A Portrait of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States
Undocumented immigrants living in the United States are more geographically dispersed than in the past and are more likely than either U.S.-born residents or legal immigrants to live in a household with a spouse and children. In addition, a growing share of the children of unauthorized immigrant parents—73 percent—were born in this country and are U.S. citizens.
These are among the key findings of this analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center. A 2008 report by the Center estimated that 11.9 million undocumented immigrants lived in the U.S.
This new analysis estimates that the rapid growth of unauthorized immigrant workers has halted: there were 8.3 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. labor force in March 2008. It gives figures on population and workforce, as well as school enrollment and regions of origin for undocumented immigrants in the U.S.
Passel, J. S. and Cohn, D. (2009). A Portrait of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States (report). Washington, D.C.: Pew Research Center. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2009/04/14/a-portrait-of-unauthorized-immigrants-in-the-united-states/