’s immigrants means that the immigrant experience in Wisconsin is a varied one, with no single narrative able to tell the entire story of Wisconsin immigrants. It’s important for us to go beyond simple rhetoric and understand the real diversity and rich history of Wisconsin’s immigrant experience. If there is a common theme among the immigrant experience, it is that people come to Wisconsin to provide a better life for their families and children and contribute to their communities in this country.

Immigrants to Wisconsin come from a variety of locations. In this context, immigrant means any person who is foreign-born, whether they are a citizen, lawful permanent resident (“green card holder”), undocumented refugee, worker, or student. In 2016:

• A little more than a third of Wisconsin immigrants (38%) were born in Latin America –predominantly Mexico but also other countries including Colombia, El Salvador, and Jamaica.
• A little more than a third of Wisconsin immigrants (37%) were born in Asia, with the largest shares born in India and China. One limitation of analyzing immigrants’ origins by country of birth is that this approach does not shed any light on ethnicity, making it difficult to determine the share of immigrants who are Hmong. Hmong individuals live in several countries in Asia including Laos, China, Vietnam, and Burma.
• A smaller share of immigrants to Wisconsin – 16% — were born in Europe, with the biggest share born in Eastern Europe.
• Another 5% of immigrants to Wisconsin were born in Africa, with the largest share born in Western Africa.

Wisconsin immigrants also have a great deal of diversity in their educational attainment, with concentrations at the highest and the lowest levels of education. Nearly 1 out of every 5 immigrants (18%) has a graduate or professional degree, nearly twice the share of the U.S. born population with an advanced degree (10%). On the other hand, immigrants are also more likely than the U.S. born population to have less than a high school diploma (25% vs 7%).

Just as Wisconsin immigrants are a broad and diverse group, so too are the jobs they hold and the industries in which they work. Immigrants in Wisconsin go to work every day as teachers, home health workers, doctors, and groundskeepers. They play particularly large roles in sectors of the economy as varied as farming, science and technology, and production work including meat processing and machine tool cutting, as shown in the chart below. (For more about immigrants in different sectors of Wisconsin’s workforce, read The Contributions of Immigrants in Wisconsin are Critical to Shared Prosperity, Wisconsin Budget Project, March 2018.)

As with region of birth, educational attainment, and workforce sector, there is a great deal of variety among Wisconsin immigrants as to the type of area of the state in which they make their homes. The most urban counties – Milwaukee, Dane, Kenosha and other counties in southeastern Wisconsin – have the highest share of immigrants as a percent of the total population. But some mostly rural counties, including Trempealeau, Clark, and Barron, were also home to a large share of immigrants compared to the rest of the state. The map below, created by the Applied Population Lab, shows that immigrants make their homes in a variety of communities across the state, from the urban southeast to the rural northwest. (For more about historic trends and current conditions related of immigrants in Wisconsin, read Wisconsin’s Foreign-born Population, the Applied Population Lab, November 2017.)

There is also diversity among Wisconsin’s immigrant population with regards to citizenship status, with just under half of the immigrants in Wisconsin (46%) being naturalized U.S. citizens. Many immigrants in Wisconsin became citizens decades ago, with one-quarter of the immigrants who were naturalized doing so prior to 1990. Noncitizens may include lawful permanent residents, refugees, foreign students, and undocumented children and families.

To strengthen Wisconsin communities, we need to embrace the diversity of immigrants and other Wisconsin residents. Policymakers should make sure that immigrants in Wisconsin have the opportunity to thrive and contribute to Wisconsin’s shared prosperity, both as community members and workers, regardless of where they came from or where they live now. How Wisconsin treats the diverse group of immigrants that live here reflects our commitment to the values that define us as Wisconsin residents and as Americans.

Tamarine Cornelius