Billions to spend: Report spotlights economic impact of immigrants in Dallas

Immigrants in Dallas contributed nearly a billion dollars in state and local taxes and had billions left in consumer spending power, according to a report released recently by the American Immigration Council in partnership with the city of Dallas.
Economic Impact Report: New Americans in Dallas highlights immigrants’ role in the city of Dallas’ workforce as taxpayers, consumers, entrepreneurs and more.
In 2022, immigrant households earned $10.7 billion in income, of which $1.6 billion went to federal taxes and $900.6 million to state and local taxes, according to the report. This left households with $8.2 billion in spending power.
“This report sheds new light on the important role that immigrants play in the local economy,” said Nan Wu, the American Immigration Council’s research director.
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“When people think about their daily lives, they are not aware of all the different ways that immigrants contribute to their local communities,” Wu said.
The report, published in April, says that immigrants make up 23.2% of Dallas’s population, and approximately one-third of households had at least one immigrant resident.
Immigrants represent 28.4% of Dallas’ employed labor force, and in industries such as construction, they represent 63% of the workforce, according to the report. They also represent 26.4% of STEM workers.
Ricardo Martínez, originally from Durango, Mexico, arrived in Dallas in 1998 and began working in the construction industry. He was one of the nearly 10,000 workers who helped build Globe Life Field, the Texas Rangers’ home.
“I started out picking up trash at construction sites, and little by little, I moved up the ranks,” he said in a 2020 interview, when he was a crew supervisor at Globe Life Field.
Martínez worked from 2005 to 2009 building Dallas Cowboys Stadium and has worked on other vital projects in the region.
His involvement in this landmark building makes him proud to represent Hispanic immigrants and to be an example for his three children.
“I am building a legacy for the city, but I am also building the example that I want to give my children: that Hispanics are good people dedicated to working,” Martínez said.
According to the New Americans in Dallas report, in 2023 immigrants played a crucial role in helping the city meet the needs of its fastest-growing and most in-demand fields.
The report says that immigrants made up 19.6% of workers in the health care and social services fields.
In the medical field, there were 13,471 openings for registered nurses, a field of work in which Maria Mosomi found a way to provide a better quality of life to the residents of North Texas.
Mosomi, a nurse practitioner, runs a behavioral health clinic in Arlington that sees about 200 patients a week — anyone struggling with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, ADHD, autism spectrum disorders and more.
“I wanted to start my own practice because I really wanted to make an impact in my patient’s lives,” said Mosomi in the report, which highlighted her story. Mosomi was 8 years old when her family emigrated from Tanzania to the U.S.
Her parents were also nurses who worked their way up from nursing assistants to licensed vocational nurses in the United States.
“What you see with a lot of immigrant children is tenacity, because they are the ones closing the gaps between two worlds,” Mosomi said.
According to Wu, the local economy would not be as strong and vibrant today without the contribution of immigrants.
“Without the money that immigrants bring in, all public and social services budgets would definitely be affected,” Wu said. “When we think about all those billions of dollars of spending power, immigrants are supporting a lot of local businesses. I would say there’s definitely a direct economic impact for all the businesses.”
The city of Dallas is aware of the importance of providing immigrants with the necessary tools to assimilate into the community and achieve success through Welcoming Communities and Immigrant Affairs, an initiative approved by the City Council in 2018.
“Through the Welcoming Communities and Immigrant Affairs, we are able to work with our community partners to identify priorities to ensure that immigrant residents have the opportunity to live their full potential in the city of Dallas,” said Christina da Silva, the assistant director of the Office of Equity and Inclusion.
Da Silva said that in 2019, Dallas became the first certified welcoming city in Texas.
“This means that we had to undergo an intensive audit process to review not only our policies and procedures but also how we partner with external agencies,” she said.
“This is a sort of certification that we’re proud of and has helped us attract opportunities,” said Da Silva, born in Panama to a Panamanian mother and an American father. Da Silva is married to a Brazilian.
Da Silva explained that because of the city’s history with welcoming efforts, Dallas was able to include that as part of the bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2026.
“This was the first time that the FIFA World Cup required cities to submit a human rights plan, so we had to show how we were going to protect the rights, especially the rights of migrants and migrant workers, as part of our proposal.”
The language barrier is a significant challenge that immigrants arriving in Dallas must overcome, and that is why the city is concerned about establishing communication and information services in several languages.
According to the New Americans in Dallas report, 41.8% of Dallas residents in 2022 spoke a language other than English at home, and 9.6% of immigrants in Dallas spoke English as their primary language at home.
“Immigrants arrive knowing little or no English, and we provide them with interpretation services that allow them to better assimilate into their adaptation process,” said Adriana Portillo, the language access coordinator of Welcoming Communities and Immigrant Affairs.
According to the report, Spanish (93.4%) was the top language spoken at home among those with limited English proficiency. In Dallas, 111,100 (37.4%) immigrants in 2022 showed limited English language proficiency.
Portillo, born in Dallas to a Costa Rican mother and a father from El Salvador, said her department offers interpretation in languages such as Spanish, Vietnamese, Dari Pashto and even American Sign Language.
“I fully understand the language needs of immigrants because I lived that experience with my parents. It is a great satisfaction for me to be able to help so many people through my work,” Portillo said
The New Americans in Dallas report says that Mexico is the top country of origin for immigrant entrepreneurs.
Mexicans represented 56.4% of all immigrant entrepreneurs in Dallas in 2022, according to the report.
Research in the report establishes that 29,100 immigrant entrepreneurs generated $804.8 million in business income in Dallas.
Asian immigrants, like Ken Tse, represent 10% of entrepreneurs in Dallas, according to the report.
When Tse arrived in the United States, he was 10 years old. His parents had fled mainland China during the Cultural Revolution, landing first in Hong Kong before securing a visa to join Tse’s sister’s family in a small town in the U.S.
“Like all immigrants, I learned the work ethic through my parents. For them, it’s hope, it’s opportunity, it’s sacrifice after sacrifice,” Tse said in the report.
In 2010, Tse opened his own firm, KMT Architects, and in the same year he co-founded New Hope Compassion, a nonprofit that works with local and international partners to bring humanitarian supplies, programs and hope to people in need.
Locally, he helps the underserved, school children and young professionals with supplies and mentorship.
He also serves as president of the Dallas-based Asian American Contractors and Professionals Association, which offers networking, education and mentorship to professionals from all backgrounds.
“As I reflect on my life as an immigrant, I know we’re grateful for everything we’ve got,” Tse said. “But also it’s our obligation to give back, and serve our community, not just here locally but also globally.”