Nearly 12 Million Unauthorized Immigrants in U.S.
October 2, 2007
by Employment & Labor Law / Employee Benefits Group
Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP
Copyright © 2007
There are nearly 12 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States, half of whom are from Mexico, and a third of whom have entered the country since 2000, according to an August 31, 2007 report from the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Immigration Statistics.
Half a Million a Year – The unauthorized immigrant population in the United States increased 37 percent from nearly 8.5 million in 2000 to 11.6 million in 2006, with an annual average net increase in the unauthorized population during this period of 515,000.
Entry by Decade – Of the unauthorized immigrants who have entered the United States, 36 percent have arrived in the country since 2000, 43 percent came during the 1990’s, and 19 percent entered in the 1980’s.
Country of Origin – "Mexico continues to be the leading source of unauthorized immigration to the United States." Of the 11.6 million unauthorized immigration population, nearly 6.5 million (57 percent) are from Mexico. The next leading source countries for unauthorized immigrants are El Salvador (510,000), Guatemala (430,000), the Philippines (280,000) and Honduras (280,000).
State of Residence – California remains the leading state of residence of the unauthorized resident population, with 2.8 million. The next leading state, Texas, had 1.6 million unauthorized residents, followed by Florida (with nearly 1 million), Illinois, New York, Arizona, Georgia, New Jersey and North Carolina.
Bottom Line – The government’s latest estimate of the unauthorized immigrant population is consistent with those made by the Pew Hispanic Center which in March 2006 projected that the unauthorized immigrant population numbered between 11.5 and 12 million, and grew approximately 500,000 a year. The DHS did not estimate the number of undocumented workers in the unauthorized immigrant population. The Pew Hispanic Center study, however, found that about 7.2 million undocumented workers were employed, comprising about 5 percent of the U.S. workforce.
Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP is one of the country's largest law firms with more than 360 attorneys in more than 45-industry-focused areas. If you would like more information regarding this summary, please contact one of our Employment & Labor Law and Employee Benefits attorneys.
Law at Work is designed to give general information and is not intended to be a comprehensive summary or to treat exhaustively the subjects and matters covered. The information appearing herein does not constitute legal advice or opinions. Such advice and opinions are provided only upon engagement with respect to specific factual situations. Nothing contained herein shall be considered as an admission in any matter or controversy.
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