Nevada has second highest foreign birth rate
By Steve Timko, Reno Gazette-Journal
About one out of every four children born in Nevada recently were to mothers who were not U.S. citizens, the second-highest rate in the nation, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released Thursday.
The data, collected as part of the Census Bureau’s ongoing American Community Survey, did not distinguish between noncitizen mothers who were here legally or illegally.
The American Community Survey sends questionnaires to households in every state every year to get a demographic snapshot. This data was from the 2008 ACS and asks participants if they had children in the prior 12 months. The estimates said 26.3 percent of the children born in Nevada were to mothers who were not U.S. citizens. California ranked first at 29.1 percent.
The figures did not surprise Mary Ann Robinson, coordinator of the Washoe County School District’s English Language Learner department.