Illinois Homepage: County recognized for immigrant growth

The University YMCA’s New American Welcome Center is hosting a meeting to talk about immigration impact.

Members are going over results of a report showing the demographic and economic contributions immigrants in Champaign County have made.

The county was recognized as a recipient of the Gateways for Growth Award; given to communities with growing immigrant populations, to make their community even more immigrant-friendly.

At the meeting, community leaders will be talking about that, plus going over numbers in a recent report.

Here’s a look at the data some of the report found:

• In 2016, there were nearly 24,000 immigrants reported living in Champaign County, making up about 11% of the total population.
• 43.5% of those immigrants were university students.
• Overall, immigrants contributed about $1.4 billion to Champaign County’s GDP.

Read the full story from the Illinois Homepage: “County recognized for immigrant growth”