Immigrant communities play a significant role in the economy of Long Island. They have been broadly impacted by recent federal and state policy changes. This report is the first of three that describe the social and economic needs of low-income immigrants on Long Island, New York. This 3-year project producing 3 separate reports conducted between 2017-2020 was supported by a grant from the New York State Office for New Americans (ONA), Community Navigator Program, through a subcontract with the Central American Refugee Center (CARECEN). CARECEN provides wraparound and legal services like naturalization, family petitions, and deportation defense for unaccompanied minors to immigrants on Long Island.
Each of the three reports examines the needs of low-income immigrants using different data sources and approaches to develop a full picture of low-income immigrants in Long Island. This report explores the social and economic characteristics of low-income immigrants in both counties, Suffolk and Nassau, on Long Island using analysis of Census data. The second report uses qualitative data to flesh out the details of the profile of low-income immigrants provided in this first report. The third report synthesizes findings about information sharing and dissemination of resources among low-income immigrants in Long Island.
In this report, we define “immigrants” as individuals who were not born in the United States. Non-citizen immigrants include both immigrants with legal status (such as green card holders, or residents with student visas) and undocumented immigrants. Researchers analyzed naturalized citizens separately in the first-year report.