Unauthorized Population in the U.S. Decreased to 10.8 Million

Unauthorized Population in the U.S. Decreased to 10.8 Million

A recent report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimates that the unauthorized immigrant population living in the United States decreased to 10.8 million in January 2009 from 11.6 million in January 2008. However, between 2000 and 2009, the unauthorized population grew by 27 percent. Sixty-three (63) percent of all undocumented immigrants who lived in the U.S. in 2009 entered before 2000. And 62 percent of them were from Mexico.

Released recently by the DHS, this report provides comprehensive estimates of the number of unauthorized immigrants living in the United States as of January 2009. The numbers are grouped by period of entry, region and country of origin, state of residence, age, and gender. The way the size of unauthorized population was calculated was to subtract the total number of legal foreign-born population from the total number of the total foreign-born population. The U.S. Census Bureau provided the numbers for the total foreign-born population while the DHS provides the numbers of the legal foreign-born population, which included legal permanent residents (green card holders), asylees, refugees, and legal nonimmigrants.

The top five countries of origins of unauthorized residents are Mexico (6,650,000), El Salvador (530,000), Guatemala (480,000), Honduras (320,000), Philippines (270,000). India and Korea tied the sixth place, each with 200,000
people living in the U.S. without status. China takes the 10th slot, with about 120,000 unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S.

In terms of regional distribution, the top states with the most number of unauthorized immigrants are California (2,600,000), Texas (1,680,000), Florida (720,000), New York (550,000), Illinois (540,000), Georgia (480,000), Arizona (460,000), North Carolina (370,000), New Jersey (360,000), and Nevada (260,000).

As of 2009, about 61 percent of unauthorized immigrants were between the ages of 25 to 44, and 58 percent were male. Among the age group of 18 to 34, 62 percent of them were males. Among those who are 45 and older, females accounted for 52 percent of the unauthorized immigrant population.

Although the unauthorized population grew by 3.3 million from 8.5 million to 11.8 million from 2000 to 2007, the number actually declined by 1.0 million between 2007 and 2009, most probably due to the weak U.S. economy. The downtrend continued from January 2008 to January 2009, with the number of undocumented residents decreased seven percent from 11.6 million to 10.8 million. However, during the period of 2000-2009, there has still been an overall annual average increase in the unauthorized population of 250,000. It is important to note that these numbers are estimates only. The actual numbers of these populations could be different.

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