Laws in Virginia targeting illegal immigrants and higher home prices could have contributed to the swell in Maryland's Hispanic population over the last 10 years, some experts say. Hispanics are Maryland's fastest-growing population and many have settled in suburban Maryland as well as Frederick and Baltimore counties.
Lisa Sturtevant, a professor at George Mason University's Center for Regional Analysis, noted that home prices in Northern Virginia have risen more in the last decade than they have in Montgomery or Prince George's counties.
"It got more expensive than Maryland did over last decade so there may be some of the same people from our region just popping up on that side of the river," she said.
Others say some of the growth, which Sturtevant and others said is also attributable to that population's high birth rate, said unfriendly laws in some Virginia counties may had driven people to Maryland. For example, in 2007, Prince William County enacted legislation cracking down on illegal immigrants that drove the Hispanic population there down, studies show.
"There are parts of VA like Herndon that are distinctly not immigrant-friendly, and as a result immigrants could have been deflected from these areas and moved to MD," George Washington University Professor Elizabeth Chacko wrote in an email.
Lisa Sturtevant, a professor at George Mason University's Center for Regional Analysis, noted that home prices in Northern Virginia have risen more in the last decade than they have in Montgomery or Prince George's counties.
"It got more expensive than Maryland did over last decade so there may be some of the same people from our region just popping up on that side of the river," she said.
Others say some of the growth, which Sturtevant and others said is also attributable to that population's high birth rate, said unfriendly laws in some Virginia counties may had driven people to Maryland. For example, in 2007, Prince William County enacted legislation cracking down on illegal immigrants that drove the Hispanic population there down, studies show.
"There are parts of VA like Herndon that are distinctly not immigrant-friendly, and as a result immigrants could have been deflected from these areas and moved to MD," George Washington University Professor Elizabeth Chacko wrote in an email.
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