The Continuous Increase of Immigrant Population in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. became a thriving ground for immigrant communities. As an international city and belonging to the ranks of major immigrant destinations, its immigrant population is growing at a continuous trend.

Approximately, fourteen percent of the total population of Washington, D.C. is immigrants. The increase in the immigrant population in Washington, D.C. is significantly contributing to its economic growth.

According to Pepe Gonzales, a citizen from Washington, D.C., he claims that he knows all of the Hispanic residents in the city. Gonzales is also an immigrant from Cuba. He had migrated to the United States of America with his family in the year 1962. During that time, Cuba was suffering a state of multiple catastrophes involving political issues and revolutions. He currently lives in a small part of the city where a large volume of immigrant population is also living.

"We practically all knew each other. There was only one church that gave a Spanish service, and then there was one movie house that every Sunday at 3 o'clock gave a Spanish movie. So everybody congregated into the church, not all of the community but most of them and we all knew each other. It was a very small community in the '60s," said Gonzales."

Having to live in the city for many years, Gonzales had witnessed a significant increase in the immigrant population in Washington, D.C. According to a report released by the American Immigration Council, fourteen percent of the approximately 633,450 residents in Washington, D.C. originate from a country other than the United States of America. The majority of them are from the countries of Central America such as El Salvador.

"Given national trends, an area with a concentrated Central American population is going to see an increase in the number of immigrants, and that's certainly the case with D.C. People tend to want to settle to places where they already have connections, and where they know people who are already living there," said Jeffrey Passel, a Pew Research Analyst.

The US city's popularity had also been a reason for attracting immigrants causing the increase in the immigrant population in Washington, D.C.

"Some people sometimes ask the question, 'Why would Salvadorians, for example, why would they specifically come to D.C?' and we often attribute that to D.C being the capital. El Salvador is such a tiny country that most of the time when people are there and think about moving they think about moving to the capital of El Salvador, and so a lot of times we see that correlation. Folks think of D.C. because it's the capital city," said by the director of operations of the Central American Resource Center ( an organization the offers legal, citizenship, and housing services to the city's population of Central American origin), Sarah Hall Aguila.

Some experts claim that the possible cause of the boom in the population of immigrants in the city may be the economic opportunities available in the area.

"There is a lot of work to be found. A lot of our clients work in the service industry, so hospitality of some sort - construction, landscaping, and the things you would expect. And you can make decent money and support a family," said Atty. Lindsy Miles-Hare, a lawyer working in an immigrant rights center in the city.