Government Revises Estimate Of Number Of Illegal Immigrants
According to an Associated Press article in the Houston Chronicle, the federal government has released a new report showing that about 11 million illegal immigrants were living in the U.S. at the start of 2006, up from about 8.5 million at the start of the year 2000. The government acknowledged the difficulty of getting an accurate count in its report. Quoting from the article:
In March, the Pew Hispanic Center used Census Bureau data to estimate that the United States had 11.1 million illegal immigrants in March 2005. The center used monthly population estimates to project a total of 11.5 million to 12 million in March.
Mexico is the largest contributing country of illegal immigrants, with nearly 6 million in the U.S. in 2005, the government said. El Salvador, Guatemala, India and China followed with a combined contribution of about 1.4 million unauthorized immigrants.
The greatest increase in illegal immigrants in the country was among Mexicans, a jump of 260,000 from 2000 to 2005. The greatest percentage increase in the immigrant population in those years was among people from India, 133 percent, and Brazil, 70 percent.
California had the largest illegal immigrant population, with 2.8 million in January 2005, followed by Texas with 1.4 million and Florida with 850,000.
