About Kansas
Kansas’ population increased by nine percent between 1990-2000 bringing its total population to approximately 2.8 million people. Kansas population is estimated to rise to 3.1 million people (a 16 percent increase) between 2000 and 2025.

Illegal Immigration to Kansas
According to USCIS figures approximately 47,000 illegal aliens resided in Kansas as of 2000. With an increase of 135 percent since the previous estimate in 1996, it is the meatpacking and agricultural jobs in the southwestern Kansas that draws the large number of illegal aliens. In the year 1999 Kansas requested compensation of $3.3 million from the federal government (under the federal State Criminal Alien Assistance Program or SCAAP) towards the incarceration of illegal immigrants. Kansas taxpayers were responsible for the additional $2 million as the federal government only paid $1.3 million in compensation. As of the results of increasing illegal immigration the USCIS has requested to open an enforcement office to deal with the large influx of illegal immigration.

Immigration to Kansas
Kansas’ foreign-born population increased by 114 percent and accounted for one-third or nearly 135,000 residents during the 1990s. 12 percent or approximately 38,000 people of the Kansas’ population are immigrants or children of immigrants. Fewer and fewer immigrants choose to become naturalized U.S. citizens. In 1990, 43 percent chose to become naturalized while in 2000 only 33 percent of immigrants became naturalized citizens. An increase in population often results in housing shortages and severely overcrowded housing. Authorities in Kansas define the 63 percent increase since 1990 or 11,000 Kansas households to be severely crowded. A total of 24 percent of Kansas’ foreign-born non-citizens live below poverty level. For immigrant residents the percentage is 19 percent. With more individuals moving to Kansas, more strains are put on services provided by Kansas. One such strain is education. With enrollment increasing by 14 percent between 1990 and 2000, Kansas elementary and high schools are struggling with overcrowding, lack of space and frequently leaving teachers to use portable classrooms.